Displaying items by tag: confederate monuments

I get it.

I get that millions of People, mainly white, do not like symbols and icons of the past to be swept away and suddenly Gone with the Wind.  I understand that people are angry. They view the confederate flags and statues to be symbols of white supremacy, slavery, and oppression.  I see why African Americans are afraid for their sons or their brothers to go to the corner drug store or take a run in the park.

It has been over two years since the self-centered former Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, removed four historic monuments without a vote of the people. In a bid to garner national attention and praise from liberal media outlets, Landrieu labeled the monuments “racist” and symbols of the “Cult of the Lost Cause.” His cynical campaign was an attempt to minimize the importance and significance of monuments that had stood in the city of New Orleans for over 100 years.

The new Mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell, has been saddled with many problems, courtesy of Mitch Landrieu, her self-serving predecessor. There is the ongoing crime crisis, highlighted by this morning’s double murder in the Desire neighborhood. Cantrell is also facing a Sewerage and Water Board debacle which became much worse during the Landrieu years. In addition, she faces the ongoing problems of potholes, homelessness, blight, drugs, poverty and the high unemployment rate, especially among African American males.

I know that in some communities and in some circles, it is not politically-correct to say anything positive about now ex-New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

Ever since he fought the battle of the confederate monuments, to a large block of Louisiana voters, he has crossed the wrong side of the proverbial Mason Dixon line.  Even worse, he spent time at the Aspen Institute the weekend that the water pumps failed, causing significant damage to innocent people who entrusted him and city government to protect their properties from the wet.

Prior to New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu making Confederate monuments the signature issue of his second term, there was no controversy. New Orleans citizens of all races rarely mentioned the Confederate statues and the Mayor did not include the issue in the platform for his re-election.

Even though there are six weeks left in his term as Mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu has already set his sights on a bigger prize: the White House.

With the launch of his book, “In the Shadows of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History,” Landrieu has been all over the national media. In recent days, he has been interviewed on the CBS Morning Show, the National Geographic Channel, 60 Minutes, This Week, The Daily Show, andMeet the Press, to name only a few. This Friday, he will be a guest on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.

Two days after receiving tremendous praise from Chris Matthews of Hard Ball, ready to launch his book tour and a couple of months before he turns over the keys to the Mayor's office to his successor LaToya Cantrell, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu announced today what the city will be doing with the controversial confederate monuments his administration took down amid much anger.

Was that a political endorsement for Mitch Landrieu for the position of President of the United States we heard last night coming out of the mouth of MSNBC’s Hardball’s Chris Matthews?

Huh?

Well, let me explain. First, a little history.