New Orleans' Racial Future Hotly Argued The U.S. housing chief expresses doubts about rebuilding, and draws anger and concern. By Joel Havemann Times Staff Writer
October 1, 2005
WASHINGTON — President Bush's housing secretary has touched off a tempest by saying that a revived New Orleans may no longer be a majority-black city and that some of the low-lying and predominantly black neighborhoods probably should not be rebuilt.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson, who is black, said that he expected New Orleans — a city of about 475,000 that was two-thirds black before Hurricane Katrina hit in late August — to emerge only 35% to 40% black and with possibly 350,000 residents.
"Whether we like it or not, New Orleans is not going to be 500,000 people for a long time," Jackson told the Houston Chronicle, which published his comments Thursday. "New Orleans is not going to be as black as it was for a long time, if ever again."
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