Thursday, February 26, 2009

You’re In Baton Rouge—Not The Beltway, Gov. Jindal

Please comment on Governor Bobby Jindal’s response to President Obama’s speech on Tuesday.  We would also like your thoughts on the Governor’s  refusal of stimulus funds designated for extended unemployment benefits for Louisiana residents, many of whom are still reeling from Katrina and Gustav. 
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 23:24:53 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

New York Post Cartoon Appears To Compare Obama To Dead Chimp

A cartoon that makes a  not-so-veiled comparison to President Barack Obama–the architect  of the recently passed stimulus bill–and a rabid chimpanzee appeared in today’s (Wednesday’s) edition of The New York Post.
 
The cartoon by well-known  illustrator Sean Delonas is chock-full of violent imagery  and racist overtones. The drawing portrays two policemen holding guns over a dead and bleeding chimpanzee–presumably the one that earlier attacked a woman in Stamford, Conn. “They’ll have to  find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” the incendiary  caption read.
 
We at The New Orleans Tribune are outraged and we called the New York Post to say so; a very rude operator told us to put our complaints in writing to the publisher and then hung up.  Are we really surprised? NO.
 
Thank goodness for activists like Rev. Al Sharpton, who is on the case. In spite of often coming  under fire and criticism from the more cautious among us, he continues to speak out on our behalf.  As Percy Sutton once said, “If Al Sharpton didn’t exist we’d have to invent him.” Read Rev. Sharpton’s  comments below, and if you agree with him, let him (and us) know.


Statement by Reverend Al Sharpton, President of National Action Network 
  
New York, NY (February 18, 2009) –The cartoon in today’s New York Post is troubling at best, given the racist attacks throughout history that have made African-Americans synonymous with monkeys. One has to question whether the cartoonist is making a less than casual inference to this form of racism when, in the cartoon, the police say after shooting a chimpanzee, “now they will have to find someone else to write the stimulus bill.”
Being that the stimulus bill has been the first legislative victory of President Barack Obama (the first African American president) and has become synonymous with him it is not a reach to wonder whether the Post cartoonist was inferring that a monkey wrote it? Given that the New York Post cartoonist has come under heavy fire in the past for racially tinged cartoons including the infamous cartoons depicting 2001 mayoral candidate Freddy Ferrer and me in very unflattering ways (that ultimately was used as a campaign tactic to inflame racial prejudices), one cannot ignore that history when looking at this morning’s cartoon. 
The Post should at least clarify what point they were trying to make in this cartoon, and reprimand their cartoonist for making inferences that are offensive and divisive at a time the nation struggles to come together to stabilize the economy if, in fact, this was yet another racially charged cartoon.
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 19:47:04 | Permalink | Comments (13)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Do you think the investigators with the Inspector’s General Office should be armed and allowed to to carry guns?

With Robert Cerasoli’s resignation for health reasons, Leonard Odom has taken over the Office of Inspector General on an interim basis, and the change in leadership provides a perfect time, we think, to raise a few concerns related to the office.

It is important that Mr. Odom, who is evidently capable enough to serve as the second highest officer in the agency under Mr. Cerasoli and to take his place after his departure, is given a fair shake for the job. We hope that a decision to launch a national search for a permanent replacement isn’t fueled by an unwillingness to see Black leadership at high levels anywhere in this city.

The purpose of the Inspector General’s office is to seek out fraud, mismanagement and inefficiency in City Hall and other Orleans Parish government agencies. It wasn’t all that long ago that a national search yielded Cerasoli. Let’s not waste money or mismanage time by looking nationwide again, if the answer is right here.

Also, we can’t conceive one good reason that effecieny experts and fraud investigators need to carry guns in any situation.  The idea was first discussed by Cerasoli and, it seems, will be taken up by his interim successor.

We’d like for Mr. Odom to seriously review and reconsider that position. Guns and violence have so adversely affected New Orleans, we just don’t see any reason why  employees of the Inspector General’s Office need to carry weapons when their jobs will likely not take them into the streets of the city as a crime fighting agency.

In fact, given the recent police shooting death of Adolph Grimes III (nine of ten bullets hit him in the back), we think some NOPD officers might need to turn in their weapons.

Whatchasay? 

Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 01:07:44 | Permalink | Comments (4)

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Trash Talk — Aspersion Cast on Sanitation Contractors

Since the City Council’s budget hearings were launched in November, sharp verbal exchanges and controversy have swirled around the sanitation contracts awarded by the City to Richard’s Disposal and Metro Disposal, two African American contractors.

Not-so-veiled accusations of overbilling and the utilization of unnecessary equipment have been hurled by certain city council people who appear hell bent on wresting the contracts from these two experienced and highly respected African American businessmen.  Both Alvin Richard and Jimmy Woods made heavy investments to win the contracts; moreover they submitted bids when other companies shied away from the fray.
We at the Tribune maintain that the services rendered by these two companies have been noteworthy and that our neighborhoods have never looked so good nor been so clean. 
What Cha Say?
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 23:50:35 | Permalink | Comments (2)