The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 18, 2006, Page 5, Image 5
New Orleans mayor apologizes for MLK Day remarks
Brett dlartel
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS — Mayor
Ray Nagin apologized
Tuesday for a Martin Luther
King Jr. Day speech in which
he predicted New Orleans
would be a “chocolate city”
and asserted that “God was
mad at America.”
“I said some things that
were totally inappropriate....
It shouldn’t have happened,”
Nagin said, explaining he
was caught up in the moment
as he spoke to mostly black
spectators, many of them
fearful of being shut out of
the city’s redevelopment.
During the speech
Monday, Nagin said repeated
hurricanes that destroyed
parts of America’s coast
and exerted stress upon the
nation were a sign of God’s
anger toward the country, as
well as black communities
that hadn’t done enough to
fight crime.
He also said New Orleans
has to be a majority African
American city because “it’s
the way God wants it to
be.”
Excluding suburbs, New
Orleans was more than
65 percent black before
Hurricane Katrina. The
storm displaced about
three-quarters of the city’s
population. Most of the
estimated 125,000 residents
who have been able to return
are white.
When Nagin, a former
cable company executive and
political novice, was elected
in 2002, he received about
90 percent of the white vote,
according to polls conducted
by Ed Renwick, the director
of Loyola University’s
Institute of Politics.
Nagin received less than
half the black vote, Renwick
said Tuesday, and the
mayor’s heaviest criticism
since taking office has come
from rival political factions
in the black community
who have portrayed him as
catering to the interests of
white businessmen.
Nagin has been trying
harder to gain the trust
of black residents, but in
attempting to do so he may
have offended much of the
base that got him elected,
Renwick said.
“Obviously, blacks were
the weaker portion of his
victory margin, but some
of the remarks he made
Monday will possibly
dampen enthusiasm among
some whites,” Renwick said.
“It seemed to be another
Nagin-being-Nagin. He has
a penchant for just speaking
off the cuff and not thinking
it through.”
Renwick added: “He also
tends to speak to the literal
audience he’s with at the time
instead of the whole world
he reaches through the TV,
radio and print media.”
Nagin said his
comments about God were
inappropriate and stemmed
from a private conversation
he had with a minister
earlier.
“I need to be more sensitive
and more aware of what I’m
saying,” he acknowledged
Tuesday.
Nagin said his speech
was really meant to convey
that blacks were a vital part
of New Orleans’ history
and culture and should be
encouraged to return.
“I want everyone to be
welcome in New Orleans
— black, white, Asian,
everybody,” he said.
Nagin said the other main
point he’d hoped to make
Monday was that when
blacks do return, they must
work to stamp out the crime
and political infighting that
have held them back.
’
RHfl • CORTinUED FROdl 5
chairpersons of the five
committees.
Ross said the amendments’
passed because “that’s the
way we’ve been functioning
for the fast few years but
this just puts it in the
constitution.”
However the amendments
also removed part of Section
2 that said the Executive
Board would have their
stipend removed should they
“not fulfill their duties.”
It was removed “because
it’s a vague clause and it had
not been put into practice,”
said Ross.
Ross also said that
threatening the executive
board with a removal of their
stipend is not too effective
since they generally don’t
participate in RHA for the
money and Ross doesn’t
“think we should hold that
over their heads.”
The amendments also took
out a clause reading, “RHA
insures that each individual
government’s funding shall
be no less than the previous
year’s funding,” which leayes
room in the constitution for
budget cutting that was not
previously there.
Senator Randall Phillips,
a third-year criminal justice
major, motioned that the
amendment be tabled until
the next meeting so senators
could read the amendments
and solidify any objections.
The motions was objected
to by Bullard.
It was also motioned
that the bill be tabled to be
proofread, but it was again
objected to by Bullard who
urged the amendments
immediate passing.
Comments on this story? E-mail
gamecocknews@gwm. sc. edu
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Judi Bottom / The Associated Press
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pauses at a Bring New
Orleans Back Commission meeting on Tuesday in New
Orleans. Nagin apologized for comments made Monday.
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