i feel that we should strive for the vanillatization of our fair city. this is the way God has intended it to be. what do you think?

We need more churches.

We need more churches.
I actually agree with you.

Have you priced vanilla lately? I mean the real stuff, not the bogus extract on the spice shelf. We're talking serious money here.

So yeah, let there be vanilla. Saffron, too.

What's a "vanilla town"? I've never heard that before... I like vanilla, but I feel some sarcasm going on in here!!! :~)

Right now, we are borderline vanilla (vanilla is a colloquialism that means that it's not an exciting place). OKC is a place where you can have a great time if you know where to look. We are great for a city of our size.

Otherwise, if you don't know where to go, you could easily be stuck with Bricktown (which is becoming more mediocre by the day).

ps. I only think you should buy vanilla from mexico.. not that I don't want to support USA workers, but vainilla is bueno!

What's a "vanilla town"? I've never heard that before... I like vanilla, but I feel some sarcasm going on in here!!! :~)
New Orleans Mayor Sorry For 'Chocolate City' Remark

POSTED: 9:46 am EST January 18, 2006

NEW ORLEANS -- Mayor Ray Nagin is apologizing for his Martin Luther King Day speech in New Orleans.

Some people were offended after he predicted New Orleans would be a "chocolate" city again.

Nagin now said he "said some things that were totally inappropriate." He explained that his speech was directed to a mostly black audience, many of whom worry they will be shut of the city's rebirth.

Nagin said he meant that blacks were central to the city's history and culture and ought to be lured back.

New Orleans was more than 65 percent black before Hurricane Katrina forced about three-quarters of the population to flee. Most of the 125,000 or so people who have returned are white.

Nagin also apologized for asserting that "God was mad at America."

Nagin said he was caught up in the moment and "said some things that were totally inappropriate."

During the speech, Nagin, who is black, said the hurricanes that hit the nation in quick succession were a sign of God's anger toward the United States and toward black communities, too, for their violence and infighting. He also said New Orleans has to be a mostly black city again because "it's the way God wants it to be."

Nagin now said his comments about God were inappropriate and stemmed from a private conversation he had with a minister.

Thanks, Midtowner! My guess was that it meant plain, but I grew up in a small town, so even though it's by no means a big city, I still find plenty of stuff to do/see, most of the time!!

New Orleans Mayor Sorry For 'Chocolate City' Remark

POSTED: 9:46 am EST January 18, 2006

NEW ORLEANS -- Mayor Ray Nagin is apologizing for his Martin Luther King Day speech in New Orleans.

Some people were offended after he predicted New Orleans would be a "chocolate" city again.

Nagin now said he "said some things that were totally inappropriate." He explained that his speech was directed to a mostly black audience, many of whom worry they will be shut of the city's rebirth.

Nagin said he meant that blacks were central to the city's history and culture and ought to be lured back.

New Orleans was more than 65 percent black before Hurricane Katrina forced about three-quarters of the population to flee. Most of the 125,000 or so people who have returned are white.

Nagin also apologized for asserting that "God was mad at America."

Nagin said he was caught up in the moment and "said some things that were totally inappropriate."

During the speech, Nagin, who is black, said the hurricanes that hit the nation in quick succession were a sign of God's anger toward the United States and toward black communities, too, for their violence and infighting. He also said New Orleans has to be a mostly black city again because "it's the way God wants it to be."

Nagin now said his comments about God were inappropriate and stemmed from a private conversation he had with a minister.


thanks for getting what i was saying!

ps. i heard that nagin hired a reeses cup and a snickers for the city, but when a twizlers tried for the job he was booted out. nagin said that that if God wanted a twizlers in NO he would have made it chocolate.

thanks for getting what i was saying!

ps. i heard that nagin hired a reeses cup and a snickers for the city, but when a twizlers tried for the job he was booted out. nagin said that that if God wanted a twizlers in NO he would have made it chocolate.
I had just received that email from a friend of mine not long before your post, thats how I knew what you were saying, LOL.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has sought to clarify comments he made on Martin Luther King Day to the effect that New Orleans should be a "chocolate" city.

He said he had not meant that it should be an all-black metropolis, asking: "How do you make chocolate?

"You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about," he told CNN.
It would be funny if he weren't the city's leader. BTW Mayor, didn't you just say the following the day before?

