Ray Nagin pulls Emily Latella: Uh, Nevermind!

He didn't really mean those words about Chocolate, or God being mad

Ray Nagin, Mayor, New Orleans, who also happens to be "of color" (Black/ African American/ Negro, your choice) is back pedalling quicker than Lance Armstrong riding his way up the hills during the height of his Tour De France run....

After comments yesterday saying he wanted to or would see New Orleans as a 'Chocolate' city again, today's he's apologizing for pandering to the crowd.. I guess he didn't realize that the camera and voice recorders were on.

Anyway, he's pulling an Emily Latella (if you remember that character from the original, classic, Saturday Night Live episodes, played so well by Gilda Radner): "Nevermind" Now he just wants everyone to forget he said such stupid, racist things. I hope that people don't forget them though, as they just go to show the mentality of some people, and also where the problems with racism most likely are.

Think about it -- if Rush Limbaugh had said "New Orleans will be a Chocolate city again", or if Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Trent Lott, Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, or a host of other conservatives had said such things, they'd be immediately villified. Instead, we got nary a peep out of the main stream media over the stupid comments that Nagin made. Such is the double standard that is applied in this country.

A fine and decent man is running for the Senate in Maryland that happens to be "of color" (Black) and also happens to be a conservative and a Republican. Because of that, he's being called an Uncle Tom, and has endured heinous amounts of racism. The Democrats in the state don't repudiate the garbage that has been tossed at him -- why, because he's a conservative, and a republican. Again, double standard.

Anyway, here's the follow-up on Nagin and his mea culpa/retraction.

New Orleans Mayor Apologizes for Remark

By BRETT MARTEL
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS

Mayor Ray Nagin apologized Tuesday for a Martin Luther King Day speech in which he predicted that New Orleans would be a "chocolate" city once more and asserted that "God was mad at America."
"I said some things that were totally inappropriate. ... It shouldn't have happened," Nagin said, explaining he was caught up in the moment as he spoke to mostly black spectators, many of them fearful of being shut out of the city's rebuilding.
During the speech Monday, Nagin, who is black, said that the hurricanes that hit the nation in quick succession were a sign of God's anger toward the United States and toward black communities, too, for their violence and infighting. He also said New Orleans has to be a mostly black city again because "it's the way God wants it to be."
On Tuesday, Nagin said his comments about God were inappropriate and stemmed from a private conversation he had with a minister earlier. "I need to be more sensitive and more aware of what I'm saying," he said.
The mayor said his speech was really meant to convey that blacks were a vital part of New Orleans' history and culture and should be encouraged to return. "I want everyone to be welcome in New Orleans _ black, white, Asian, everybody," he said.
Nagin said the other main point he had hoped to make Monday was that when blacks do return, they must work to stamp out the crime and political infighting that have held them back.
New Orleans was more than 65 percent black before Hurricane Katrina. The storm displaced about three-quarters of the city's population. Most of the estimated 125,000 residents who have been able to return are white.

... more at linked article

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