Failing the race: a historical assessment of New Orleans Mayor Sidney Barthelemy, 1986-1994

New Orleans’ voters elected Sidney Barthelemy as the city’s second African American mayor in 1986. Historical treatments of Barthelemy’s tenure generally do not hold him in the same high regard as New Orleans’ first African American mayor, Ernest Morial. Yet, unfavorable evaluations of Barthelemy reflect the maturation of African American politics in the Crescent City. Symbolic victories no longer resonate with an African American populous in need of substantive gains to redress longstanding social and economic inequities. With the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle for African American equality entered its next phase, the transition from protest to politics. Denied the vote for so long, African Americans typically assigned high, even unrealistic, expectations to the liberating possibilities of the ballot. Yet, the mayoral tenure of Sidney Barthelemy illustrates the limitations of electoral politics as a vehicle for African American advancement. The consolidation of African American political power in New Orleans produced uneven gains. While the African American middle class benefited from set-aside programs for minority businesses and increased access to municipal employment, African Americans at the lower rungs of the socioeconomic ladder realized little more than rhetorical service from the election black mayors. Black political power did not translate into black economic power. And cuts in state and federal funding, declining tax bases owing to white flight to the suburbs, and downturns in vital industries rendered Mayor Barthelemy impotent in uplifting conditions for poor and working-class African Americans. These findings suggest that the struggle for African American equality must permutate beyond the narrow confines of electoral politics

Casino gambling\u27s proliferation throughout the United States: A case study of legal gaming in Louisiana

Legal casino-style gambling has expanded dramatically in the United States during the 1990s. Casino Gambling\u27s Proliferation Throughout the U.S.: A Case Study of Legal Gaming in Louisiana examines the causes for this sudden growth and the effects that introducing casino gambling has had on one state in particular, Louisiana. The paper will take you through a brief history of gambling from its earliest roots to its present place in our society. It will also provide a glimpse into what is in store for the gaming industry in the future

Square dancing: the official magazine of the Sets in Order American Square Dance Society.

Published monthly for and by Square Dancers and for the general enjoyment of all

Casinos in context : the impacts of stand-alone casino development on urban neighborhoods

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (p. 169-174).As the stigma of gambling fades and governments seek more sources of revenue the urban casino is becoming more common. Many of these are legalized to operate with limited competition in their state, standing alone in their respective city. while the general, diffuse impacts of casinos have been well studied, the paucity of casinos in urban settings has left a gap in the understanding of how stand-alone casinos affect their urban context. This thesis seeks to fill this gap by analyzing three of the oldest stand-alone urban casinos in the United States: Harrah's Casino in Joliet, Harrah's Casino in New Orleans, and Greektown Casino in Detroit. The thesis analyzes the impact of each of these casinos through the lens of five categories of impact: urban design of the neighborhood, city investment, real estate development, street-level commerce, and the residential community. The resulting analysis finds that casinos tend to be insular entities that do not impact much outside their own footprint. Their greatest potential for external impacts is an ability to act as an anchor for street-level commerce in a neighborhood if designed properly, a trend that has been observed for some time in resort communities with fake interior streets. The essay concludes with recommendations on how a city might engender a similar phenomenon.by Luke J. Schray.M.C.P

Remembering Vietnam War Veterans: Interpreting History Through New Orleans Monuments and Memorials

ABSTRACT This thesis is concerned with the question of how America’s citizen soldiers are remembered and how their services can be interpreted through monuments and memorials. The paper discusses the concept of memory and the functions of memorialization. It explores whether and how monuments and memorials portray the difficulties, hardships, horror, costs, and consequences of armed combat. The political motivations behind the design, formation and establishment of the edifices are also probed. The paper considers the Vietnam War monuments and memorials erected by Americans and Vietnam expatriates in New Orleans, Louisiana, and examines their illustrative and educational usefulness. Results reflect that although political benefits accrued from the realization of the memorial structures in question, far more important, palliative and meaningful motives brought about their construction. They also demonstrate that, when understood, monuments and memorials can be historically useful

