Stacy Head
Stacy Head began her career in politics as an undergraduate student at Louisiana State University. While in college, she worked for the Louisiana state legislature and, after earning a law degree, worked briefly as an attorney. Head has served on the New Orleans City Council since 2006, when she defeated District B incumbent Renée Gill Pratt, who was subsequently indicted for racketeering. Head ran against what she termed the political machine of then-congressman Bill Jefferson (who was subsequently indicted and convicted of racketeering) and became the first white councilmember to represent District B in 31 years. Head was re-elected in February 2010.
Head's tenure on the council has been marked by a series of controversies, many related to her efforts to reform city government. In 2008, she began investigating the relationship between fees collected and services rendered by the sanitation department. This escalated into arguments about city contracts with minority businesses. When sanitation director Veronica White leaked thousands of e-mails from white members of the city council to activist lawyer Tracie Washington, the conflict expanded, eventually leading to a failed recall drive.
Despite her reputation, Head was elected councilmember-at-large in February 2012, a victory credited to the 12 percent black vote she received. She is now one of two councilmembers-at-large on the seven-person New Orleans City Council. She was reelected in 2014.
Sources:
» Donze, Frank. "Stacy Head New Orleans City Council Victory Credited to Turnout, Black Vote." The Times-Picayune, April 23, 2012. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/04/turnout_black_vote_key_to_stac.html
» New Orleans City Council. "Stacy Head: Councilmember-At-Large." http://www.nolacitycouncil.com/meet/meet_head_atlarge.asp
» White, Jaquetta. "Head Defends Her Record as Green Attacks It in At-large Council Race." The New Orleans Advocate, January 28, 2014. http://www.theneworleansadvocate.com/home/8169584-172/head-defends-her-record-as
Barbara Lacen-Keller
Barbara Lacen-Keller is the director of constituent services for New Orleans city councilwoman Stacy Head, and a longtime activist. Former New Orleans mayor Marc Morial called her the "mayor of Central City." She worked in the Orleans parish school system for 16 years and then became the clinic administrator at the Central City health clinic for another eight years. Since 2006, she's served as a staff member for councilwoman Head. Lacen-Keller was also the original organizer of the Second Line Cultural Tradition Task Force, which promotes, preserves, perpetuates and celebrates the music and culture of the city. She is also the chair of the Central City Partnership, a community organization that brings together schools, businesses, faith-based organizations and residents and runs a skills bank program to help unemployed community members find jobs.
Sources:
» Murphy, Paul. "Central City Partnership Puts Locals to Work." WWLTV.com. Eyewitness News, June 11, 2012. http://www.wwltv.com/news/Central-City-Partnership-Puts-Locals-To-Work-158500265.html
» New Orleans City Council. "Council Staff." http://www.nolacitycouncil.com/meet/meet_councilstaff.asp
Corey Watson
Corey Watson worked as an electrical engineer until 2000, when he became an ordained minister. He now serves as pastor at Watson Memorial Teaching Ministries, which was founded by his father, Tom Watson, and is located in District B. Corey Watson's political career began after he became involved in civic initiatives ranging from at-risk youth outreach to environmental justice. In 2012, Watson ran in the election for the councilmember-at-large seat, which he lost. His opponent, Stacy Head, took home 67 percent of the vote, while Watson received 33 percent.
Sources:
» Carr, Sarah. "Stacy Head, Corey Watson Tiptoe through New Orleans City Council Race." The Times-Picayune, January 19, 2010. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2010/01/post_276.html
» Krupa, Michelle. "Corey Watson, Son of Uptown Minister Tom Watson, to Challenge Stacy Head for City Council Seat." The Times-Picayune, December 2, 2009. http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/12/corey_watson_son_of_uptown_min.html
» Morris, Robert. "Uptown Area Election Results." Uptown Messenger, April 8, 2010. http://uptownmessenger.com/2010/04/uptown-area-election-results/
Stephanie Mingo
Stephanie Mingo is a housing activist in New Orleans and after Hurricane Katrina was one of the many residents displaced from the old St. Bernard public housing development, the second largest housing project in the city. She was the third generation of her family to live in St. Bernard. The housing project was subsequently demolished after a unanimous vote of the city council. Mingo was offered an apartment in the new mixed income Columbia Parc development, which is being built on the same site, but she refused it. Along with other former tenants, she objects to the small number of residences set aside for low-income former residents of St. Bernard and the new strict rules for residents. Mingo is a mother of four and a longtime employee of the Orleans parish school board.
Desegregation of New Orleans, 1960
The population of New Orleans has historically experienced dramatic fluctuations in ethnicity and race, stemming from factors such as colonization, slavery and immigration. From 1850 to 1950, the population underwent a substantial shift as the number of foreign-born residents decreased from more than 40 percent of the population to just 3 percent, while the number of black residents increased from 5.3 percent to 30.7 percent of the population. This pattern was widespread across the United States as the participation of black citizens in the burgeoning industries of large cities intensified.
