Friday, May 29, 2009

There’s More That Divides Us Than Folk Want To Acknowledge

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about there being more to unite than to divide Black and White New Orleanians. This announcement comes in the form of a poll of Orleans voters as the city approaches the mayoral race of 2010.
What has some New Orleanians cheering as the results of this poll are discussed is that Whites and Blacks were identical or very close when it comes to the importance they placed on the issues of crime, education and economic development.
We did not need a poll to tell us that Black people care about the same important issues that everyone else cares about. We did not need a poll to show us that Black people want to live in safe neighborhoods, want quality educational opportunities for their children or desire the opportunity to advance economically. And that’s just one small part of what is wrong with this we’re “more alike than different” propaganda.
If we are so alike, so united—why is the national unemployment rate for Blacks nearly double that of Whites? Why do only 55 percent of Black students graduate from high school compared to 78 percent of White students? If we are really all in this together, could someone please explain why one in four African Americans live in poverty compared to one in 12 Whites? If we are so much the same, why are Black Americans, who barely make up 13 percent of the country’s population, half of the prison population?
Though these are national figures, they are echoed at state and local levels, especially in urban areas. So as this mayoral election of 2010 approaches, any candidate—Black or White—who fails to realize and speak to those enormous disparities and disproportionate representations as it relates to African Americans with a plan to directly combat those issues for Black New Orleanians, will do himself and this city a disservice.
That’s what we think. What cha say? Are Blacks and Whites in New Orleans or in America really more alike than we are different just because we all want the same things? 
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 22:42:23 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Battle To Confirm Sotomayor Intensifies

Latching on to a statement made by Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor and working it for all its worth, conservatives appear primed to force a battle over President Obama’s nomination of Sotomayor as the next Supreme Court Justice.
Sotomayor, 54, is a federal judge who grew up in Bronx housing projects and attended Princeton and Yale. If confirmed, Sotomayor would replace outgoing justice, David Souter, on the Supreme Court and become the first Hispanic woman to serve. But it seems that this milestone will not happen without some controversy.
The latest—opponents are pointing to a speech Sotomayor made nearly eight years ago at UC Berkley.
First here’s some context.
In a speech at Berkley, Sotomayor referenced a saying of then-Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s that a wise old man and a wise old woman would reach the same conclusion in a case.
Now, here’s sentence Sotomayor’s exact sentence:
“I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” she said.  
To us at The Tribune, it seems that Sotomayor was simply saying that as a Latina woman in American, she believes that she would bring a different perspective—that who she is and that her experiences that not many White men or woman share with her influences her views. We don’t see that as bad or racist. In fact, it is just plain true, a part of this human condition we are all afflicted with. Her appointment, we think, might bring to the nation’s highest court a fresh perspective it sorely needs.  
Yet, this is what conservatives the likes of Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh are pointing to call Sotomayor racist. And we also think that if this is all Newt and Rush and other Republican bullies can come up with the block Sotomayor—one statement made eight years ago and taken out of context—then their fight will soon fade. 
We want to know what cha say? Were Sonia Sotomayor’s comments racists or just a harmless statement now taken out of context?
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 22:41:04 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, May 22, 2009

Bill Will Loosen The Rules That Create Charter Schools

The state Legislature is now considering a new law that could result in the proliferation of charter schools to the increased detriment of local public systems. Let’s set the record straight now. The Tribune is not anti-charter school. Many are good and they work and that’s fine. But they cannot and will not educate all of our children. And so while we are not against charters, we are simply staunch advocates of shoring up, rebuilding and redefining the local public school systems so that every and any child can be guaranteed a quality education in their communities.

That said—there are specific areas of this bill that troubles us.

Presently, the law prohibits a charter school from being supported by or affiliated with any religion or religious organization or institution. The proposed law deletes this rule, making charter schools one step closer to parochial schools. The law must be kept the way it is. There is nothing right now that stops a Christian or a Muslim or a Buddhist or a Catholic from making application to create a charter school. They cannot, however, be allowed to make the application as a Christian or Muslim or Buddhist or even a Catholic organization, but as an educational organizational. If religious groups are allowed to open charter schools under the auspices of their religion what is to stop them from giving preference to students who share their faith. Or what of the students that don’t share their faith and might feel uncomfortable enrolling?