This city will be a majority African American city.
Ouch. Chocolate indeed. :rolleyes:

I think Ray Nagin and Marion Berry need to hook up.

A prominent columnist in New Orleans, Steve Sabludowsky, wrote:
“Nagin has apologized. I am not sure if he knows why he did what he did. Whites need to get over it."

Now, try to imagine the following from a white mayor:

"We ask White people. It’s time for us to come together. It’s a time for us to rebuild Minneapolis — the one that should be a White Cream Minneapolis," the Mayor said, according to Associated Press reports. "This city will be a majority White city again. It’s the way God wants it to be. You can’t have Minneapolis any other way. It wouldn’t be Minneapolis."

How many columnists would be ready to forgive a comment from a white mayor like that? I can guarantee you nobody would write that, "Blacks need to get over it."

The double-standards when it comes to race in this country are all around us everyday. That's just the truth. Sometimes speaking the truth gets you called a racist and all kinds of names, it doesn't make it any less the truth.

No, I agree with you 100%

I think Ray Nagin and Marion Berry need to hook up.

Yeah! And I believe it was the city of Choctaw (A suburb to the NE of downtown OKC) who had Marion Berry there to speak a couple weeks ago. Maybe they will bring Nagin in next. LOL

THE pot head Marion Berry?

LOL The ex-mayor of DC; I ain't getting into what he might have allegedly done---was he ever convicted; I did not follow the story very closely as it unfolded, or I forgot.

I did not follow it either but I thought he spent time in jail?
Guess the good 'ol internet would tell me more if I was so inclined to look it up but I have a book to find.

Metro Library is a great source of books. I am in Pott County where we have reciprocal rights from our Pioneer Library to Metro Library, so I use both.

A prominent columnist in New Orleans, Steve Sabludowsky, wrote:
“Nagin has apologized. I am not sure if he knows why he did what he did. Whites need to get over it."

Now, try to imagine the following from a white mayor:

"We ask White people. It’s time for us to come together. It’s a time for us to rebuild Minneapolis — the one that should be a White Cream Minneapolis," the Mayor said, according to Associated Press reports. "This city will be a majority White city again. It’s the way God wants it to be. You can’t have Minneapolis any other way. It wouldn’t be Minneapolis."

How many columnists would be ready to forgive a comment from a white mayor like that? I can guarantee you nobody would write that, "Blacks need to get over it."

The double-standards when it comes to race in this country are all around us everyday. That's just the truth. Sometimes speaking the truth gets you called a racist and all kinds of names, it doesn't make it any less the truth.


Yeah, I'm jealous. I wish that I could make racially preferential statements and espouse white power without anyone criticizing me...

It occurs to me though, all I'd have to do is become a Democrat.

Marion Berry was arrested buying crack cocaine from an undercover police officer. The transaction was videotaped and was aired widely. The charges were dropped based on the transaction being intrapment. I think he was even reelected. he is not a good man.

But, you can always also find a David Duke too, what does that prove except that there is racism everywhere.

What Nagin said was wrong, but he is the already disgraced mayor of a destroyed city, and he has a good deal of fault himself, along with FEMA and the state and the Bush Adminstration on what happened when New Orleans was destroyed. What exactly did you expect from him?

Anyway, a call, even a joking call, for a vanilla city and these veiled racist remarks are not excused by what Nagin said. You reflect very poorly on yourselves and this state.

Yeah, I'm jealous. I wish that I could make racially preferential statements and espouse white power without anyone criticizing me...

It occurs to me though, all I'd have to do is become a Democrat.

Most of my family, and friends were quite disturbed at what Nagin said. It showed his complete lack of judgement (second time), and also that he can be easily influenced by others. We completely feel what was said was unexcusable, and is just one more "mark on the board" for people who are seeing the internal racial issues of african americans as well as the racial issues of society in america as a whole.

Anyway, a call, even a joking call, for a vanilla city and these veiled racist remarks are not excused by what Nagin said. You reflect very poorly on yourselves and this state.

Wait a minute! TIME OUT.......

I hope you aren't referring to my analogy with Minneapolis. If you are referring to the original post, I saw it as merely a provocative way by the poster of opening up conversation about Mayor Nagin's racist comments.

