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Jan 16 - Martin Luther King Day Speech
During his speech commemorating Martin Luther King day he recounted a
(fictional) conversation with King he indicated he had had
earlier in the day. He used this device to provide cadence
and authority for his speaking points. His tone and diction throughout
the speech were tailored to communicate with a particular (black)
audience.
The two most controversial of his comments follow:
"We ask black people ... 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... 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."
"Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane
after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and
put stress on this country. 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."
There really was a lot more to the speech as he
exhorted his fellow black New Orleanians to improve their lot and the
city by taking responsibility and getting on with their lives. He just
said it in such a way that the message got lost.
Once again, those who always see racism, saw it in his comments. Some
of those who typically don't see racism saw it this time, too. I feel cetain
Ray Nagin didn't see racism, didn't intend racism and was suprised when
his literary allusion went astray.
Now he's in the position of either defending his position or
apologizing. Meanwhile, the news services world wide are watching New Orleans
closely and a gaffe like this draws notice. Its amazing to me that
people are entertained and engaged by this type of
story rather than someting of substance.
If he had actually used his powers as mayor to discriminate against an
individual or a group based on race, I'd call him a racist too. He
didn't. He just opened his mouth and tried to communicate a serious
message in a way that would be heard by the audience he faced. People could be a little more tolerant and forgiving.
He has been clear in his intent to bring all New Orleanians back.
He consistently rejects plans that call for abandonment of sections of
the city no matter how practical abandonment would be. Is this racist?
Is his special focus on helping poor black citizens find their way back
racist? In one sense it probably is racist as he intends to use the
power of government to unequally benefit a group of people based on
their race. This though is the type of racism we have been conditioned
to accept.
I think the more significant comment was his assertion that God is mad
at America because of its involvement in Iraq. Reading the tea leaves
and his subsequent comments makes me think he really believes
this to be true. He is angered and frustrated with the nation's (lack
of) response to New Orleans' crisis. He is angry and frustrated with
President Bush although he can't say so overtly.
Overt or not the message has been delivered.
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