HUD chief foresees a 'whiter' Big Easy ("never again...majority black")

[truthpusher]

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050929-114710-8545r.htm

HUD chief foresees a 'whiter' Big Easy
------------------
By Brian DeBose
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
September 30, 2005
------------------
A Bush Cabinet officer predicted this week that New Orleans likely will never again be a majority black city, and several black officials are outraged.

Alphonso R. Jackson, secretary of housing and urban development, during a visit with hurricane victims in Houston, said New Orleans would not reach its pre-Katrina population of "500,000 people for a long time," and "it's not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again."

Rep. Danny K. Davis, Illinois Democrat and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, quickly took issue.

"Anybody who can make that kind of projection with some degree of certainty or accuracy must have a crystal ball that I can't see or maybe they are more prophetic than any of us can imagine," he said.

Other members of the caucus said the comments by Mr. Jackson, who is black, could be misconstrued as a goal, particularly considering his position of responsibility in the administration.

(snip)

Mr. Jackson, whose remarks were reported by the Houston Chronicle, said New Orleans might reach a population of 375,000 people sometime late next year with a black population of about 40 percent at the highest, down from 67 percent before Hurricane Katrina sent a storm surge that overwhelmed New Orleans levees and flooded 80 percent of the city.

(snip)

complete story: http://www.washtimes.com/national/20050929-114710-8545r.htm

[skooooo]

1. omg....The media needs to jump all over this..

...just like the Bill Bennett story.


I hate these m-f**ers!!!!!!

[truthpusher]

3. This is the interesting part.....

"Other members of the caucus said the comments by Mr. Jackson, who is black, could be misconstrued as a goal, particularly considering his position of responsibility in the administration."

Remember this guy is in the "Bush cabinet"...where the hell does he find these wackos?

[tainowarrior]

6. your local Southern plantation.

usually inside cooking the Massa's food or tit-feeding the children. Ask Condoleeza. She used to work in such places.

/sarcasm.

[skooooo]

7. True..they will need janitors and such.

[Tesha]

52. Did you see this week's "K Chronicles"?

http://www.weeklydig.com/ :



Tesha

[Nothing Without Hope]

67. Excellent hard-hitting cartoon. In return, here are two of my favorites:

[zippy890]

78. Alphonso Jackson is a bush hack

made the statement last year: being poor is a state of mind not a condition

http://www.house.gov/banking_democrats/pr052004.html

This man is the head of the Depart. of Housing & Urban Development which administers all federally-funded housing assistance programs to the nations low-income population.

So bush appoints a man who blames poor people for the fact they are poor - to run federally subsidized housing programs. In addition there are 8 high level positions within HUD that are currently vacant.

So its quite clear how HUD is going to be handling the relocation & rebuilding in the gulf states: Costly & designed to fail - the $ will go to big business, the housing & relocation 'efforts' will fail miserably due to poor planning - and everyone will blame the low income people for its failure.

In bush's america, the 'ownership society', if you don't own you own house your not entitled to anything, including decent safe & sanitary housing.

[chelsea0011]

2. This will be an interesting story to follow. Homeowners in NOLA,

like most of us, probably don't own our homes outright, but are mortgaged to a bank. Banks want their money and will start foreclosing. Property will then go up for auction. This could be the largest land grab ever. And who will clean up?

[Seedersandleechers]

5. Someone has to get to these people and bring them back home

Certainly mayor Nagin won't let that happen..

[CottonBear]

11. We need to get back the people from Utah, Colorado, Nevada, etc.

Many of these folks were involuntarily shipped to remote areas of the US and housed like criminals on closed military bases. How many NOLA people really want to live in Utah? Maybe someone could set up a fund to help these people get home. How will they ever afford to get home on their own? They don't have cars or money.

[Coastie for Truth]

17. Michael (Yer doin a good job Brownie) Brown said they didn't want to go to

California -- and the airlifts were canceled on Wednesday, September 7 -- but a lot of NOLA evacuees made it out here where Gavin Newsome and Jerry Brown and Ron Gonzales dipped into City funds, and the Red Cross, and the Churches (especially Glide Memorial) chipped in to resettle them. (pay per view San Francisco Chronicle archives at www.sfgate.com)

Gubernator Arnold Boobengrabber killed the state funding on Tuesday, September 6 (pay per view San Francisco Chronicle archives at www.sfgate.com).

