http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/01/16/ap2452782.html

N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin sayeth:

“Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it’s destroyed and put stress on this country,” Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day. “Surely he doesn’t approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We’re not taking care of ourselves.”

Nagin also claims that it’s God’s intention to have a major American city populated by one race:

“It’s time for us to come together. It’s time for us to rebuild New Orleans - the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans,” the mayor said. “This city will be a majority African American city. It’s the way God wants it to be. You can’t have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn’t be New Orleans.”

This is just a hunch, but… Knowing the mainstream media, I’m guessing coverage of this statement will be far lighter than if a southern white mayor made the same proclamation about keeping a major American city as “majority lilywhite". I’m also going out on a limb by saying that the Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons will be generally quiet on this one.

http://www.catallarchy.net/blog/

1/17/2006 12:09:27 AM

Pat Robertson did it.

1/17/2006 12:16:46 AM

Of course God is angry at New Orleans. Remember "George W Bush does not care about black people"

1/17/2006 12:50:15 AM

If a white mayor said that, it would be with the intention of keeping blacks out. Nagin is trying to get the blacks that left, to come back.

1/17/2006 1:05:42 AM

Otherwise he won't win reelection.

1/17/2006 1:50:10 AM

It's one of the most racist things I've heard a public official say in a long time. He's a horrible mayor, he can't handle stress without exploding at the media/public, and he also knows God wants new orleans to be "chocolate." This pathetic piece of shit doesn't get criticized by the majority of white America because blacks are held to a much lower standard in this country. They are the children of America.

1/17/2006 8:12:21 AM

they really ought to get the mayor of salt-lake city to get on stage and say something about how he's glad new orleans is gonna be all-chocolate becuase he's tired of their refugees messing up his vanilla city....


but something tells me double-standarditis would come down with a fury

[Edited on January 17, 2006 at 8:53 AM. Reason : s]

1/17/2006 8:43:41 AM

God made them build the city there.

1/17/2006 9:07:44 AM

Quote :

"he can't handle stress without exploding at the media/public,"

did you know his name, or even his race, before katrina?

its not like he's the mayor of Fuquay trying to get a bond referendum passed here, and when someone asks a question he's flying off the handle

he has been through some shizzzznaw

1/17/2006 9:15:21 AM

Quote :

"Evoking King, Nagin calls N.O. 'chocolate' city Speech addresses fear of losing black culture Tuesday, January 17, 2006 By John Pope Staff writer Speaking to a fraction of the crowd typically drawn to a holiday parade honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Monday predicted that displaced African-American residents will return to the rebuilt city and it "will be chocolate at the end of the day." "This city will be a majority African-American city. It's the way God wants it to be," Nagin said. "You can't have it no other way. It wouldn't be New Orleans." Advertisement Nagin's remarks were tucked into a wide-ranging speech, delivered on the steps of the federal courthouse, in which the mayor related a dream conversation he had with the slain civil rights leader. In addition to discussing New Orleans' reconstruction, unity and numerous issues in the black community, in his speech Nagin attributed the recent hurricanes striking the United States to a God who is "mad at America" for waging a war in Iraq based on false pretenses. Nagin said God also is upset at the black community for not taking better care of its people. His comments, especially those meant to address the concerns of some black residents that white New Orleanians don't want them back, touched off a firestorm of reaction. Late in the day, Nagin's spokeswoman Tami Frazier said the mayor's comments were not meant to be divisive. "The mayor's comments were in reference to the fact that . . . there has been talk that the diversity of New Orleans is not what it was," she said. "New Orleans has been a predominantly African-American city for quite some time now. His comments were not meant to exclude anyone. He was just saying that as we rebuild the new New Orleans, we will still retain our diverse culture and everything that has made New Orleans what it is, together, both black and white." Flavorful speech Speaking in rolling cadences like a preacher addressing his congregation, Nagin called on the small, interracial crowd to rebuild a majority-black city. The group of about 60 people was preparing to march down to the South Claiborne Avenue statue of King. "We ask black people. . . . It's time for us to come together," said the mayor, who is black. "It's time for us to rebuild a New Orleans, the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," he said. "And I don't care what people are saying in Uptown or wherever they are. This city will be chocolate at the end of the day." Nagin also said that last year's devastating hurricanes were signs of God's wrath. "Surely God is mad at America," he said. The remarks, which prompted a storm of angry callers when Garland Robinette played them repeatedly on his talk show on WWL-AM, also drew fire from some black leaders. "Everybody's jaws are dropping right now," said City Councilman Oliver Thomas, who is black. "Even if you believe some of that crazy stuff, that is not the type of image we need to present to the nation." Thomas, who has been friendly to the Nagin administration but is now viewed as a potential mayoral contender, said the mayor was indulging in "equal-opportunity slamming." Instead of the city being chocolate, Thomas said, "we ought to be Neapolitan, fudge ripple, all the flavors together. Who really cares what the racial makeup of the city is as long as it works for everybody?" Political analyst Silas Lee said the anger Nagin's speech provoked probably was intensified by the environment in which he delivered it: a city where nerves are raw and whatever sense of security people had was blown away in Katrina's gale. "That makes it much more fragile and might make people more sensitive, more emotional," Lee said. "Therefore, every word any elected official may say can be misinterpreted very easily. In his speech, it sounded like he was venting a lot of feelings and pent-up frustration. However, how it came out and how it was interpreted is very subjective. Once you say things, you can't retract them." Calls for love, not violence Unlike Martin Luther King Day parades in previous years, when families lined the route, there were few spectators Monday as marchers proceeded through a neighborhood where many buildings are still dark and empty. Before Hurricane Katrina pounded New Orleans on Aug. 29, scattering three-fourths of its residents to every corner of the United States, the city's population was about 68 percent black. King, a powerful preacher whose work as a civil rights leader won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, was assassinated in 1968. Although King made a point of reaching out to white and black people, Nagin insisted Monday that if King were alive, he would urge African-Americans to stop worrying about other races and tend to their own community. In his speech, the mayor lashed out at a shooting on Sunday afternoon that wounded three people during a second- line parade that had been designed to show unity and support for rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged city. "Knuckleheads" were responsible for the gunfire that wounded a 34-year-old man, an 18-year-old woman and an 20-year-old man, he said. "When we come together for a second-line, we're not going to tolerate any violence. Martin Luther King would've wanted it that way . . ." Nagin went on to decry the violent crime that plagued many of the city's African- American neighborhoods before the storm. "It's time for all of us good folk to stand up and say, 'We're tired of the violence. We're tired of black folks killing each other,' " Nagin said. "What are we doing? Why is black-on-black crime such an issue?" he continued. "Why do our young men hate each other so much that they look their brother in the face and they will take a gun and kill him in cold blood?" In response to such senseless horror, King would say, "We as a people need to fix ourselves first," said Nagin, striking a frequent theme of his speeches. "The lack of love is killing us." Besides respecting one another, Nagin said his listeners need to pay attention to God, who, Nagin said, expressed his anger at America last year by sending hurricane after hurricane over the land. "Surely he's not approving of us being in Iraq under false pretense," Nagin said. "But surely he's upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves, we're not taking care of our women, and we're not taking care of our children . . ." "

