This week, Louisiana voted for Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (Republican) to be their new governor. He is the first American of (East) Indian descent to be elected to such a high office. There are about 2.5 million Asian Indians in the US, less than 1%, and prejudice against these smaller minorities can sometimes go unremarked. Despite some of Jindal's highly conservative views (e.g. he wants to ban all abortions without exception) on balance I see his election as evidence of continuing progress toward civil rights for all.
He pretty much won every part of the state except New Orleans. But here's the lesson. He got 700,000 votes total, which was 54% of the total. New Orleans is missing about 250,000 black people. There's a connection there.
ReplyDeleteDoes the Governor of Louisiana have the legal power to remove local officials? If so, I hope Jindal removes N.O. Mayor Ray Nagin, Police Chief Warren Riley and D.A. Eddie Jordan for gross misconduct, incompetence, & neglect.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've heard, Nagin is the GOP's favorite Democrat in New Orleans so I wouldn't count on his removal by a Republican governor even if it were possible - which it almost certainly isn't.
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