No, Bush and Cheney and Rove and Delay and Chertoff/Brown and Bill Frist (who claims to be an MD) and Tom Coburn (who also claims to be an MD) and Tom DeLay and Scooter Libby put them in isolated, closed military bases.

[CottonBear]

51. Are you saying that NOLA people are living on military bases in CA?

I hope that they can get into real homes (houses and apartments) soon.

[Coastie for Truth]

55. No. The NOLA people

are living in a variety of houses, town houses, apartments, and "married student" university housing.

The initial group were housed in "married student" university housing.

I have no idea where Chertof is resettling them in other places -- DHS is run like the CIA or DIA.

[intheflow]

24. I've been working for the Red Cross in Houston and Denver.

All the white people I've worked with say they plan on returning home. Most, though not all, of the black people say they plan on building a new life someplace else, although they're not all sure they're going to stay in the area they've landed in. Most of the blacks that say they're going back want to do so because their families are spread far and wide, they want their families back together. But people who vacuated with ther families? They just don't want to go back to the overt racism, the lack of economic opportunities, and the threat of anotehr hurricane like Katrina. In fact, I've only met one black man to date who wants to go back for economic reasons--he works for the cable company and knows there's a lot of rebuilding to do.

It really is remarkable (though disheartening) to see the split along racial lines so clearly. :(

[CottonBear]

49. That is disheartening. I hope that enough people go back to make NOLA

NOLA again. I'm thinking of the working class, small and big business people, artists, musicians, professors and assorted bohemians. The city needs the same mix of people, although the overall population may be smaller.

[Sugarbleus]

66. Hi ITF, I have been hearing much the same thing

(And before I go on, Aren't there any black Americans in DU who can dive into these types of conversations? Seems odd that I don't hear much from the Black perspective on such matters, here in DU. I would very much appreciate any person of color to come along and chime in with their views)

Back to your post. I've heard any number of displaced, black NOLA residents say they weren't going back; some appear to be traumatized by the events surrounding the hurricane. I can't believe that NO ONE would ever want to go back--family and history connections et al..but after having spoken with my black neighborlady who is FROM LA, I get a sense of why some people don't wish to live in such a historically RACIST area, let alone the lack of employment opportunities, being crammed into substandard housing (if poor), and hurricanes, etc.

For those folks who do wish to return, I'm ready to support any effort to help make that possible for them.

Just like everyone else who appreciates the uniqueness of NOLA, I would like to see it rise again and recapture it's special culture.
I just hope the city doesn't go republican and/or sterilized looking bourgeoisie. THAT would be a shame.

Peace~~SB

[CAcyclist]

84. I'll donate to a fund like that.nt

[IndyOp]

47. Someone? ACORN, please support ACORN !

ACORN is Organizing for the Right of Return in Louisiana
ACORN is Demanding Long-term Housing

ACORN is working to contact, house, and serve our 9,000-plus New Orleans member families, provide mortgage counseling to displaced homeowners, and organizing, so that Katrina survivors get the resources they need and a voice in the recovery process. Donations to the ACORN Hurricane Recovery and Rebuilding Fund wil help us reopen, rebuild, and serve our communities in this time of need.

ACORN Institute - ACORN Hurricane Recovery and Rebuilding Fund
739 8th Street SE
Washington, DC 20003

or donate online.

[Lochloosa]

77. Indy...start a thread on this one...they tend to get lost in the middle.

IMO

[Tracer]

13. The real estate brokers are already there.

Several weeks ago, there was a segment on (CNN?) where the reporter was interviewing a woman real estate broker with a cell phone pressed to her ear, as she wandered around streets that were not that badly damaged.

The broker claimed that she'd never been as busy as now - with many, many interested buyers.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

69. These greedy pigs are swarming NOLA.

http://www.guerrillanews.com/headlines/4917/Speculators_Rush_to_New_Orleans_Blacks_Fear_Gentrification

[Delphinus]

71. Isn't this a replay of what happened after Charley?

I remember posting about an NBC Saturday evening news segment where the poor who lost their homes had been set up in FEMA trailer camps and the city commissioner(?) basically said, "There's no place here for the poor." All the properties were being bought up by brokers and planned on new buildings that the poor can't afford.

[UpInArms]

63. related: Residents return to New Orleans despite levee fears

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-09-30T172832Z_01_N30305414_RTRIDST_0_HURRICANES-PICTURE.XML

NEW ORLEANS, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Thousands of people began returning to storm-ravaged New Orleans on Friday, but local officials voiced fears that fragile levees could give way once again if another hurricane strikes.

