There certainly is a huge element of race. I think it is horribly irresponsible for Nagin to tell the black community that they can all come back, live where they lived before, and everything is gonna be alright.
If it wasn't for race-based voting, I don't think Nagin would have stood a prayer of being re-elected. That bothers me. I understand why minority groups tend to vote for their own, given the history, but in this instance it's a damn shame.
People in Washington do not respect Nagin. He is going to have trouble getting the money the city needs. And he does not have a practical vision for rebuilding, other than restoring his African-American constituency. Ummm, it's not just Nagin or black people who have this attitude! I find that most people who love New Orleans, regardless of race, seem to think that things have to be restored to the way they were before.
The less sentimental experts say that a portion of the city has to be returned to marshland, and that protecting the whole city with cat 5 levies would just hasten the demise of the wetlands that protect the city out in the gulf.
Fuck it. Here's what's gonna happen: people are slowly going to rebuild throughout the city, but the place is going to continue to be decrepit. New Orleans is not going to get their Cat 5 Levies, too expensive and perhaps irrelevant in 30 years anyway. It will take another hurricane, hitting New Orleans directly, before major changes come.
If it wasn't for race-based voting, I don't think Nagin would have stood a prayer of being re-elected. That bothers me. I understand why minority groups tend to vote for their own, given the history, but in this instance it's a damn shame.
People in Washington do not respect Nagin. He is going to have trouble getting the money the city needs. And he does not have a practical vision for rebuilding, other than restoring his African-American constituency. Ummm, it's not just Nagin or black people who have this attitude! I find that most people who love New Orleans, regardless of race, seem to think that things have to be restored to the way they were before.
The less sentimental experts say that a portion of the city has to be returned to marshland, and that protecting the whole city with cat 5 levies would just hasten the demise of the wetlands that protect the city out in the gulf.
Fuck it. Here's what's gonna happen: people are slowly going to rebuild throughout the city, but the place is going to continue to be decrepit. New Orleans is not going to get their Cat 5 Levies, too expensive and perhaps irrelevant in 30 years anyway. It will take another hurricane, hitting New Orleans directly, before major changes come.


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