Are you better off ; Ronald Reagan, Louisiana, and the 1980 Presidential election

This thesis describes how Ronald Reagan succeeded in carrying Louisiana in the 1980 Presidential election. Initially, pundits predicted the election, both statewide and nationwide, would be a “dead heat” between Reagan and President Jimmy Carter. Southern voters supported Carter, despite his many blunders; many American voters wondered if Reagan would be a competent leader. Reagan had a well-organized campaign and spent plenty of time in Louisiana, considered a pivotal “swing state.” His campaign team prepared speeches, explained issues, and received information and support from state Republican leaders, including Governor David Treen and Congressmen Robert Livingston and Henson Moore. Good local support, coordinated by the national campaign, paid real dividends. This thesis utilizes the Ronald Reagan Campaign Papers at the Reagan Presidential Library, Simi Valley, California. These papers were first made available for research in 2008, and include correspondence among campaign staffers, politicians, and some supporters. In addition, this thesis uses network newscasts from the Vanderbilt University Television News Archive. Finally, numerous Louisiana newspapers, including those from rural, suburban, and urban areas, were used for research. Reagan\u27s victory in the 1980 election marked the beginning of a new form of conservatism that stressed economic and social reform via lower taxes, smaller federal government, strong national defense, and opposition to both abortion and homosexual lifestyles. In Louisiana, his win boosted the state\u27s Republican Party, once considered a small minority party with little power in local and state leadership. In addition, the 1980 campaign served as a trial run in Louisiana for Governor Treen, who served as Reagan\u27s Louisiana honorary campaign chair, and former Democratic Governor Edwin Edwards, who served as Carter\u27s Louisiana honorary campaign chair, as these two men faced each other in the 1983 gubernatorial election. Thanks to Reagan\u27s legacy, Louisiana\u27s Republican Party has transformed itself into a strong second party that currently holds most statewide elected offices, federal Congressional seats, and both houses of the state legislature. Though not clear in 1980, today it is clear that the conservative Republican resurgence in American politics defined itself in Louisiana in choices offered by Ronald Reagan in achieving an impressive electoral victory

They Took My Bedroom: A Case Study of Eminent Domain in New Orleans

Of the many powers granted to federal, state, and local governments through the Constitution of theUnited States, eminent domain is possibly the strongest and most imposing, at least as it relates to citizens’ property rights. This dissertation explores several large-scale public undertakings inNew Orleansduring the period from 1929 to 2011 in which the application of eminent domain was necessary to accomplish the government’s goals. This research window will allow the analysis of eminent domain applications from the construction of the Municipal Auditorium through the new medical center projects spurred by the flooding associated with Hurricane Katrina. This timeframe also allows for evaluation of the interaction between planning inNew Orleansand the City’s exercises of eminent domain. By better understanding the past uses of eminent domain and the goals and policies that drove the exercise of this power, researchers and planning practitioners will be better informed in making decisions that will impact the rebuilding and the future ofNew Orleans. The specific cases studied as part of this dissertation are: the Municipal Auditorium (Chapter 2); the development of Public Housing (Chapter 3); the Civic Center (Chapter 4), Bridges and Highways (Chapter 5), the Cultural Center (Chapter 6); and the Medical Center of Louisiana at New Orleans and Veterans Administration Medical Center (Chapter 7). The reason for evaluating all types of projects resulting in the use of eminent domain use inNew Orleansis because all have profound impacts on the communities in which this governmental power is exercised. The primary finding of this dissertation is that the exercise of eminent domain has never been used a principal tool in the implementation of redevelopment proposals in the city ofNew Orleans. All projects throughout the established research period required the use of governmental expropriation authority to complete land acquisition, but in all cases the government’s authority was used conservatively and only when privately negotiated purchases failed