One of the problems in this country is the INABILITY for anybody to be allowed to discuss race - except the race-baiters. To turn around and call black racism for what it is, and use satire or parody to make the point is perfectly justified. Why not? When the shoe is on the other foot, satire and parody is a favorite way to communicate by those on the left. They constantly are irreverent in their blasting of anything contrary to their politically correct views. Do you watch Bill Maher? Jon Stewart? Keith Olbermann?

"Veiled racist remarks....."

This meme is getting very old. It is not only untrue, it is insulting. If you want to see "veiled racism" simply turn on the radio and listen to the latest Hip Hop gangsters...or see how white males are portrayed as clumsy, uncool and "lacking" in television advertising aimed at young people.

When the mayor of a major American city comes right out and says GOD intended his city to be black and a "chocolate city," that mayor deserves to be driven from office. JUST LIKE a white mayor would be for similar comments. In fact, it's the comments that seem to give him a pass for "apologizing" that offends most everyone.

By the way, my black neighbors, a young couple in their early thirties, agree with me 100%. This isn't a black vs white thing, this is common sense vs ignorance.

"Reflect poorly on yourselves and your state..."

Please. To turn the whole thing around (reverse the situation) and show the hypocrisy by using analogies, etc. is hardly a reflection of character. To further advance that by saying it somehow reflects poorly on where WE live is just plain ridiculous. It is this kind of "shame on you" for daring to discuss race, except in the hushest of tones, that people are sick to death of. The chains need to be unlocked so Americans can be free from the cultural fascists and self-proclaimed watchdogs of sensitivity, freed to speak the truth - even when the truth may (God forbid) offend someone.

You just had to know this was coming:
http://www.imnotchocolate.com/
"Willy Nagin and the Chocolate Factory" http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v291/Mad_Monk/lool.gif

yes, of course, racist jokes made about a racist joke are fine!

Really, who said you can't talk about this? Why do you have the perception that what he said is ok?

And example, newsweek:

By Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek

Jan. 30, 2006 issue - Peggy Wilson couldn't believe what she was hearing on the radio. Addressing a crowd on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mayor Ray Nagin was claiming that God wanted New Orleans to remain majority black. "This city will be chocolate at the end of the day," he said. "I don't care what people are saying Uptown," referring to a mostly white area of New Orleans. Nagin also suggested that God unleashed last year's hurricanes because he was "mad at America"—and particularly at the black community, for failing to take better care of itself. "I was shocked," recalls Wilson. A Republican who once headed the city council, she was already planning to challenge Nagin's re-election in the balloting tentatively scheduled for April 22. But Nagin's comments may have boosted her chances. As a friend later told her, "The mayor just sent you a box of chocolates."
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

Though New Orleanians have grown accustomed to Nagin's verbal gaffes, his latest may have gone too far. In a matter of minutes, the 49-year-old former cable-TV executive alienated the white voters who helped pave his path to power in 2002. He insulted his fellow African-Americans with his perceived pandering. And he invited national ridicule. Nagin apologized the following day, but the damage was done. Voters are now asking: "Does he have the capacity to lead?" says political analyst Silas Lee. The blood in the water has attracted a growing list of potential challengers. Two weeks ago, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti—a white Democrat—was reluctant to run, says his former campaign manager, Roy Fletcher. But after Nagin's speech, Foti told him, "Don't count me out of this mayor's race yet."

What prompted Nagin's bizarre remarks? The consensus in New Orleans is that he became ensnared by the city's thorny racial politics. Earlier this month, Nagin's rebuilding commission unveiled a proposal that would bar residents of low-lying areas—who are disproportionately poor and black—from moving back home for four months. During that time, they would have to draft a plan to revive their neighborhoods or risk having their communities bulldozed. The proposal angered black leaders—never all that keen on Nagin in the first place—who see the plan as a ploy to keep their constituents from coming home. Yet if he was seeking to rally African-Americans with his remarks last week, he failed—and worse still, angered whites. (Nagin declined to comment.)