The new law would also require the state and local public school boards to also “provide for an independent evaluation of the charter proposal by a third party with educational, organizational legal and financial expertise.” In laymen’s term, “provide for” means to pay for. The law does not set a cap on how much these third-party evaluations can cost, nor does it designate an alternate funding source for those fees so that local school systems don’t have to foot the bill. A system, like Orleans which is home to 46 of the 66 charter schools in the state, could easily find itself inundated with charter applications and the undue burden of paying astronomical fees for a consultant to green light charter schools that would then siphon more money from the public district. Why not make the charter school applicant pay for the independent review conducted by a consultant chosen by the local board?

The law will also force public school systems to relinquish some facilities, furniture and equipment—at no cost—to a type 2 conversion charter school. In other words, if a private group comes in, makes an application to turn an existing public school into a charter school and is approved, then can all of the physical resources, including books, previously owned by the local public system. Why not allow the local systems to sale the facilities and equipment to the charter at a fair market rate with the qualification that the proceeds are funneled to back the local system’s curriculum and instruction budgets. It would hardly make up the money the local system loses as a result of students leaving public schools for charter schools, but it would help.

Charter schools are not as open enrollment as they purport to be with current provisions that allow them to give preference to the siblings of previously enrolled students. The proposed law removes the requirement that schools must wait until the second year of operation to exercise this right and authorizes the charter school to give preference to siblings submitting their enrollment applications for the first time. So a new applicant that does not apply along with a brother or sister or that does not have a sibling at the school would not stand an equal chance. Legacies in charter schools! These are charter schools, not Harvard. In fact, the current provisions that give preference to siblings should be scratched. If these schools are truly open enrollment, then every child should be given an equal opportunity to enter.

Those are our issues with this proposal, but Tribune wants you to be informed. That’s why a current copy of the legislation can be found by clicking here. Read it for yourself and then let us know what cha say? Should the state legislature pass SB 146, making it easier for charter schools to form in the state of Louisiana?
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 20:52:04 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Friday, May 8, 2009

Archibishop Hughes’ Boycott Of Xavier Commencement Is A Poor Move

Archbishop Alfred Hughes has decided to boycott Xavier University commencement exercises Saturday because commencement speaker Donna Brazile supports abortion rights. 

To be sure, as a veteran Democratic leader, strategist and political advisor, Brazile likely supports many rungs on the Democrat platform, including abortion rights; and still the Kenner, LA  native describes herself as a  “a life-long devoted Catholic.” Perhaps, it’s a personal paradox; but if Ms. Brazile has worked it out with her conscience and the God she serves, that’s good enough for us and should satisfy the archbishop as well.

And, we think it’s safe to say that Roe v. Wade is not set to be the topic of her commencement speech to students. A woman with her experience and insight has so much more to share. 

Here at The Tribune, we are equally as certain that Hughes’s decision is absurd. Xavier University is a Catholic educational institution, yes. But last we checked, it was still an educational institution—the one place where diverging opinions should be able to meet and be discussed without fear of retribution or alienation if the goal is to produce future leaders, free thinkers and productive citizens.  

And why now is this an issue? Three years ago, a relatively low-profile, pro-abortion rights U.S. senator from Illinois spoke to Xavier students at commencement without a whimper or whine from Catholic leadership that we can recall.

Now that the formerly low-profile U.S. senator is President Obama, has the archbishop decided that he must do everything possible to admonish any step that does not align with the Catholic church or right-wing conservative views?

If Archbishop Hughes had any real esteem for the service and dedication of Xavier University, its administration, faculty, staff and, most of all, its students, he would save his political statements for the voting booth, and give both XU and Donna Brazile the respect they deserve by attending this great institution’s commencement service.

The wonderful thing, of course, is that with or without Hughes’s presence students will graduate from Xavier University on Saturday and they will hear from Donna Brazile. America is grand. Still, we want to know, what cha say? Is the archbishop right to boycott Xavier University’s commencement because of its  speaker or is his decision a disservice and an unfair slight?
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 23:08:18 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, April 24, 2009

Tom Benson To Buy Downtown Building If State Signs On As Top Tenant

Apprehension. That’s the word that comes to mind as we hear more of this plan of New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson buy the downtown Dominion Tower office building so that he can turn around and rent it to the state.

