a paragon of contradiction


New Orleans: A Paragon of Contradiction

 Like Washington, DC, New Orleans is a paragon of contradiction.  It has a longer history than our nation's capital in the practice of Catholic and catholic corruption, and that fact has made it one of the most magnetic urban centers in the United States of America. It is a haven for excess and a breeding ground for "isms" -----sexism, racism, classism, elitism, and so forth.  Any well-designed study of American cities which came near to "objectivity" in its use of qualitative and quantitative factors would arrive at a tentative conclusion: the Crescent City does have a unique "history" (all cities have unique histories), but the problems it deals with daily and the choices of its elected official in addressing those problems  are not unique.  The conclusions of an honest and holistic study , of course, would provoke howls of protest from many  native-born residents and  from  opportunists who profit from the city's cultures and economic vulnerability.    



On Wednesday, June 26, 2019, the City sponsored a justice system community roundtable at the Pythian,  a building constructed " by the Colored Knights of Pythias under the leadership of Smith W. Green in 1909," a building that "has been integral to civil and human rights" for a century.  The agenda included a presentation on the purpose and work of the Criminal Justice Council -----access

https://council.nola.gov/committees/criminal-justice-committee-----, approximately 17 tables at which participants  discussed the state of criminal justice in New Orleans, and table reports on three urgent issues the Council should address.



My table identified three key issues: early intervention to prevent juvenile criminalization, employment, and viable alternatives in the administration of justice, a most elusive abstraction.  What we could not include in our group report was what we said about trauma and mental health, bail, the lack of vocational skills among the incarcerated at Orleans Justice Center who await trial, the dark motives of the New Orleans District Attorney, widespread distrust of the police,  and the systemic inequities innate in criminal justice.  What we could not include was the consensus at my table that the Criminal Justice Council ought to a year-long conversation with the entire population of New Orleans about  the deep roots  of criminality and mass incarceration.  So radical an undertaking would be much more valuable for a future in New Orleans than any number of middle-class roundtables for predictable audiences of social activists.  The undertaking would force Mayor LaToya Cantrell and other city officials to transform a trickle  of rhetoric into a flood of meaningful actions.  All citizens might profit from  robust  exposure of why a paragon of contradiction ought not endlessly  nourish greed, corruption, the manufacturing of public trauma,  and criminal injustice in New Orleans.



All people who live in New Orleans  need to know that  "justice" is a mousetrap.



Jerry W. Ward, Jr.            June 28, 2019

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