A new day for New Orleans
I can't say I'm much of a football fan, but I do have a powerful love of the city of New Orleans. I was born down there and my family is still spread all across southern Louisiana. When "Geaux Saints" turned into "Who Dat" it took over my Facebook wall months before the playoffs were even mentioned.
So I'm excited for the Crescent City's turn of fortune. Everyone seems to agree, after Katrina and after the disaster that has been post-Katrina, the city needed it.
But there was something else the city got this weekend that it desperately needed: a new mayor. Mitch Landrieu (brother of Senator Mary and son of former mayor Moon) won a first round mayoral contest Saturday with a dominating 66 percent of the vote. It was a change the city needed and apparently also wanted in a large majority.
Landrieu outlined some of his priorities in his pre-game acceptance speech including getting New Orleans closer to Washington, finding a new police chief, and addressing New Orleans' endemic violence:
Asked about the killing Friday of a 15-year-old honor student who was waiting for the school bus, Landrieu repeated his oft-repeated view that violent crime, especially against young black men at the hands of their peers, "is an American tragedy and a national shame."
"It's not something that we should accept, nor is it normal, " he said. "It happens all around America, but it happens a lot in the city of New Orleans, and it's critically important that the citizens of New Orleans understand, as we have spoken to many times in the campaign, that making the streets safe so that our sons and daughters can be protected on one end, or something as simple as being able to sit on your porch again or have your child ride your bike, is very important to all of us."
"So, my message to them is: I hear you, and we understand, and we're going to do something about it, " he said.
Congratulations New Orleans, I hope this really is a new day.
Recently on the Current News Blog:
- Commercial Culture Wars - Lily Bixler
- Juarez high school killings - How much more can residents take?
- Autism's Bad Apple -The MMR vaccine link reversal
- An Axis of Instability: Somali pirates capture N. Korean ship
- California Draws New Lines
-
- groups:
- news blog
-
- tags:
- New Orleans, Miami, Super Bowl, Hurricane Katrina, 10 more