here's more. i hate ray nagin...

^and no... he was like this before katrina. nothing but a thug.

1/17/2006 10:43:59 AM

its okay, he is black

1/17/2006 10:55:01 AM

why do people always have to evoke the "god is angry" theme every time some bad shit happens? IT IS 2005, PEOPLE. WE HAVE METEOROLOGISTS WHO CAN TELL US WHERE HURRICANES COME FROM.

They come from you people burning fossil fuels and causing global warming

blame america first crowd!

[Edited on January 17, 2006 at 11:00 AM. Reason : .]

1/17/2006 11:00:16 AM

IT IS 2005, PEOPLE. WE HAVE METEOROLOGISTS WHO CAN TELL US WHERE HURRICANES COME FROM LIBERAL GUILT.

They come from you people burning fossil fuels and causing global warming

1/17/2006 11:07:44 AM

Quote :

"Nagin also claims that it’s God’s intention to have a major American city populated by one race"

This would explain why a white person living in New Orleans was more likely to die than a black person. It was God's way of helping to clear the city of non-black people.

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=380086

1/17/2006 11:24:50 AM

Quote :

"Nagin also claims that it’s God’s intention to have a major American city populated by one race"

hmm... where have I heard that one before?

1/17/2006 12:18:12 PM

mmm chocolate city

[Edited on January 17, 2006 at 12:52 PM. Reason : cities made of chocolate melt into the sea eventually]

1/17/2006 12:51:02 PM

dude that mess is absolutely ridiculous. That guy should be fired.

1/17/2006 1:00:35 PM

^ By whom? All the white people that might be offended by that statement died in the Hurricane. </exageration>

1/17/2006 1:53:36 PM

http://chocolatecity.ytmnd.com/

1/17/2006 2:16:19 PM

Hahah that's hilarious.

And as for Nagin, the guy didn't really provide moral leadership during the crisis. All I ever heard from him was him ranting and raving and spreading doom and gloom after the hurricane. A lot more time seemed to be spent blaming other people and decrying the current situation than fixing it.

1/17/2006 7:02:15 PM

i blame cheese

1/18/2006 4:09:42 PM

is this part of your campaign to get a soapbox mod?

1/18/2006 4:10:11 PM

well, that and to get salisburyboy gone again
i never realized how nice it was without him until he came back...

[Edited on January 18, 2006 at 4:11 PM. Reason : i blame cheese]

1/18/2006 4:10:52 PM