State Sen. Ed Murray and state Rep. Karen Carter are right in their hesitation to this plan.
First, that no one has disclosed important details of a deal described as “pretty close” to an agreement is troubling. And we’re talking about some pretty important details.

How much would the state have to pay to rent office space from Benson were he to buy this building? How long would the state have to be stuck with this deal to make it worth Benson’s while? Who would pay for this buildout? In other words, how much is this going to cost us? The people of this state have a right to know. And we’ve grown tired of closed-door power plays that involve our money.

If Tom Benson wants to invest in downtown real estate and find private occupants to lease space in it, well, that’s one thing. To ink his deal on the basis of being able to turn around and rent the facility to the state is another. To be clear, that is the prerequisite here. It seems Benson only wants to buy the building if he knows the state of Louisiana will be his primary tenant.

The state of Louisiana certainly benefits from having an NFL team in New Orleans, but dangling the Saints card like a carrot any time he wants more is just getting old. And it seems to us that Benson, a Jindal supporter and fundraiser, also has a special relationship with this Governor that makes any favor he gets from the state appear questionable.

With all of the hoopla being made over a trip Mayor Ray Nagin took, we are wondering why no one has dared to questioned this so-called deal.

If the state needs office space to reopen some of the downtown facilities lost in Katrina so that residents can receive the services they need, why not just buy the building from the current owner? It seems he’s willing to sell.

As we see it, nothing about Benson’s deal would help the state. It’s about making Tom Benson richer using state money. Let’s hear from you. What cha say? Should the state deal with Benson on the Dominion Tower building or not?  
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 18:01:52 | Permalink | No Comments »

Monday, April 20, 2009

A CITY FULL OF CRIME FIGHTERS

We are all concerned about crime. We want safe neighborhoods and safe places for our children to play. The idea of anyone—let alone a 15-year-old girl—killed in a drive-by shooting on OUR streets, troubles us, indeed.

But when City Councilwoman Shelly Midura recently climbed on top of her soap box to call out Police Chief Warren Riley about crime in the city, demanding to know what he’s doing about the problem, his long term and short term goals, etc., it got us to wondering.

What is she doing about the problem?

What community development programs has she supported? How has she spurred job creation, especially for young African American males, in her district? What has she done in her powerful and influential role to help those released from our state and local prisons get education and job training opportunities to reduce recidivism? What programs has she helped implement to keep the youth in her district active, involved, engaged and out of trouble?

Yes, our law enforcement officials have an obligation to actively investigate crime, search for and arrest perpetrators and patrol our neighborhoods in an effort to deter criminal activity.

But if gun-toting police officers could make and keep our streets safe alone, we wouldn’t be having this discussion. Murderers, drug dealers, robbers and rapists would yield to the police, throw down their weapons and become law-abiding citizens at the very thought of the police arresting them, the district attorney prosecuting them and a judge or jury convicting them and sending them to prison.

To anyone who still thinks that crime is just a police department issue or that Warren Riley can actually be a one-man crime fighting machine ridding New Orleans of all of its ills, we ask that you rejoin on the little blue sphere we call Earth.

So Councilwoman Midura, what are you doing? What’s your plan?

For that matter, what are any of us doing?

Are you a part of your neighborhood watch? When was the last time you saw suspicious activity or had some information that might help police solve a crime and actually reported it to the authorities?

Do you support youth programs in your community with time or money? What cha say? What are doing to be a part of the solution in your community and what would you like to see your elected representatives do to improve the conditions of our communities so that crime cannot thrive?
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 04:12:49 | Permalink | Comments (1) »

Friday, April 3, 2009

Michelle Obama’s First Fashion Disaster!

Huffington Post article by Bonnie Fuller

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bonnie-fuller/michelle-obamas-first-fas_b_182362.html

Touching the Queen wasn’t the only major misstep Michelle Obama made yesterday at Buckingham Palace. April 1, 2009 will now forever be remembered as the day the First Lady wore her first fashion DUD!

Yes, there were debates about her upholstery-like Inaugural dress suit and her wedding cake-ish Inaugural ball gown BUT each choice had arguable merits. However, the black and white silk satin crepe Isabel Toledo sleeveless dress worn with a shapeless black Azzedine Alaia cardigan, was just WRONG,WRONG,WRONG!

