What Does Race Have To Do With This?
If anyone wonders why CNN is in such a downward spiral, they only need to look at this article to get an idea of why:
Oil slick awaits New Orleans' 1st white mayor in decades
The first white mayor of New Orleans in more than 30 years steps into his first challenge as soon as he takes office Monday: the massive oil slick that is creeping to his coast.
The fallout from a ruptured undersea well off Louisiana is spewing about 210,000 gallons (5,000 barrels) of crude a day into the Gulf of Mexico. And efforts to corral the rapidly growing oil spill have so far been unsuccessful.
The article is predominately focused on the oil spill, with only the first paragraph and this little bit about New Orleans news mayor:
Into this climate, steps Democrat Mitch Landrieu.
His city is still digging itself out from the wrath of Hurricane Katrina five years ago. And his state is the top producer of seafood -- and so, has a lot at stake from the spill's impact.
Landrieu -- who lost two previous mayoral bids in 1994 and 2006 -- replaces the term-limited Ray Nagin in a city where about two-thirds of the residents are black.
The city's last white mayor was Landrieu's father, Maurice "Moon" Landrieu, who left office in 1978. He is remembered fondly for desegregating the city, appointing African-Americans to positions of city leadership and opening up public facilities to blacks.
Last week, the younger Landrieu took part in a flyover of the spill for a first-hand look.
"As this situation becomes clearer, there are obvious environmental and health concerns, especially as it relates to Lake Pontchartrain, our coast, and our air quality," he said Thursday. "But, there is also an economic component of the utmost importance including the impact on our fisheries
