If NO is rebuilt without concern to the displaced African Americans,

[Hoping4Change]

should there be a massive boycott of Lousianna? Should organizing a boycott start happening now to pressure planners to make NO whole?

[DemBones DemBones]

1. The average person in Louisiana has no say in what

happens in New Orleans so why boycott all of Louisiana? In the same vein, if you boycott NOLA, you're hurting everybody in the city, and most of them have no control over what happens in their city.

The companies to boycott would be those that deliberately try to prevent blacks from returning to New Orleans, if you can identify such companies.

[Hoping4Change]

3. Maybe the threat of a boycott may make average people take notice

and not let the powers that be use the flood as a way to ethnically cleanse NO.

In today's Gobe and Mail there is an excellent article about the first demographic study completed since the flood and the person doing the study, Prof Logan said that NO stands to lose 80% of its black population because the nieghbourhoods where they lived aren't going to be rebuilt and at this time there is no political will to accomodate them.

[pitohui]

2. doesn't make sense

you had to burn the village to save it?

in any case, it ain't gonna happen

you going to boycott using natural gas or gas in your car, 80 percent of it comes from louisiana or is refined in louisiana or is drilled off shore or onshore louisiana, or is transported through louisiana, so no more driving, no more heating your home, or any of that good happy crap

you going to stop eating cereal and drinking coffee, which are transported through the port of new orleans

or maybe you plan to give up eating sugar and sugar-based products, grown and refined in louisiana, oops, can't use artificial sweetener either, that splenda is refined at domino sugar in louisiana

hell, i could go on and on but if you think it's like boycotting south dakota then frankly you haven't been paying attention anyway

i realize there is a too-large proportion of this nation's population who think all we have to offer is titty bars and tabasco sauce but the reality is that you can't live in the 21st century or even the 20th century and boycott louisiana

it's really very simple: if you want people to return, support fair compensation so that people can rebuild at safe elevations and support the rebuilding of levees that are proven to withstand at a slow-moving cat 3 hurricane and, better yet, a cat 5 hurricane, if in particular, you want poor people to be able to return, support the rebuilding of our public hospital system because it is not fair to ask people to return to a place where they cannot receive medical services

write or call your congresscritter and your senators regularly to let them know you support the use of federal funds for rebuilding levees, hospitals, residences, and other critical needs on the gulf coast, it's cheap for you yet sends a message that you do care, our four senators from mississippi and louisiana can't do it all without help

[Hoping4Change]

4. There could be a tourist boycott and black musicians could refuse

to play there. What would Mardi Gras be without black musicians and participants?