When Will We Really Talk About Race Relations?
The New Orleans City Council has been mired in racial controversy for much of this year and we are barely half way through March. Garbage contracts, transparency ordinances, and the main event itself; Stacy Head vs. Veronica White, have gripped the local media’s attention. We have been treated to a publicly financed clown show; a city government that has been unimpressive and unproductive to say the least.
At a meeting on February 26 the council was criticized when it adjourned early and the four white members of the council left, each citing reasons for not staying to hear over a dozen citizens address concerns about the transparency ordinance. The three black members of the council stayed to address the public and had an impromptu forum on the matter. These three members have promised a series of symposiums on race that have been tentatively announced for this spring.
My question is this: in this city, how effective can any politician expect to be in addressing race relations? It’s not that I think politicians are incapable of bridging racial mistrust. President Obama’s campaign, election, and his masterful speech on race (which was a year ago today) were certainly important turning points in our dialogue on race in our country. But our city council lacks members with the experience and insight of a Barack Obama. I think that it is important for us to talk about race, but I also share the concerns that such “discussions” could potentially not be fruitful.
My main concern is that a symposium, or forum, or whatever the city council decides to do on “race relations” will eventually turn into a shouting match between blacks and whites. As the demographics continue to shift in post-Katrina New Orleans it is imperative that the term “race relations” must cease to be a euphemism for the political, cultural, and social divide between blacks and whites in New Orleans. Latinos, Asians, Arabs, and other communities who have made New Orleans their home for generations MUST be invited to this table, not as observers but as fully welcomed and trusted participants. Non-blacks and non-whites can no longer afford to be marginalized while the future of OUR home is at stake.
What will and what can bring us together for our collective future? I ask that question with vigilance and caution. I am hopeful, but restrained because my expectations for such symposiums would not be high to begin with, but they could be a start…if done properly. We must, however, keep in mind that such a discussion must have the future in mind. The past, though we have never dealt with it in a serious manner, must be just that; the past.
Race will continue to be a tense issue in this city if we continue to refuse to take personal interest in the matter. For me, breakthroughs in ”race relations” can eventually be accomplished as newer generations come of age and new voices from unheard communities participate. Time does heal wounds, but I also believe that people are getting fed up, sick and tired, and any other overused cliche that can describe our frustration with the society that we have inherited. But how will we respond? We have inherited this challenge and we can no longer afford for things to be defined by fights that we never fought and by a history that was never properly written. Let us not take the path of our forebearers. Let us blaze a new one of understanding and of commonality.
Tags: latinola, new orleans city council, puentes, race relations, rafael