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Home Front: Politix
Nagin blames delays on racism, red tape
2006-08-19
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Friday blamed racism and government bureaucracy for hamstringing his city's ability to weather Hurricane Katrina and recover from the disaster that struck the Gulf Coast nearly a year ago. In remarks to the annual meeting of the National Association of Black Journalists, Nagin said the hurricane "exposed the soft underbelly of America as it relates to dealing with race and class. And I, to this day, believe that if that would have happened in Orange County, California, if that would have happened in South Beach, Miami, it would have been a different response."

“I believe that if that would have happened in Orange County, California, if that would have happened in South Beach, Miami, it would have been a different response...”
New Orleans was 60 percent black before Katrina struck Aug. 29. Early this year the mayor called on fellow blacks to again make New Orleans a "chocolate" city, but he later apologized. On Friday, Nagin condemned federal regulations that discourage rebuilding in the largely black and low-lying Ninth Ward. While tens of billions of dollars in federal aid have flowed to Louisiana and other states devastated by Katrina, much of it has gone to developers and contractors, Nagin said. "Very little of those dollars have gotten to the local governments or to the people themselves," Nagin said.

Katrina dispersed three-quarters of New Orleans' pre-hurricane population of about 460,000 people, and today it's a city of about 250,000. Nagin suggested that Louisiana and federal officials would prefer the city remain smaller. He said the city is struggling to deliver services and rebuild with a quarter of its former municipal budget. The federal and state aid the city has received is inadequate and comes with too many rules, he said. "We are being strangled, and they're using the money to set local policies to try to take control of the city to do things that they had in mind all along, and that's to shrink the footprint, get a bunch of developers in the city, and try to do things in a different way," Nagin said. "We're not going to let that happen. They're going to give us our money, and we're going to rebuild this city."
Posted by:Fred

#20  I'm amazed he wasn't flanked by Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson while making this announcement.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-08-19 21:53  

#19  I'm amazed he wasn't flanked by Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson while making this announcement.
Posted by: Zenster   2006-08-19 21:53  

#18  They're lucky it didn't happen to them in Kentucky. We might still be stepping over dead ones. Pew!
Posted by: bigjim-ky   2006-08-19 18:25  

#17  BTW, Mayor Nagin, how do you explain how you are failing so badly, when Mississippi (which took the brunt of Katrina) and Alabama are recovering so much better?

To be honest, it didn't hit us dead on a major city.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2006-08-19 18:16  

#16  It wah da main.....dat whut it wuz!
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-08-19 15:43  

#15  Took decades and generations to make New Orleans what it was the day before Katrina. Any arsehole who thinks its not going to take as long the rebuild deserves the inattention they get. The mayor needs a real up close and personal tour of the "Big Dig" if he wants to see government in action for whitey.
Posted by: Crush Spaising9877   2006-08-19 12:44  

#14  and if Orange County residents were forced to evacuate to another city, I bet that city wouldn't experience an 18% rise in crime....hmmmm?
Posted by: Frank G   2006-08-19 11:59  

#13  Â“I believe that if that would have happened in Orange County, California, if that would have happened in South Beach, Miami, it would have been a different response...”

Of course - you see they have something there called a local (and state) government. NO has neither.

The federal and state aid the city has received is inadequate and comes with too many rules

Rules like a requirement to spend the money on actual rebuilding (as opposed to lining pockets and diverting funds to friends and relatives).
Posted by: CrazyFool   2006-08-19 11:26  

#12  Usually, when these things hit florida - wich is usually, it is business as usual. Nagin, you are stuck on stupid along with your voters.
Posted by: newc   2006-08-19 10:45  

#11  Blathering oily pate nagging noggin. Blaming like any Ayrab's would on everybody else.
Posted by: Duh!   2006-08-19 09:38  

#10  "Uged" s/b "urged". Arggh.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands   2006-08-19 08:22  

#9  I seem to recall CBN News or some such news outlet citing a federal report which showed that proportionally, for the percentage of blacks and whites in the area, fewer blacks died than whites. That info should still be available. So Mr. Nagin, you might want to check that racist blather at the doah.

No doubt, red tape bureacratic bungling was part of the problem from a number of politicians. So was the fact that so many idiotic residents of both colors refused to vacate even when weathermen uged them repeatedly to do so. What is inexcusable is the way aid was distributed (trailer homes stood uninhabited, ice melted and other aid stood undelivered) and warnings about the fallibility of the levees stood ignored.
Posted by: Jules in the Hinterlands   2006-08-19 08:21  

#8  Well, yeah, it wouldn't have been that bad in Miami. Florida doesn't screw around with hurricanes, unlike Louisiana.

BTW, Mayor Nagin, how do you explain how you are failing so badly, when Mississippi (which took the brunt of Katrina) and Alabama are recovering so much better?
Posted by: Swamp Blondie   2006-08-19 08:04  

#7  They're going to give us our money, and we're going to rebuild this city."

Well "they" may indeed, but I certainly won't send a farthing. Gimme gimme gimme ..... hand-out misery pimping bastard. Get a phueching job and a life you piece of kak.
Posted by: Besoeker   2006-08-19 05:07  

#6  There's a FEMA primer/instructional course written back in 2003 describing the processes that are supposed to take place when a disaster strikes, including both state and local governments having disaster and response plans in place prior to a disaster occurring.

IMNSHO both New Orleans and Louisiana screwed the pooch. And they're being allowed to get away with it.
Posted by: Pappy   2006-08-19 02:10  

#5  They're going to give us our money..

Do I detect a certain sense of entitlement there, Ray?

Any bets on whether the 'comes with too many rules' has to do with not rebuilding in flood-prone areas?
Posted by: SteveS   2006-08-19 01:21  

#4  Racism and Red Tape. He misspelled Corruption and Utter Incompetence again. Must be a graduate of the LA Edumahcashun & Fleecing-B-Guud DhimmiDonkey System.
Posted by: flyover   2006-08-19 01:19  

#3  Racist professional victims never explain, Korora.

And they never get questioned by the "media" either.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2006-08-19 00:19  

#2  I note that he doesn't explain HOW red tape and racism stayed his hand.
Posted by: Korora   2006-08-19 00:17  

#1  "Nagin blames delays on racism, red tape"

Yadda, yadda, yadda....

This is a recording.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2006-08-19 00:14  

00:00