Roadblocks and checkpoints restricting access into the city were removed, allowing people who have not seen their homes in a month to get their first look at the damage caused when Hurricane Katrina battered the Gulf Coast and flooded 80 percent of the city.

The smell of rotting food and garbage wafted across the Uptown and Garden Districts, where utility crews scrambled to return electricity house by house amid the downed trees and dangling power lines that still litter the area.

"You ain't seen nothing yet. Just wait till all these people get here and open their refrigerators," said one Uptown resident as he cleared his yard of debris.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has pushed for residents' speedy return even as the state's top health official said the lack of clean water and a functioning sewage system for most of the city posed a health risk.

...more...

[gulfcoastliberal]

4. Maybe K.O. and Jon will touch this,

I doubtanyone else in the MSM will dare touch a Rove operative until he is either indicted or exonerated. Everyone is collectively holding their breath until the Fitz investigation breaks out.

[halobeam]

9. Whelp, I'm not holding my breath.

Whatever will be, will be. I don't count on anything right now, but what is considered "normal" for this admin. to be held accountable = not accountable.

My hopes however are the highest.

The racists in this country are feeling their oats with their disgusting statements and their karma is darker than their souls... that's the bitch.. the payback, unless someone with balls and position takes this on in this reality.

This country is appallingly embarrassing, and shameful. We are slowly rising up against all of this, but it is nowhere near the numbers of people that it should be. It will unfortunately take more time, more deaths, more discrimination, more of everything that is unjust these days. Apparently.

[gulfcoastliberal]

22. Karma is a bitch!

Too bad it isn't instant with these scumbags.

[rodeodance]

12. hope Friz report does not fizzle out. We seem to have a lot hanging on

to it (most secret at this point and lots of speculation and high hopes).

[gulfcoastliberal]

21. Well, he is our last hope...

Will he get paid a large amount of Halliburton stock or a swiss bank account with millions in it in exchange for you know what?

[CottonBear]

8. Sick, sick sick. He simply doesn't want NOLA people to go home.

NOLA people are not just black. They are African American, Creole, Caribbean, Cajun, German-American, Italian-American, Franco-American and Vietnamese among other racial and ethnic groups. Many people are of mixed ancestry. No other US city is like NOLA and none will ever be like NOLA.

[Coastie for Truth]

18. Having lived in NOLA and SF

I'll take Willie Brown and Gavin Newsome any day --- and give me my Cable cars and the Muni and the Market Street trolleys over "A Street Car Named Charles" -- and my Scoma's and Tadisch's over Brennans and Commander's Palace.

That's why the NOLA expats seem to be happy here (according to our chief NOLA expat KGO's Ray Taliafero).

(I liked NO, but I like SF a lot more)

[Bridget Burke]

35. How much does it cost to live in San Francisco?

It's a beautiful city but expensive. I'm sure The Better Sort of evacuee will be happy there.

[Coastie for Truth]

42. The "City" is expensive, but the Bay Area Council of Governments

(which being Northern California is like herding feral cats) is committed to affordable housing. Through creative (sometimes acrimonious) transit planning and land use planning there is reasonably priced housing in the Bay Area.

As to schools - we have the Holy Writ - which ranks with the Bible, the Gospels, the Koran, and the Book of Mormon - it is called "Cooper Jarvis Proposition XIII" and it was divinely revealed to Saint Ronald Wilson Reagan - who blessed it and sanctified it and canonized it. "Cooper Jarvis Proposition XIII" really messed up our schools.

"Cooper Jarvis Proposition XIII" is the third rail of California politics.

[recidivist]

68. Prop 13 protects middle and working class homeowners. I'm for it.

All Proposition 13 did was allow homeowners to stabilize their property taxes at the time of purchase. Once you buy, your property taxes rise with inflation (government gets a tax COLA), but no more. That's a good thing. I wish every jurisdiction would do the same.

If you are in doubt about this, talk to an 83 year old person who retired 20 years ago on Social Security and a modest pension, and who is now being taxed out of his home. One man I talked to paid $600 a year in property taxes when he retired. His taxes are $8,000 now. The people who defend this say he's "rich" because his property values have skyrocketed, but that's not real money unless you want to move. Or talk to lower income wage earners around here (Washington, D.C.) who are being taxed out of their modest homes to make way for the yuppie gentrifiers.

