Refrain Rises (from leaders of poor, black areas) to Call Off Mardi Gras

[DeepModem Mom]

LAT: Refrain Rises to Call Off Next Mardi Gras
It's time to rebuild, not celebrate, say leaders of poor, black areas wiped out by Katrina.

By Scott Gold, Times Staff Writer


NEW ORLEANS — A growing chorus of critics, concerned that throwing a massive party would be unseemly and impractical when much of New Orleans remains in ruins, are pressuring authorities to do the unthinkable: call off Mardi Gras.

City officials and tourism leaders have pledged to use an abbreviated carnival this winter as a springboard, a way to reintroduce New Orleans as a viable city. Their October announcement that Mardi Gras would go on despite Hurricane Katrina met with an enormous cheer.

But many community activists — particularly leaders of poor, black neighborhoods that were destroyed by the floodwaters and have sat virtually untouched since — have turned against the idea.

"We're not against Mardi Gras. We're against their priorities," ChiQuita Simms, a displaced New Orleans resident who is organizing a protest, said of city leaders. "It is not a time … to conduct party planning."...

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Other community leaders have threatened to launch a petition drive and to put up billboards urging a boycott of the festival if it cannot be derailed....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mardi7dec07,0,2406778.story?coll=la-home-headlines&track=morenews