APARTHEID in ST GEORGE, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA in 2014 - A NATIONAL DEBATE - Topix

APARTHEID in ST GEORGE, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA in 2014 - A NATIONAL DEBATE - Topix

APARTHEID in ST GEORGE, BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA in 2014 - A NATIONAL DEBATE

St. George and Its Dragons: A Fiery National Discussion

"Us Southerners are not understood above the Mason-Dixon line."

This statement received a drawled "Ay-men" from the crowd. Though I didn't agree with conservative Baptist preacher C.L. Bryant's entire sermon, I agreed with that much. It is, after all, what prompted me to write this post.

Though my parents are from Rochester, New York, I have lived in Louisiana my entire life. To say my relatives do not understand Louisiana is an understatement--they still can't pronounce my hometown of Opelousas.

A grassroots movement in Baton Rouge is advocating for a new municipality named St. George, which would retain tax dollars to build a new district and fund a new town government. The issue is that most residents of St. George are white and affluent, and the areas they wish to exclude are poor, predominantly black neighborhoods.

I knew about St. George, but reading about it in Salon made me feel ashamed. Louisiana has a history of unflattering media representation, mostly from outsiders who know little of our complex cultural dynamics.

It made national (and international) headlines, but this was not news to me. I grew up in a conservative town, and the sentiment to "hold onto tax dollars to keep them out of the hands of the lazy poor" was the dogma of my childhood. Baton Rouge is famous for such financial disparity between races.

After studying Louisiana poverty in university, I hold a different view, and I was ready to slay St. George before it could materialize. Admittedly, I did not know its context, but I saw this same dilemma play out across the state.

When I saw there was an informational at a local Baptist church, I became curious about this proposed city and its advocates. What was this about (in their minds, anyway)? I took a thirty-minute drive to Woodlawn Baptist Church to find out.

When I heard their defense, my impression of the movement changed. They feel neglected. They want accountability for the tax dollars spent in the city. They feel underrepresented in local politics. And, as they reinforced repeatedly, this was "for the kids." They shared the frustration of taxation without representation, as our Founding Fathers did.

Framed in this context, they seem to have the qualities typical of any revolution: ordinary citizens mobilizing to govern themselves. But there's a major difference between the drafters of the St. George petition and those of our Constitution.

READ MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aryanna-prasad/st-george-and-its-dragons_b_4494619.html


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fatuous1

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MARK TRAINA

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www.marktraina.webs.com

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    http://thepoliticalfreakshow.us/post/23568160...

CANDIDATE for GOVERNOR of the GREAT STATE of LOUISIANA 2015

mark a. traina/certified school psychologist/economist/civil rights activist/504-231-3056

NATIONAL and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION for the ADVANCEMENT of WHITE PEOPLE in 2014

"The NAAWP has EVERYTHING to do with basic HUMAN RIGHTS and CHRISTAINIY, and absolutely NOTHING to do with RACISM!" (TRAINAISM, 2012)