I think it's wrong to tax people on limited incomes out of homes they've lived in for decades.

Public spending lobbies have always disliked Prop 13 because it takes away automatic, unlegislated tax increases driven by rising real estate assessments. I have no sympathy for this argument. If local governments need more money, and sometimes they do, the local pols need to stand up and vote for higher taxes. Sure that's politically difficult, but tough noogies. It's called accountability.

Beyond that consideration is the larger question of relying on the property tax to fund so much of local government, particularly the schools. I don't believe that is a good choice. The property tax is a deeply rooted historical artifact, inappropriate to modern conditions, which is kept around partly through inertia and partly because of the unlegislated tax increases which it generates (as noted above). Local jurisdictions would do better to rely on income taxes, with the proviso that commuters have to pay their fair share as well. One needn't kill the property tax outright, but Prop 13 is the right way to go.

[Coastie for Truth]

75. That is the basic problem of referendum, initiative, & recall

Referenda are presented on a "0/1" - "binary" - "all or nothing" basis which frequently leads to unintended results. The "negotiation" of a legislative process is short circuited.

Prop XIII left us with a lot of "unintended results" -- as have most of our referenda.

[CottonBear]

54. I could see living in SF if it was affordable. It is so beautiful there.

It is very similar to NOLA in many ways. Plus, there's the added benefit of no humidity although it is really cold and foggy sometimes.

[OKNancy]

10. Not touching the racist aspect..but he might be right

on the repopulation. In the dust bowl diaspora from Oklahoma, it took over 40 years for Oklahoma to regain the population it had in the 1930s. But now that I think about it, I imagine that New Orleans folks might have a lot of loyalty, affection, and ties to their town, so it might not be that bad.

[truthpusher]

16. What's wrong with putting out an effort to make sure that....

...the poor and/or Black population get the same opportunity as the white and/or "well to do" get. I am afraid that NO might end up w/ a homogenized version of what it once was - sort of like a Las Vegas interpretation of Paris.

[The Backlash Cometh]

19. Maybe we should start directing our donations to black organizations

that will make sure that the people who once lived there, have the first right to repopulate New Orleans?

[EFerrari]

23. I really like this idea but how would it work?

This will be about getting permits at City Hall -- all the money in the world won't buy the influence you'd need to get the paper.

I hate to say this, but it doesn't look good for real people in NO.

[The Backlash Cometh]

37. Those who owned property have a stake.

I'm sure that there will be efforts to buy them out and I suppose there's no way to stop someone from selling if he's promised more money than they've had their entire lives, but maybe there's a way.

If there are communities that are being built that are Christian based in my county, why can't the black churches across this country begin to pool their resources and buy up the private land in NOLA and build their own community based on their own religion?

[EFerrari]

40. Okay. But the thing is, you can control who gets to rebuild

in all kinds of ways via the permits.

For example, my mom is a little brown woman with a thick accent who has had a lot of trouble developing 20 acres. I have seen with my own eyes her use a white male friend to help her expedite her permits. It's just amazingly transparent.

[The Backlash Cometh]

56. You don't have to convince me of that.

Racism pure and simple.

[Massachusetts]

14. "it's not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again."

Bennett, Alphonso Jackson = Nazi SS, just more unmasking of the Rethuglican machine. I hope all eligible voters remember all this, as a society we do have short attention spans.

[Coastie for Truth]

15. CONNECT THE DOTS

CONNECT THE DOTS--->

and

Republican Congressional Candidate Hopes Katrina Victims Don't Move Back Huffington Post 9/28

Louisiana State Senator Craig Romero (R) visited Washington earlier this month under the auspices of raising money for Katrina disaster relief, Roll Call reported today. But the trip was also an opportunity for Romero to drum up support for his run for Congress in Louisiana’s 3rd district now held by Democrat Charlie Melancon.

The Huffington Post has acquired pages from a packet of candidate information that Romero handed out to special interest groups: A main selling point of Romero's candidacy is that if Katrina's victims don't move back home, the district will go Republican.

In the 2004 election, 50.2 percent voted for Democrat Charles Melancon and 49.8 percent for Rep. Billy Tauzin (R).

Romero's campaign information includes a pie chart that shows the district's make-up without the residents who were displaced by Katrina. Leaving those residents out, the chart says the district would be have voted 57.1 percent Republican and 42.9 percent Democrat in the 2004 election.