2009-04-02-michellebi.jpgWRONG because it looked too casual for a momentous royal visit. One does not meet the Queen every day. The Toledo dress LOOKED like a skirt and top worn with a casual cardigan — an outfit more appropriate for a fundraising cocktail night at her daughters’ school than for meeting the woman whose profile still appears on the coins of numerous countries. Why the First Lady bothered to spend big bucks on an Alaia cardigan, I have no idea. It could have been any old cheap schmatte, it appeared so shapeless.

WRONG because in almost every way for Michelle, the outfit was a figure DON’T. At 5′10″ Michelle has a strong statuesque figure that is striking in outfits with clean, long lines. This black and white dress cut her length in half, making her suddenly appear short-waisted. Then to add injury to insult, the big flaring bell skirt ballooned out over her curvy pear-shaped hips adding feet to her width. Yeah, Michelle looked like a bell all right from her wide base all the WAY up to the tippy top of her new disaster do.

2009-04-02-michoh.jpgWRONG because that new hair do made our gorgeous First Lady join the mile-high club — the mile-high forehead club, that is. Had you ever noticed that Michelle had a landing strip across the top of her head? Me neither, until now. But exposing her huge forehead wasn’t the only thing wrong with this 4 inch hair pullup — the world now thinks we have a conehead for First Lady.

Then as if the First lady’s outfit wasn’t disappointing enough for her debut on the world stage — boy, Carla Sarkozy must wish she had come after all, it would have been a no-brainer fashion contest — Michelle dragged her husband into one of the style world’s worst crimes: clone couple-itis! The Obamas totally coordinated their black and white outfits. We had two presidential penguins and not just one.

Why couples think they need to dress in matching colors when appearing in public, I have no idea. But it is a highly disturbing thing. And in this case, in the photos of the enormously tall Obamas towering over the tiny royals, they looked like two funeral directors accompanying an elderly couple to a wake.

2009-04-02-obamasqueen.jpg


A wake is what should be held for this first dud outfit. Michelle, it’s time to own your good looks and striking figure. Sleek, sophisticated lines, bold colors, clean, fitted shapes - that’s what will make you look best. And now that we’re over the election, you can wear a suit or even just a short, fitted suit jacket. You don’t need to fear looking too powerful. Disguising yourself as a bell, will not do America proud!

Sadly, the First Lady’s first fashion messup wasn’t a random event. It now appears she’s on a losing streak. New photos of her in an argyle cardigan and hip-extending blue prom skirt on her second day in London indicate we have a much bigger problem on our hands.

Michelle, it’s time to get out Jackie Kennedy books out, hire a stylist — do whatever you have to do to get back on the style icon path.

Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 20:27:42 | Permalink | No Comments »

JUSTICE . . . HEALING . . . RECOVERY

Details of yet another incident involving alleged misconduct and possible criminal behavior of NOPD officers in the days that followed Hurricane Katrina are beginning to emerge. The available information is telling. 
According to Algiers resident William Tanner, he tried to help shooting victim Henry Glover by putting him in the back seat of his car and driving him to a local school where NOPD SWAT officers had set up. When he arrived, he was greeted with anything but help. For his trouble, Tanner says he was handcuffed and beaten by police. Then—and here is the most horrific part—an officer took Tanner’s keys and drove . . .  toward the levee . . . in his car with the injured man still in the backseat. Tanner didn’t find his muddy, burned and broken car until months later . . . by the levee. Even more revealing, what remained of Henry Glover was found in a burned car . . .  by the levee. 
This story was not broken until late last year by The Nation magazine. And to the best of our knowledge, it was not investigated until after that report. 
QUESTIONS: Who shot Henry Glover in the first place? Where did this officer take Tanner’s car with Glover inside? Did this officer burn the vehicle with Tanner inside? How did Glover really die? The gun shot wound he sustained before Tanner tried to help him or was he burned to death? Where is this officer now? And is the public just learning of this questionable, if not criminally depraved act, of some law enforcement officers? 
Some of these questions may never be answered. All of the answers seem to beat a path to NOPD.
We watched as the officers involved in the Danzinger Bridge shootings were not held accountable for the shooting deaths of two people. It left a bitter taste. 
What the people of this city need is recovery. For true recovery, there needs to be a healing. For a healing, there must be justice. 
It just seems to us that no one in the justice system has an interest in restoring public trust so deeply marred in Katrina’s wake by incidents such as this one. And we say that is unacceptable. We want to know what you think. Sound off here. Share your own story. What cha say?
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 20:23:23 | Permalink | No Comments »

Friday, March 27, 2009

Is HANO Letting The Iberville Rot On Purpose?