On May 17, 1954, the verdict of Brown v. Board of Education determined that the segregation of public schools was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Resistance to the U.S. Supreme Court decision was fierce in many Southern states, resulting in both President Eisenhower and President Kennedy deploying the National Guard to assist in the integration of school districts and protect young students from protesters. In New Orleans, the desegregation of public schools is now referred to as the "New Orleans School Crisis" because of the violent and bitter responses from segregationists.
Federal district court judge J. Skelly Wright mandated that New Orleans public schools needed to begin the process of desegregation by September 1960. However, it wasn't until November 1960 that African-American students were actually admitted to white schools. Ruby Bridges, Leona Tate, Tessie Provost and Gail Etienne were among the first African-American schoolchildren to attend formerly all-white schools in the South when they enrolled at schools in the Ninth Ward in the face of fervent protest and backlash. Tate, ProProvost and Etienne attended McDonogh Number 19; Bridges attended William Frantz Elementary School. In response, many white parents pulled their children from those two schools, leaving behind fewer than 10 white students enrolled in both schools combined. Bridges was left alone in the classroom with the only white teacher who would agree to teach her.
Sources:
» Fussell, Elizabeth. "Constructing New Orleans, Constructing Race: A Population History of New Orleans." Journal of American History 94 (December 2007). http://www.journalofamericanhistory.org/projects/katrina/Fussell.html
» KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana "New Orleans School Crisis." http://www.knowla.org/entry/723/
» Landphair, Juliette. "'The Forgotten People of New Orleans': Community, Vulnerability, and the Lower Ninth Ward." Journal of American History 94 (December 2007). http://www.journalofamericanhistory.org/projects/katrina/Landphair.html
White Flight, 1965
The desegregation of public schools began a dramatic change in the demographics of New Orleans, as many white residents relocated to suburban areas where a number of school districts were still segregated. This trend, commonly referred to as "white flight," is attributed in part to backlash against the civil rights movement and upwardly mobile black families moving into previously all-white neighborhoods. This pattern of white families moving out of the cities and into the suburbs was widespread throughout the country.
During this time, New Orleans saw an exodus of residents from the Lower Ninth Ward, which had previously been inhabited mostly by white and working class residents. In 1965, Hurricane Betsy wrought severe damage in the Lower Ninth Ward, causing even more white residents to leave the area. Most settled in St. Bernard parish, while the predominantly African-American population remaining suffered the devastation of the hurricane. During the period from Hurricane Betsy to Hurricane Katrina, the population of New Orleans dropped by more than 20 percent as white residents left. By 2000, approximately 90 percent of the population of the Lower Ninth Ward was African-American.
Sources:
» Landphair, Juliette. "'The Forgotten People of New Orleans': Community, Vulnerability, and the Lower Ninth Ward." Journal of American History 94 (December 2007). http://www.journalofamericanhistory.org/projects/katrina/Landphair.html
» http://www.irp.wisc.edu/publications/focus/pdfs/foc32a.pdf
First Black Mayor of New Orleans, 1978
In 1978, the city of New Orleans elected its first black mayor, Ernest Nathan Morial. Originally from the Seventh Ward, Morial was the first black graduate of the law school at Louisiana State University, as well as the first black member of the state legislature since Reconstruction, the era following the Civil War. Morial became a central figure in the civil rights movement of New Orleans, fighting for equal rights as a civil rights attorney and serving as president of the local NAACP chapter. In his 1977 mayoral election, Morial garnered 95 percent of the black vote and 20 percent of the white vote to defeat his opponent, Joseph DiRosa. Morial continued on to serve two consecutive terms.
When Morial began his first term, New Orleans was the third poorest city in the United States. He dedicated his efforts to ensuring that the poor gained access to opportunities and pushed for the city to increase employment of African Americans. As a result, from 1977 to 1985 the proportion of African-American city workers increased by 13 percent. Morial also worked to amplify tourism as a central driver of the local economy by encouraging investment in the downtown area. By the end of Morial's second term, he had relieved New Orleans of a $40 million deficit and balanced the city's budget.
Sources:
» Hirsch, Arnold. "Harold and Dutch Revisited: A Comparative Look at the First Black Mayors of Chicago and New Orleans." In African-American Mayors: Race, Politics, and the American City, edited by David Colburn and Jeffrey Adler. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 2001.
» KnowLA Encyclopedia of Louisiana. "Dutch Morial." http://www.knowla.org/entry/818/
» The Louisiana Humanities Center. "The Mayors of New Orleans Since 1946." http://www.leh.org/mayors/mayors.html
» NOLA.com. "1977: Dutch Morial Is Elected First Black Mayor of New Orleans." http://www.nola.com/175years/index.ssf/2011/12/1977_dutch_morial_is_elected_f.html
Black Political Dominance, 1979 to 2004
From 1979 to 2004, the presence of African Americans in New Orleans government surged to unprecedented levels. During Morial's mayoralty, African-American political organizations such as BOLD (Black Organization for Leadership Development), SOUL (Southern Organization for Unified Leadership) and LIFE (Louisiana Independent Federation of Electors) emerged as conduits for black citizens to engage in the political process. These organizations were a necessary counterbalance to the popular whites-only gentlemen's clubs where business and policymaking decisions were traditionally made.