I'm a person of good will - I was putting the sorry performance of FEMA down to sheer incompetence by Brownie of "Yer doin a good job Brownie" fame. Now I see that it was all about sheer racism - an American Nakba perpetrated on US Citizens by US Citizens - Bush, Cheney, Rove, Libby, DeLat, Frist, Blount, Hastert, Coburn, etc. and Brownie was "doing a good job" that he ws told to do.

[raccoon]

27. Nakba? Enlighten me. nt

[Coastie for Truth]

43. "Nakba" is the Arabic term for the mass exodus of the

Palestinians when Israel declared its independence. Gets mentioned frequently on the I/P forum.

[Hissyspit]

20. Now On Greatest Page... n/t

[AllyCat]

25. Lovely. We have all these overt, racist comments coming out

and the media is silent as usual. They are horrible. I just HATE our so-called "media"!!!! They no longer do ANYTHING they are supposed to be doing except using our airwaves to spout their usual lines of drivel and T&A.

So the racists are getting away with it, getting bolder by the day, and we continue back to the dark ages.

Nice job stupid Republicans! You've just done a bang-up job turning the country into a shameful pool of nastiness. And the Dems just sit on their hands and watch, hoping not to get anyone mad or anything. Bunch of co-dependent, spineless, idiots (except the lone few out there trying to fight this nonesense).

[tainowarrior]

80. don't let it get to you..

worry about the racists that say in front of you.

Those I don't let slide. I call them racist to their face.

[raccoon]

26. I can't believe he'd be so stupid as to say that in public.

OK, I mean, yes, I CAN believe that in Bushworld.

Seems to me this is the kind of thing you'd say to your close friends or family, but not blurt it out in public.

Seems like a lot of people are getting bolder with the rascist remarks. I guess it was like this in 1930's Germany.

[Skittles]

28. yes

we KNOW these racist assholes THINK this way but yes it is very disconcerting to hear them SPEAK that way - and it seems we are hearing more and more racist sh** from them

[EFerrari]

31. You're not kidding. We are now officially a land of swine.

I've been nauseated for weeks.

[Eurobabe]

29. Urban renewal, 21st century BUSHCO style

eom

[fighttotheend]

30. Question? If 67% lived there, 40% will return WHAT happened to other 27%?

[bos1]

32. I'm not BLACK, I'm not OFFICIAL, but I'm still OUTRAGED

and I can't believe the media plays it that way. Only blacks get outraged at this? This combined with William Bennett's remarks are making this one nice week for the Nazification of America

[fighttotheend]

34. What were William Bennett's remarks...

Not up to date with that..

[bos1]

36. "You could abort every black baby in this country,

"You could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down."

-William Bennett's message to a million radio listeners, 28 Sept. 2005

http://firebennett.cjb.net

[bos1]

38. Here is one DU thread on Bennett's Nazi Comment

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1815994

[Igel]

58. To quote the NYT a bit more fully:

' "I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down," Mr. Bennett, now a radio talk show host, said in a broadcast earlier this week. "That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky." ' What was said before, between, and after those quotes I don't know.

The first part has been taken to be long-hand for 'Let's abort every black baby in this country.' Calling it 'impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible' has been taken to mean, 'I think it's a perfectly swell idea.'

In context, 'crime' has to be shorthand for 'crime rate'; 'crime rate' has been construed by many to be longhand for 'numbers of acts of crime'.

Predictions become plans, inferences become goals.

[bunkerbuster1]

70. "I'm not black, but there's a whole lotta times I wish I could say

I wasn't white."

--Frank Zappa

[BiggJawn]

33. They're not EVEN trying to hide it anymore....

Shit, I should put that in my sigline, it'd save me time....

[Norquist Nemesis]

39. Yep! Considering the is the guy charged with setting the goals

for Housing and Urban Development, it seems pretty clear what the vision is. It's going to be a difficult ordeal to bring NO back in any form, and I think Blanco needs to be careful when asking for federal dollars. That permits the feds to dictate how the dollars are spent, or at the very least, arm twist with carrots and sticks.

It's a mess looking down the road on this one, and I hope the citizens are prepared to get highly involved in the process.

[Algorem]

41. Bush really did screw up even by his standards if that's true.You know

right up somewhere near the top of his to-do list is "keep the blacks in their place".He even let some of them get away to Houston where they scared his mommy.

