Nagin Blames Racism for Slow Katrina Recovery : NOLA Indymedia

According to the Associated Press, Mayor Ray Nagin has blamed racism and bureaucracy for New Orleans' inability to recover from the effects of Hurricane Katrina. The mayor claimed, during a speech today to the the National Association of Black Journalists, that the federal funds slated for use in the area are being stalled in Baton Rouge because of “red tape.”

I'll agree, there have been some serious problems with our recovery efforts, post-Katrina; but a majority of them stem from Nagin's own administration. I'm not going to say that Nagin's administration is overtly racist, perhaps “classist” would be a better choice of terminology. It is evident that the local administration has no respect for the poorest in Orleans Parish-- in fact, this was apparent long before Hurricane Katrina's landfall. Personally, I don't think that racism has any part in the mayor's agenda, he just has no use for anyone living at, below, or closer to the poverty level than himself, regardless of ethnicity. I may, however, be wrong in my assessment as, at times during Nagin's first term, racial tensions were at their highest since the 1960's-- mainly because Nagin did not seem to care for the local African American community.

We all remember the group that Nagin commissioned to give their opinion of how the city should be rebuilt-- the Urban Land Institute. Their plan called for a smaller footprint, an idea then supported by the mayor's Bring Back New Orleans Commission. Of course, election time grew near and more poorer people were to be given the opportunity to vote than the mayor originally thought could participate. Pandering and placation then took place and the Bring Back New Orleans Commission all but disappeared from the scene-- only to be replaced, post-election, by a questionable, Nagin-backed Unified New Orleans Planning process. Supposedly, this group formed and then asked for the mayor's backing. Yet, this new process appears to be the same old wolf dressed in a poorly constructed sheep costume.

To put it plainly, we have no money because we have no plan. Red tape exists only because the mayor has delivered nothing but rhetoric. It all goes back to leadership, or, rather, the lack thereof. It has been nearly one year since Hurricane Katrina and little has been done and nothing has been planned. It's always easier to play the blame game than it is to take responsibility.

Past news article on Nagin's race relations: http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/news/article.cfm?id=1599