Posted on 01/16/2006 3:15:27 PM PST by jazzo
NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting.
"Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.
"Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves."
Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a "chocolate" city again. Many of the city's black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina.
"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans — the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," the mayor said. "This city will be a majority African American city. It's the way God wants it to be. You can't have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans."
Nagin described an imaginary conversation with King, the late civil rights leader.
"I said, `What is it going to take for us to move on and live your dream and make it a reality?' He said, `I don't think that we need to pay attention any more as much about other folks and racists on the other side.' He said, `The thing we need to focus on as a community — black folks I'm talking about — is ourselves.'"
Nagin said he also asked: "Why is black-on-black crime such an issue? Why do our young men hate each other so much that they look their brother in the face and they will take a gun and kill him in cold blood?"
The reply, Nagin said, was: "We as a people need to fix ourselves first."
Nagin also said King would have been dismayed with black leaders who are "most of the time tearing each other down publicly for the delight of many."
A day earlier, gunfire erupted at a parade to commemorate King's birthday. Three people were wounded in the daylight shooting amid a throng of mostly black spectators, but police said there were no immediate suspects or witnesses.
Maybe God's mad at just you, Ray.
"Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses"
I am sure others do not approve of Mr. Nagin being in New Orleans under any circumstance.
Amazing. Simply Amazing.
If someone who was not African American had said the things he did, he would have been hounded out of office.
Where is Reverend Jesse "I have a love child" Jackson? Where is the Reverend Al "Charlitan" Sharpton?
Where is Harry "I never met a socialist I did not like" Belafonte?
Where is Jullian "I am a racist" Bond?
Where is Marion "The B**** set me up!" Barry?
Where is David "So they are picking on some Koreans" Dinkins?
Where is Charlie "I am no racist" Rangle?
Where is Howard "The Silent on Racism" Dean?
Oh...I am sorry, they are behind the Mayor pulling his stings.
We will rebuild New Orleans into a "chocolate" paradise...and we can expect the unwelcome white devil to flit the bill...
So were many of the city's white neighborhoods damaged by [Hurricane] Katrina. Katrina was truly an equal opportunity destroyer ... but, you will never, never see/hear that in the MSM.
Wow.
I had seen some of the mayor's racist comments, but in the context of the entire story, I see that he is simply nuts.
Does anyone suppose he'll be ridiculed in the MSM the way others who made similar statements were?
that was the same thing i was thinking. nagin is joining up with the WBC and freddy phelps. add drunken teddy and it would be quite a show.
Surely you jest! Pat Robertson is demented and/or in early stages of Alzheimers ... Clarence Ray Nagin is thoughtful and insightful.< /sarc >
He's still wondering why the "state and federal government" didn't do more for NOLA. Drive your own schoolbus, Ray-baby...
LOL
SURVEY
Do you think Mayor Nagin's comments are appropriate?
Yes
No
http://www.wdsu.com/news/6151733/detail.html?rss=no&psp=news
If God is mad at the US, why did he kick NO's @ss?
Yes, Pat Robinson said the same thing, but since he's a preacher, and this guy is only a politician who has no influence over your welfare, it's different. /sarc
If that is the way God wants it to be, why, oh why, did he send Hurricane Katrina to clean up the mess?You certainly can have New Orleans another way ... I remember it well ... the streets were clean (-ish) ... the children could go to public school (and get an excellent education) ... the crime rate was relatively low ... and, yes, it was the real New Orleans, a city of scents ... the "smells" were localized by the industry in the neighborhood ... the smell of fish in the fish market ... the smell of beignets frying in the French Market ... the smell of hops from the breweries (Jax, Groesedeck and Regal) in the French Quarter, and Dixie a little farther out ... the aroma of coffee beans roasting in the American sector (above Canal Street)... the damp smells from the River ... the smell of stale beer and disinfectant on Bourbon Street ... the sweet scent of Sweet Olive and Banana Shrub [Michelia/Magnolia fuscata] wafting over the walls of the courtyards ... and the smell of wonderful food being cooked in the myriad inexpensive family owned restaurants on every other corner.
And, what sort of smells have replaced those delightful memory evoking scents in Hizzoner's city ... urine, feces, vomit ... and mountains of rotting garbage ... and now the stench of decayed vegetation and destruction and stagnant water from the Hurricane. New Orleans stinks ... the pleasant scents and aromas have been replaced by nauseating stench of filth and corruption and mismanagement.
Actually New Orleans, a city built by Europeans, ceased being New Orleans when it became majority black. It's been a hollow city, a Potemkin tourist trap surrounded by a intensely racist and dysfunctional ghetto. True, historical New Orleans would not have been New Orleans without its black cultural component but that is a long way from saying the Newark on the Bayou we have today is the real New Orleans.
The real importance of Nagin's remarks is that they once again highlight the fraudulence of the so-called anti-racism campaign. Anti-racism is a racist code-phrase for anti-white, and the silence these remarks will be greeted with is more proof of that fact. Can you imagine the howling if a white mayor swore to keep his city white because it's God's will?
Politically, Nagin is fighting for his life here, not only because many of his voters have moved out but because he has never really been all that popular among blacks in New Orleans. Not militant enough. So expect more of this sort of posturing from him in the future.
Are you referring to the National Association for the Advancement of Chocolate People?
Has Pat Robertson passed the baton of prophecy?
I do wonder what would happen if the mayor of a prominent white-dominated city were to say he wanted to make it "vanilla" again. He would be crucified and forced to resign. Nagin is a dumb@ss.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.