[kostya]

76. No, he is doing the job, in other words, the bidding of his masters

they want to dilute black voters' clout anywhere they can. - K

[Laughing Mirror]

44. These racist remarks must be music to the ears of big money speculators

and investors who would rebuild New Orleans as a theme park, full of luxury condos and rentals, not as the New Orleans the world knows and loves.

Maybe that's why the comments of Bennett and Brown are being reported in right wing rags like the Wash Times.

Would the big money men put their money into rebuilding a 70% black New Orleans? A New Orleans only 40% black, though, would be much more acceptable.

What I want to know is where are all this influx of rich white inner city people supposed to come from? The US will be predominantly non-white in a few decades, already is in Texas and California, I think.

Who's going to do the actual hands-on building? Cheap brown hands pouring in from across the border? How about housing them? Where are they going to live? Will they be crammed into new FEMA trailer park ghettos in place of the condemned razed ruins in the old 9th ward If the blacks don't come back? But the retaining walls won't be rebuilt, because the new residents, like their trailers, are only supposed to be temporary, until the 9th ward floods again.

[jpak]

45. Ethnic Cleansing

pure and simple

Hey, maybe they can hire that Ratko dude to oversee this program!!!

Just a thought...

[DBoon]

46. Ethnic Cleansing anyone?

If it's good enuogh for Croatia, it's good enough for the US.

[OKthatsIT]

48. Ethnic Cleansing

no doubt

[gtar100]

73. It's 'Ethnic Cleansing' Neo-con-American-style

Not mass murder, but a smile-in-your-face as you are displaced by the misfortune that's befallen you. They will lend you a helping hand to get you the hell out of their way. That is the Neo-con American way.

[leesa]

50. Wow! The racism of the GOP is bare naked these days.

Was allowing a predicted event to happen part of yet another sick plan?

[Tesha]

53. Well why not? Who stands in opposition to it?

Not the media.

Not the Democrats.

Hardly even any of us.

Tesha

[EFerrari]

60. And it's going to get worse.

I have a really terrible feeling about this. People have already died and what did we do? We watched it on television. This is just insane.

[Zhade]

64. And remember, many of these GOP fucks are ex-Dixiecrats.

You know, the bloc that some DLCers here lament having lost.

[AndyTiedye]

87. Otherwise Known as "Boll Weevils" We've Still Got Quite a Few of Them

[Anywho6]

57. Plan: Rebuild the 9th Ward on huge pile of shit that's shoveled...

...by this disgusting, criminal, greedy, arrogant, hateful administration for the white folk. I hate these f**kers with a passion!!!

[Spangle]

59. It's not all about race

Before I have a bitch fest. I would like to know more about how he is basing his opinions.

We are not just talking about "poor" folks here. And really, skin color isn't the issue as one might think.

The morgage issue has been mentioned. That will effect alot of people. People in the busienss of fixing homes can get these homes and fix them up cheepr then if the home owner paid someone to do it. Less frustrating for the home owner as well. I can see some wanting to sale and get away from the mess.

But what about low rent housing. How many people in NOLA live in low rent housing? Government funded or otherwise. Historicly, When new buildings become older buildings, the rents are lower then the new buildings. Kinda a down hill cycle of sorts for buildings and communittiees. It's why HOA were founded to try and keep a community from loosing "value."

All these damaged buildings will either have to be totaly knocked down or refurbished. With so much water, you will have mold. so the buildings will have to be brought down to the bare walls. Almost a new building when done.

All the new building codes will have to be followed, etc. After rebuilding, the owners are going to want the most money they can get. That will mean higher rents.

SEE the problem folks?

Where will there be the old/ worn out places for the poor folks?

Public housing? The last time I read up about that sort of stuff. The thought was that HUD vouchers were better then building Hud Projects. It enabled to family to live around people who had jobs, when to different schools, etc. A whole different network of people. Less crime element, etc.

So, are the NOLA Projects going to be rebuilt and should they? Personaly, I think rebulding the projects is an attempt to stick NOLA's BLACK people in a hole and forget them.


I don't have the numbers. But I bet the HUD guy in this article does. He can see how this will impact people on all sorts of levels. And using the numbers, can figure out if it will impact Blacks more then whites.

After Homestead, FL was rebuilt after Hurricane Andrew.. they focused on Business first. Then the more expensive housing. They ended up with a problem. Where were the low wage workers going to live.

