Re: waitaminute

Date: 2006-02-08 06:08 am (UTC)
"...I am terribly afraid that New Orleans will come back as a condoed, gentrified whites only pretend New Orleans, something that will only remind people of what it used to be."

I got that too, (in all seriousness), and yeah, I knew what he really meant with his statement.

It just rubbed me the wrong way for a few reasons. Here's why.

New Orleans, as it was pre-Katrina, was a ~terrible~ place for poor people in general and black people in particular. 62% of the residents were black, and a frightening 85% of those were living at or below the poverty level (1999 New Orleans Census of Housing and Population; based on city statistics). The city has consistently rated one of the highest crime rates for cities of at least one million residents, same for homicides, same for drug-related crimes. More money was spent on the penal system than on education in 2003 (Dellums Commission).

So, to say "bring the Black community back to New Orleans because New Orleans needs to be Black", without a clear plan that addresses the problems of urban crowding, poverty, extreme job loss, high crime rates, and anemic funding for education doesn't seem like sound reasoning to me. A large number of former Black residents of New Orleans are scattered all over the country and I bet many of them would rather stay where they are. New Orleans wasn't so good to them.

The "chocolate" thing. It makes for a fun sound byte, sure. But it's a trite, pithy thing to say when the city's infrastructure was so badly neglected for so many years that this mass relocation has allowed many former residents of New Orleans to experience urban communities all over the country that actually work, for the first time. The Orange County Register writes of Black Katrina refugees that are actually considering staying in Utah (Utah!! Where only one percent of the population is Black) because they have found more job opportunities there, better living conditions, and better educations for their children.

Meanwhile, wealthy developers, landowners, and politicians rush to serve eviction notices for displaced minority residents and plan to rebuild New Orleans--minus the city’s poor and Black residents (according to November's issue of "Socialist Worker"). That, I think, is the problem to be addressed. And not with cute "chocolate" metaphors.

Bringing the poor Black community back to New Orleans without offering them better options for living, working, educating and raising families is like rebuilding the city while neglecting the levees. Sooner or later, there's going to be another disaster.


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