That leaves the mayor as a man uncomfortably in the middle. "The real danger [for Nagin] is if he has a strong white candidate on one side and a strong black candidate on the other," says Ed Renwick of Loyola University. That could well happen: among the strongest pols eying the race are Oliver Thomas, the charismatic black city-council president, and Mitch Landrieu, the state's white lieutenant governor and brother of Sen. Mary Landrieu. Those two could do to Nagin's political future what Katrina did to his city.
© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.

yes, of course, racist jokes made about a racist joke are fine!

Really, who said you can't talk about this? Why do you have the perception that what he said is ok?

And example, newsweek:

By Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek

Jan. 30, 2006 issue - Peggy Wilson couldn't believe what she was hearing on the radio. Addressing a crowd on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Mayor Ray Nagin was claiming that God wanted New Orleans to remain majority black. "This city will be chocolate at the end of the day," he said. "I don't care what people are saying Uptown," referring to a mostly white area of New Orleans. Nagin also suggested that God unleashed last year's hurricanes because he was "mad at America"—and particularly at the black community, for failing to take better care of itself. "I was shocked," recalls Wilson. A Republican who once headed the city council, she was already planning to challenge Nagin's re-election in the balloting tentatively scheduled for April 22. But Nagin's comments may have boosted her chances. As a friend later told her, "The mayor just sent you a box of chocolates."
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

Though New Orleanians have grown accustomed to Nagin's verbal gaffes, his latest may have gone too far. In a matter of minutes, the 49-year-old former cable-TV executive alienated the white voters who helped pave his path to power in 2002. He insulted his fellow African-Americans with his perceived pandering. And he invited national ridicule. Nagin apologized the following day, but the damage was done. Voters are now asking: "Does he have the capacity to lead?" says political analyst Silas Lee. The blood in the water has attracted a growing list of potential challengers. Two weeks ago, Louisiana Attorney General Charles Foti—a white Democrat—was reluctant to run, says his former campaign manager, Roy Fletcher. But after Nagin's speech, Foti told him, "Don't count me out of this mayor's race yet."

What prompted Nagin's bizarre remarks? The consensus in New Orleans is that he became ensnared by the city's thorny racial politics. Earlier this month, Nagin's rebuilding commission unveiled a proposal that would bar residents of low-lying areas—who are disproportionately poor and black—from moving back home for four months. During that time, they would have to draft a plan to revive their neighborhoods or risk having their communities bulldozed. The proposal angered black leaders—never all that keen on Nagin in the first place—who see the plan as a ploy to keep their constituents from coming home. Yet if he was seeking to rally African-Americans with his remarks last week, he failed—and worse still, angered whites. (Nagin declined to comment.)

That leaves the mayor as a man uncomfortably in the middle. "The real danger [for Nagin] is if he has a strong white candidate on one side and a strong black candidate on the other," says Ed Renwick of Loyola University. That could well happen: among the strongest pols eying the race are Oliver Thomas, the charismatic black city-council president, and Mitch Landrieu, the state's white lieutenant governor and brother of Sen. Mary Landrieu. Those two could do to Nagin's political future what Katrina did to his city.
© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.

yes, of course, racist jokes made about a racist joke are fine!

Except that....Nagin's remarks were NOT A JOKE.
The comments you are referring to here is called SATIRE.
Hey, I'm not a big Bush fan, but why is it everything HE does can be satirized and made fun of by the left, but when anybody does the same after Nagin's racism - GOD FORBID!

The hypocrisy from the left reeks of typical PC fascism.

Except that....Nagin's remarks were NOT A JOKE.
The comments you are referring to here is called SATIRE.
Hey, I'm not a big Bush fan, but why is it everything HE does can be satirized and made fun of by the left, but when anybody does the same after Nagin's racism - GOD FORBID!

The hypocrisy from the left reeks of typical PC fascism.

nicely put.

Yeah, I'm jealous. I wish that I could make racially preferential statements and espouse white power without anyone criticizing me...

It occurs to me though, all I'd have to do is become a Democrat.

lol, score one for you. u rule!

Maybe we just need to start greeting each other like this:
"Hello, Cracker! How are you doing?"
"Hi there, Honky! I feel great today!"

We could try to gain "ownership" of those slurs, just as what has happened with the "N" word. Say it and you could lose your job, even if you're not a public figure. The problem (or maybe not) is not very many of us give a hoot about being called honky or cracker in the first place.

Someone could call me a honky and my response would be, "Yeah. What of it?"