|
The
Conspiracy to Whiten New Orleans
In
New Orleans, Smaller May Mean Whiter * * *
* * The Heart
& Soul of America Are at Stake -- Which Way Now?
Editorial by Rudolph Lewis
Though Mayor Nagin has become a national joke
in conservative circles, what is being decided in backrooms in
regard to the welfare of the majority of the black former
residents of New Orleans (nearly 70 percent African American
before Hurricane Katrina) is monumental and will speak volumes
and a dire warning for most of us who are black in America and
live in our federally abandoned cities. The tragedy of New
Orleans, though they try, cannot be swept under the rug.
|
By some
estimates, 300,000 people were displaced by the flood,
and it is widely believed that a large majority of them
were black. . Though the floodwaters destroyed white
neighborhoods, they were particularly devastating to the
historically black areas of New Orleans East and the
Ninth Ward, former swampland known collectively as
‘the bowl’ . . . New Orleans' black population has
been extraordinarily rooted in the city, with many
people tracing their ties to before the Civil War.
Before Katrina, 88 percent of blacks in New Orleans were
born in Louisiana. By comparison, just 57 percent of
blacks in Atlanta were born in Georgia.” (NYTimes,
January 22, 2006). |
If we allow this callous attitude toward this
forced black dispersal (into over 40 states) to stand, this
meanness of spirit and lack of regard for suffering humanity,
like a cancer, will spread into other parts of the national
body. That is to say, this is not a local or a regional problem,
but rather a national crisis, indeed, of biblical proportions.
|
There is
a legitimate fear on the part of some African-Americans
that it [depoulation] is happening," said Elliott
Stonecipher, a political pollster and demographer from
Shreveport, La., referring to a permanent black
depopulation of New Orleans. "I don't know of a
place where this kind of demographic shift has ever
occurred. It is a huge, huge shift. (NYTimes,
January 22, 2006 |
Of course, Bush and the national government
have tried to characterize it otherwise. Instead of the national
government seizing the bull by the horn by guaranteeing
and putting into place a means for all citizens to return to
their homes (to New Orleans), they have set whites against
blacks, the rich against the poor—by withholding or pretending
that the necessary funds for such a task is unavailable or
impossible to dispense. This is a matter of national will and
sympathy. This situation as it now develops does not bode well
for our national health—physically,
spiritually, or politically.
If these American citizens because of their
color and their poverty are dispersed and displaced, who among
us then will be next? Will we or you be dealt with in the same
callous way on the flimsiest excuses of knowing what is
best for the country, in a manner similar to that which our
government dealt with Native Americans in the 19th century?
These are real and substantial fears.
I tell you, honestly and openly, if this
whitening of New Orleans stands, none of us will be safe from
here on out. If we allow this conspiracy to gain further
traction, we do it to the nation's peril.
* * *
* * Study Says 80% of New
Orleans Blacks May Not Return
By
James Dao
WASHINGTON – New Orleans could lose as much
as 80 percent of its black population if its most damaged
neighborhoods are not rebuilt and if there is not significant
government assistance to help poor people return, a detailed
analysis by Brown University has concluded.
Combining data from the 2000 census with federal damage
assessment maps, the study provides a new level of specificity
about Hurricane Katrina's effect on the city's worst-flooded
areas, which were heavily populated by low-income black people.
Of the 354,000 people who lived in New Orleans neighborhoods
where the subsequent damage was moderate to severe, 75 percent
were black, 29 percent lived below the poverty line, more than
10 percent were unemployed, and more than half were renters, the
study found.
The report's author, John R. Logan, concluded that as much as 80
percent of the city's black population might not return for
several reasons: their neighborhoods would not be rebuilt, they
would be unable to afford the relocation costs, or they would
put down roots in other cities.
For similar reasons, as much as half of the city's white
population might not return, Dr. Logan concluded. . . .
If the projections are realized, the New Orleans population will
shrink to about 140,000 from its prehurricane level of 484,000,
and the city, nearly 70 percent black before the storm, will
become majority white.
The study, financed by a grant from the National Science
Foundation, was released Thursday, 10 days after the mayor of
New Orleans, C. Ray Nagin, who is black, told an audience that
"this city will be a majority African-American city; it's
the way God wants it to be."
The study coincides with growing uncertainty about what
government assistance will be available for property owners and
renters. Louisiana will receive $6.2 billion in federal block
grants under an aid package approved by Congress in December,
part of which will be used to help homeowners. But that will not
be enough money to help all property owners in storm-damaged
areas, Louisiana officials say. . . .
"Administration officials do not understand the suffering
of the people of Louisiana," Ms. Blanco said in a
statement. . . .
Elliott B. Stonecipher, a political consultant and demographer
from Shreveport, La., said that unless New Orleans built housing
in flood-protected areas for low-income residents, and also
provided support for poor people to relocate, chances were good
that many low-income blacks would not return.
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/
posted 23 January 2006
* * * * *
update 7 July 2008 |