By 2004, the city of New Orleans had elected four African-American mayors: Ernest N. Morial (1978-1986), Sidney J. Barthelemy (1986-1994), Marc Morial (1994-2002) and C. Ray Nagin (2002-2010), who served during Hurricane Katrina. The city council sustained a black majority for almost two decades, and black voter participation in the city was consistently higher than white turnout.
Sources:
» Eggler, Bruce. "Katrina Changed Racial Landscape of Orleans Politics." The Times-Picayune, October 18, 2008. http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/katrina_changed_racial_landsca.html
» Garvey, Joan B., and Mary Lou Widmer. "Mayors of New Orleans." Beautiful Crescent: A History of New Orleans. Gretna, LA: Pelican, 2013.
» Mock, Brentin. "The Changing Face of Political Power in New Orleans." The Root, August 23, 2010. http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2010/08/black_political_power_in_new_orleans_is_waning_five_years_after_katrina.html
» Smith, Ryan. "Gap Closes on Voter Turnout." The Times-Picayune, October 18, 2008. http://blog.nola.com/news_impact/2008/10/RACEPOLITICS101908.jpg
Katrina Forces Exodus, 2005
The racial and political climate in New Orleans shifted dramatically again when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans on August 29, 2005, killing at least 1,836 people and causing an estimated 81 billion dollars in damage. The population of the city decreased from nearly 450,000 residents in 2005 to roughly 210,000 in 2006 after the storm. At the same time, the white population increased from 28 percent in 2005 to 42.7 percent in 2006, while the black population decreased by over 30 percent. The areas hit the hardest by Hurricane Katrina were predominantly low-income, black neighborhoods with poor infrastructure situated near the water. The population of St. Bernard parish decreased by half. Many of these residents were renters and not homeowners, and it became nearly impossible for them to find new housing in order to return after the floods cleared. Less than a quarter of the 5,000 families living in public housing in New Orleans before the hurricane have returned.
At the same time, population grew in suburban wealthy neighborhoods located in more elevated areas, such as St. Tammany Parish, where the population increased by 25 percent. The changes extended beyond white and African-American residents; as the city struggled to rebuild itself, a wave of migrant workers from Mexico and Central America moved to New Orleans seeking jobs in construction and manual labor. As a result, the city's Latino population more than doubled.
This change in the city's demographics had impact in the political arena as well. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, African-American voters consistently turned out at the polls in greater numbers than white voters. As that gap closed, a greater number of white candidates successfully sought seats long held by African Americans. Since 2004, black majority representation has been altered significantly.
Sources:
» Democracy Now. "Battle over Right to Return: Housing Advocates Occupy New Orleans Public Housing Office." http://www.democracynow.org/2007/9/4/battle_over_right_to_return_housing
» Eggler, Bruce. "Katrina Changed Racial Landscape of Orleans Politics." The Times-Picayune, October 18, 2008. http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/katrina_changed_racial_landsca.html#
» Fussell, Elizabeth. "Constructing New Orleans, Constructing Race: A Population History of New Orleans." Journal of American History 94 (December 2007). http://www.journalofamericanhistory.org/projects/katrina/Fussell.html
» LiveScience. "Hurricane Katrina: Facts, Damage & Aftermath." http://www.livescience.com/22522-hurricane-katrina-facts.html
» Robertson, Campbell. "Smaller New Orleans After Katrina, Census Shows." The New York Times, February 3, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/us/04census.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
New Orleans in 2010
By 2010, the city of New Orleans had undergone decades of powerful shifts in size and structure. The overall population of New Orleans has been steadily shrinking, and the 2010 U.S. Census showed that since the previous U.S. Census in 2000 the population had dropped from 484,674 to 343,829. Though the black population dwindled during that time, New Orleans maintained a black majority of approximately 60 percent versus 30 percent for non-Hispanic whites. Poverty remained a major issue for New Orleans in 2010, as more than 27 percent of residents lived below the federal poverty line. In 2010, Mitch Landrieu was elected mayor, making him the first white mayor to hold the position since his father served two terms from 1970 to 1978.
In recent years, and despite the immense challenges the city has faced in recovering from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans' population, infrastructure and economic investment have started to rebound. However, Hurricane Katrina left an indelible mark, and many individuals and families can no longer live in the city where they once resided. Eight years after the storm, 90 percent of residents of middle and upper class origin had returned, often to intact homes and communities, while only 30 percent of low-income residents, such as those in the Lower Ninth Ward, were able to come back to their homes. While the population continues to shift in the face of both trial and triumph, the image of New Orleans remains that of a city rich in culture and history. Today, thousands of tourists again flock to the city to celebrate the vibrant traditions that make New Orleans a unique and irreplaceable part of America's culture and history.
Sources:
» Al Jazeera America. "Eight Years after Hurricane Katrina, Many Evacuees Yet to Return." http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/8/29/eight-years-afterkatrinalowincomeevacueeshaveyettoreturn.html
» Robertson, Campbell. "Smaller New Orleans After Katrina, Census Shows." The New York Times, February 3, 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/us/04census.html?pagewanted=all
» United States Census Bureau. "New Orleans." http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/2255000.html