We Ain't Alright

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."

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[1] Lyrics from the song “Hell No, We Ain’t Alright” on the album Rebirth of a Nation by Public Enemy, 2005