HispanicVista Columnists
New Orleans Mayor Fails Humanity 101
- Meanwhile, back at the ranch, corporations contracting with the United States government to rebuild the city continue hiring the undocumented Mexicans making millions of dollars in profit in the process—and the people of New Orleans waiting to come back home whisper that legendary Fats Domino tune, “Yes, I'm walking to New Orleans, I'm walking to New Orleans, I'm walking to New Orleans.”
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- Robert Miranda, a frequent contributing columnist to HispanicVista.com (www.hispanicvista.com), is a national award winning columnist, Latino community activist and Editor-in-Chief of the Milwaukee Spanish Journal. Contact Roberto Miranda at: rmiranda@wi.rr.com
By Robert Miranda
As the United States government continues to work its way out of the incompetence that has hurt relief efforts in New Orleans, a new tension rises from the famed city and it has the potential of embarrassing the United States around the world.
Hurricane Katrina not only left in her wake shattered lives and devastation of property, she also highlighted America’s deepest and most insidious culture—racism.
Thousands of New Orleans people are desperately trying to regain stability in their lives and one of the ways it can be done is by finding employment in their own city.
Unfortunately, to find employment one must compete against others who also seek employment to survive. In that quest for jobs we find Latino laborers marching to the beat of, “I'm walking to New Orleans.”
And they are walking to New Orleans by the thousands.
Sadly however, this migration is causing tension and has caused the Mayor of the City to come forth and publicly state, “How do I make sure New Orleans is not overrun with Mexican workers?"
A sobering statement coming from a man who has for the past few months seen suffering and devastation among families. Yes, American families the media once labeled as refugees--families left abandoned by the federal government for almost a week before help started to finally come into the city.
Once again the families of New Orleans are being abandoned. This time it’s at the hands of the private sector.
While New Orleans Mayor Nagin complains about Mexicans coming into his city competing for jobs, he’s ignoring the corporations who have been hiring them. The very corporations that have been given contracts by the United States government is now engaging in hiring undocumented workers to do the work New Orleans citizens should be doing.
Where is the outrage from the mayor against these profiteers who have ignored their civic responsibility to hire the residents of his city? Are the people of New Orleans not part of the reconstruction?
It is sad indeed to place blame on humanity for doing what comes natural—looking for a way to place food on the table—which is what most of the Latino workers are only seeking to do. But rather than look to the monarchs of greed, Mayor Nagin attacks the poor and blames them for wanting to survive.
Mayor Nagin is right to complain and he has every reason to fight for his city, but to come out and blame people for only doing what is human, well, it shows his shallowness and his lack of humanity.
New Orleans faces many challenges, and drumming up false blame on human beings for only doing what comes natural to humans is counterproductive to building a just and righteous city.
Ignoring what is obviously a season of greed now gripping New Orleans is an affront to justice and a disservice to the people of New Orleans.
Mayor Nagin has failed being a human being and he is failing his people everyday he ignores corporate greed now spreading like cancer in his city.