Nagin: God Mad at America, Wants Chocolate New Orleans

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin used the occasion of the Martin Luther King holiday to proclaim that the hurricanes which hit his city are punishment from God and that he is dreaming of a black New Orleans.

Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that “God is mad at America” and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting. “Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it’s destroyed and put stress on this country,” Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day. “Surely he doesn’t approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We’re not taking care of ourselves.”

He also made Ray Nagin their mayor, so the evidence is mounting.

Nagin also promised that New Orleans will be a “chocolate” city again. Many of the city’s black neighborhoods were heavily damaged by Katrina. “It’s time for us to come together. It’s time for us to rebuild New Orleans _ the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans,” the mayor said. “This city will be a majority African American city. It’s the way God wants it to be. You can’t have New Orleans no other way. It wouldn’t be New Orleans.”

This is actually rather confusing. God sent the hurricanes to destroy the black part of New Orleans in order to ensure that it stays a black city? He surely does work in mysterious ways.

Nagin described an imaginary conversation with King, the late civil rights leader. “I said, `What is it going to take for us to move on and live your dream and make it a reality?’ He said, `I don’t think that we need to pay attention any more as much about other folks and racists on the other side.’ He said, `The thing we need to focus on as a community — black folks I’m talking about — is ourselves.'”

King has not returned calls from OTB for comment.

In one speech, Nagin managed to channel Pat Robertson, David Duke, and Hillary Clinton. [Update: LaShawn Barber wonders if Nagin will receive a similar level of criticism.] That’s quite impressive.

Ian Schwartz has the speech on video, available for download.

Update:  Hillary Clinton gets in on the stupid race tricks.

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James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Maggie says:

    Nagin’s must have been breathing the toxic fumes that the press warned us about….

    Do you think he also wants a majority of the visiting tourists to be black, too?

    Are the hotels in New Orleans going to ask your race when you try to book a room?

  2. ICallMasICM says:

    The condemnation from minority leaders is deafening.

  3. Ron says:

    Will that chocolate come with white marshmallow chunks inside it?

  4. Mark says:

    I thought Washington D.C. was supposed to be the “Chocolate City.”

    And does this make Vermont the “Vanilla State?”

  5. cirby says:

    “God mad at Louisiana, gave them politicians they deserve.”

  6. LJD says:

    New Hampshire is vanilla.
    Vermont is ‘tooty-fruity’, or ‘half-baked’.