It seems as if HANO has decided to let the Iberville Housing Project waste away.

Some problems listed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development at the Iberville after an inspection late last year, according to a recent news report, included a long-standing sewer leak in a stairwell and a serious rat infestation.

According to that same recent report, here is an excerpt of HANO’s response to HUD:  “It should be noted that the Iberville development is obsolete and in need of major rehabilitation. Currently, HANO is managing major redevelopment plans at four public-housing sites. Once construction is under way at those sites, plans will be implemented to address the Iberville site.”

Our translation: Right now, we’re busy; the four sites we already razed make for fewer units, some of which former public housing residents will not be able to afford. By the time we’re finished with them, the Iberville will be in such bad shape that we’ll easily make our case to tear it down, too. As a matter of fact, we hoped that the more than 600 families now there get so tired of our neglect they move on their own. That’ll make tearing it down even easier.

Why do we say this? Well, if what HANO meant was that after construction gets started on the former sites of the C.J. Peete, St. Bernard, B.W. Cooper and Lafitte, it will repair and refurbish the Iberville, then it should have said “repair” or “refurbish,” not “address.” Also telling: “obsolete” and “in need of major rehabilitation.”

We hear the bulldozers rumbling already.

Not that we needed the report to tell us what was happening. Some of us at The Tribune had already noticed it—poor and broken lighting, dangerous conditions and a lack of police presence.

These are serious problems, especially considering that HANO has stopped paying for additional police detail, making it easier for drug dealers and prostitutes to do their business. These problems can’t wait.

It could be that here at The Tribune, we’re shell-shocked by the war against public housing that has occurred in the city. But last December HANO increased the money it had allotted to replace the St. Bernard by an additional $1.2 million; still, it can’t seem to find the time or what would be chump change in comparison to fix leaks at the Iberville. Nope, we don’t think we’re misreading the writing on the wall at all.

What cha say? Do you think HANO is neglecting the Iberville on purpose so that this housing complex will easily meet the same fate as others in the city?

Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 04:46:29 | Permalink | Comments (6)

Friday, March 20, 2009

Who is contributing to the hostilities overtaking our city and who owes whom an apology… Roberts or Crouere?

    It is no secret that race relations in New Orleans are at an all-time low, exacerbated by, among other things, the lack of civility some elected officials have shown city workers, citizens who have shown up at city council meetinngs and other elected officials as well. And it just isn’t us at The New Orleans Tribune who are saying that the tinderbox situation is being kindled by hot heads, insenstive politicians and broadcasters who spew and invite inappropriate invective on their air waves and front pages. Award winning journalist and New Orleans native Cokie Roberts was “right on” when, in acceptinmg a free speech award for the News Directors Foundation last week, she criticized the news media in her hometown saying, “its helpiing split the people apart.” Roberts added that “totally crazy people are screaming into the airwaves.” She cautioned against turning the microphone over to the extremiists and urged that rational voices and calmer souls prevail. We agree. Jeff Crouere, the host of “Politics with a Punch,” responded in his most recent newsletter saying that Roberts owes the media in New Orleans a big aology for her baseless attacks. But he further fans the poisonous atmosphere consuming the city by writing, “In New Orleans there are plenty of people who should be called out for aggravating racial tension. People like ‘chocolate city’ Ray Nagiin and ministers who are trying to recall politicians because they are not African Americans.” He further fans the flame of discord saying, “Roberts wants the media to focus on ‘sensible souls’ to talk to, so who would fit that category …Are Ray Nagin, Bill Jefferson and Kathleen Blanco sensible souls?” Who is contributing to the hostilities overtaking our city and who owes whom an apology… Roberts or Crouere? 
Posted by The New Orleans Tribune at 15:45:47 | Permalink | Comments (2)