The Automatik

I understand that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin sounded a bit wacko with his now-infamous “Chocolate City” speech last week. It was inappropriate for him to allude to conversations with God. Like several people have pointed out, when Pat Robertson does that, people start foaming at the mouth.

But, like several other people have also pointed out, Nagin was trying, in his own clumsy way, to call for some sort of unity in the black community. His speech was partially a response to Martin Luther King Day as well as the recent shootings in New Orleans, shootings which took place during an otherwise peaceful assembly of people.

Sure, I think Nagin fumbled the ball, and I have chuckled and shook my head at a few “Chocolate City” references myself, but I am becoming ill from these Nagin-as-Willy-Wonka and Nagin-as-Forrest-Gump Photoshop images I keep seeing online. These are covered with the nauseating sheen of privilege and they bother me. White people are getting their panties all in a twist because they think Nagin came across as prejudiced against them. Last time I checked, white people were still in charge so I don’t think one speech by Nagin is going to topple anybody off a throne.

Although I like Nagin, I do feel that he is the black politician that helps white people feel less guilty about their own privilege, so this backlash is a bit hypocritical. He’s also been accused of pandering to the interests of both white and black residents of the city whenever it suits him (but that’s fodder for another essay). In the case of his speech, it seems that he genuinely wanted to reach out to the troubled black residents (including former residents) of the city. New Orleans needs leadership right now – effective, unified leadership that cares more about the city as a whole than the special interests of any group.

However, the social and economic inadequacies of pre-Katrina New Orleans weighed heavily on the shoulders of its black population. So for once, it would be nice if Whitey could quit being so defensive and paranoid and cut Mayor Nagin, and the black populace of New Orleans, some slack.

Article on the speech from NOLA.com

Video of the speech and Nagin’s apology

New Orleans journalist Chris Rose on the speech