Mayor Nagin and the Politics of Hurricane Katrina

During a recent "60 Minutes" interview, a reporter asked Nagin why deluge-damaged cars even now litter the streets of New Orleans, a year after Katrina's floodwaters swamped the city. Nagin replied, "You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later. So let's be fair."
All of the stories that I have read have excoriated the Mayor for his comments, by saying that they were either politically incorrect or lacked tact. In the actual interview, right before mayor makes the aforementioned comments, the reporter questions the alacrity of the Mayor’s rebuilding plan, and then Mayor Nagin makes his comments. Most New Yorkers were outraged at the Mayor’s remarks, especially with the outpouring of philanthropy and altruism that they gave New Orleans’s during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Personally, I think that his comments were true; his critics have taken them out of context. Mayor Nagin was simply referring to the fact that it is bureaucracy. That is slowing down the rebuilding process in New Orleans and New York.

Nagin has rightfully charged the government with imposing tedious application procedures on Katrina survivors applying for rebuilding assistance. For example, Mississippi residents started receiving government rebuilding assistance checks last month, but the residents in Louisiana will have to wait longer, because Governor Blanco has increased the red tape around the application process in order to persuade residents to reconstruct their homes and lives in Louisiana. This process has slowed the payment of funds to Katrina’s victims. There is a misconception that New Orleans has an abundance of money. The truth is that New Orleans is struggling economically, in spite of billions of dollars in congressional aid. The city is in operating on an estimated 1/4 of the revenue it held before Katrina because of the loss of citizens and merchants. One question that I have about the Katrina recovery is why was an overwhelming majority of the reconstruction contracts awarded without competitive bids? Why weren’t minorities included in this process or awarded a decent amount of contracts?

By reporting the linguistic mishaps of Mayor Nagin, I think the media is focusing in on the wrong story. Do you know what they should be focusing on? Well, over the next two weeks we will celebrate two of the most difficult historic anniversaries in recent memory. With these two anniversaries, the political stakes are high, with the anniversary of 9-11 aiding Bush and the GOP, and Hurricane Katrina helping the Democrats. It is a shame that these tragic events will be used as political pawns in the upcoming elections across the country. What does this say about as Americans?

Let’s not forget about the incidents of unadulterated racism that occured during Hurricane Katrina. Remember the incident in Gretna, Louisiana where the police turned back desperate Katrina evacuee’s at gunpoint? The cities’ officials swore that the incident was not racially motivated and posited that they did not have the supplies to deal with the influx of evacuees. That is the most risible excuse that I have ever heard. The truth is that prior to the incident they stereotyped them as criminals and soulless cretins. In this case, they equated black with criminal. If they had been white, the officials of Gretna would have welcomed them with open arms; no questions asked and would have provided them with whatever they needed.

Lately, I have been reading about a increasing number of columnists and political analyst attempting to juxtapose how Rudolph Giuliani and Ray Nagin handled there particular crisis. In my opinion Mr. Giuliani had more to work with, because he had the full support and financial backing of the President from the onset of the 9-11 crises. Also, with Hurricane Katrina, the President had advanced warning of the impending catastrophe, and yet he did nothing. Nothing!

It is disheartening for me to see the media using their considerable power and resources to focus in on a statement that was clearly taken out of context. I see Nagin as an iconoclastic visionary, who uses his position to effectuate change, without regard to whether or not he will be vilified in the press. Even though I am defending the Mayor and his comment, as a piece of advice, Mayor Nagin, think about what your say before you say it and remember that your words can be misconstrued and used to impede your progress.