Depending
on whom you talk to and which neighborhood that person lives in, New Orleans is
either thriving under Mayor Mitch Landrieu, or we’re still suffering eight
years after Chuck D penned these lyrics in response to seeing Black New
Orleanians struggle after Katrina:
Urgency
State
of emergency
Shows
somebody’s government
Is
far from reality….
New
Orleans in the morning, afternoon, and night
Hell
no, we ain’t alright.[1]
Mayor
Landrieu claims that under his administration, we are improving and moving forward as “One City,” but if you drive through and talk to people in various neighborhoods, you will hear a tale of two cities—one that has thrived and
benefitted from his term in office, and one that has been neglected.
In THEIR
New Orleans, the CBD and French Quarter have been spruced up with freshly paved streets and sidewalks, along with new palm trees that are regularly strung with Christmas lights to
celebrate the holidays and major tourism events like the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star
Weekend and Mardi Gras. In MY New Orleans, people in predominantly Black
neighborhoods like the Seventh Ward and Gentilly are living with broken street lights and sidewalks.
In THEIR
New Orleans, money from the DOT's Submerged Roads Program is available for
fixing Uptown streets like Magazine and Jefferson that never saw a drop of
water during Katrina. In MY New Orleans, streets in Katrina-flooded neighbors
like Broadmoor and Gert Town remain cracked and caving in almost nine years
after the waters subsided.
In THEIR
New Orleans, the city and school board have spent BILLIONS on new schools and
public facilities. In MY New Orleans, the unemployment rate for the city's
Black residents is one of the highest in the country.
In THEIR
New Orleans, three police cars arrive within 15 minutes, in response to a security alarm at a Garden District residence. In MY
New Orleans, the police take over 30 minutes to respond to a 911
call from a homeowner in New Orleans East who's just been in a
shootout during an attempted home invasion.
While
people who in Uptown neighborhoods, the French Quarter or the CBD enjoy newly paved
streets, reliable police services, a responsive City Hall
and an overall improved quality of life that makes them
feel the city is doing well, the people in MY New
Orleans are living with broken street lights, pot-holed streets,
high crime and higher unemployment rates.
So when people tell me New Orleans is doing great under Mayor
Landrieu, I just tell them that while certain parts of New Orleans may be doing well, the people in my part of town "ain't alright."
[1] Lyrics
from the song “Hell No, We Ain’t Alright” on the album Rebirth of a Nation by Public Enemy, 2005