What % of low wage workers in NOLA are/were black? The cost of living in a brand knew NOLA will be high.

Also, if you have been evacuated to someplace different. The people were helpful and helped you find a place to live and a job. It's a clean slate. Some will NOT want to go back for that reason alone. No matter the state, no matter the town.. there are ALWAYS people who would like a chance to start over somewhere else. Color not an issue with that either.

Over all, what I think we are going to see is change in housing cost over all. Less cheep housing (happening everywhere)

[Bridget Burke]

62. But a government official said Race was a great big part of it....

Just because the poor Whites will be priced out as well doesn't make it better.

[pitohui]

81. you make good points

it gets my goat that ppl here who would never want their own families to live in low rent housing are perfectly happy to have the slums re-built in new orleans for others to live in

we can and must do better

So, are the NOLA Projects going to be rebuilt and should they? Personaly, I think rebulding the projects is an attempt to stick NOLA's BLACK people in a hole and forget them.

[Rex]

61. Race cleansing?

It's shit comments like that, that make me wonder about the levees. I wouldn't be suspicious. but it is the HUD's head man.

[txaslftist]

65. Foot, meet mouth.

[texpatriot2004]

72. He is horrible for saying this and I really hope he is wrong in his

prediction. New Orleans would be ruined. The "New New Orleans" sounds atrocious. I want New Orleans restored to the way it was not some homogenized over-developed greedy whitey town...and I am white.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

74. Geez

What a boot licking Uncle Tom

:argh:

[Chemical Bill]

79. Didn't the PTB use the 1927 flood to force black people into NO?

I was just reading this the other day. It might be in the latest Rolling Stone. The (white) establishment in LA blew up the levees protecting the rural areas that were mostly black in the 1927 flood. This saved the white areas from flooding. The black survivors had to move to the city, as they had no homes. Who knows enough NOLA history to confirm or deny this?

Bill

[Polethebear]

82. They are gonna sell that place off

open up condos.....rich residental joints,a fuckin disneyland. First place will be,the ninth ward.

[Boo_Radley]

91. Agree, and he's probably right about one thing

If anyone's going to rebuild New Orleans, I think it's going to be as something more like a Disney Land attraction than, well, New Orleans. I think it's going to be a buy low, sell high developer feed fest, tearing down the old city and building over-priced condo's and very attractive shopping districts of tasteful new buildings that appeal to people who want to feel like they live in the city, without all the trouble of actually living in the city.

I think it's not really going to be New Orleans, but Yuppy New Orleans, built where New Orleans used to be. From what I've seen, the bulk of the market for something like that is pretty white, and if that's the case, then he's probably correct that it won't have as large a percentage of blacks in the population.

I just personally think the cultural history of the place is going to be washed away, not by the storm, but by the investors. They'll replace the old French, Colonial, Confederate, Creole, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Suffrage and Civil Rights history built into the place with something modern done in a faux Colonial style but built to accommodate people accustomed to an upper middle-class, suburban lifestyle.

Not that I *want* that to happen, I don't, not in the least, but I think it probably will. I do hope I'm wrong, but that's what I expect.

[noonwitch]

83. So, where are all the other black people going to live?

And how do they propose reaching this ideal demographic statistic of 60/40?

[truthisfreedom]

85. you've heard bush's latest take on roe v. wade?

he doesn't care HOW black people get out of NOLA.

[classysassy]

86. "Take us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear"

Jackson you grinning,shuffling house boy,( as a person of color, I still refuse to use the N word)but you get my drift don't you TOM?.Just like all the former house boys under rethug presidents,you too will slide into oblivion after this group that stole the oval office leaves for Texas with their stolen$$$$$$$$$$,your dishonest ass will be out of work(hustling for the man),so enjoy while you can Colin jr.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

89. I doubt Jackson cares.

Black Republicans tend to have an optimistic selfishness about them.

I remember Michael Powell, when asked about the "digital divide" between inner-city schools and better-funded schools, saying he was more concerned about the "Mercedes divide" between he and his colleagues.

[stlsaxman]

88. So will the Krewe Klux Klan be marching in the next Mardi Gras Parade?

Anyone good at Photoshop please feel free to run with this idea!

[Vinca]

90. Well . . . duh. Blacks were left to die in NO, weren't they?

I'd rethink going back, too.