It was the last Sunday of the Jazz and Heritage Festival, Santana had just finished his set and the Neville Bothers were about to take the stage. My friend Ted Jones and I were sitting under the big chief tent adjacent to the Acura stage.

A man from New York and his wife sat in front of us. The man turned and struck a conversation with us about what it is like being in New Orleans post hurricane Katrina. He told us that he had been coming to New Orleans since 1975; he added that he was happy to see such a unique city on the come back. He extolled the wonder of our music, food, culture, spirituality and our humanity.

It was after that conversation that I began to think about how negative some of us are when it comes to appreciating what we have as a city. To listen to some of us, every politician is a crook, every agency is dysfunctional, every cause is wrong headed, and all the people are of less than average intelligence.

I wonder what we could accomplish if we all adopted a sense of positive energy about our city and about ourselves. Can you recall how it uplifting it was in the chaotic days immediately following hurricane Katrina – when we were all pulling together to help each other get back on our feet? Let us try to recapture that commitment and concentrate on making things work. What do you think?

The controversial former pastor to Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama is on the loose again. Just when some of us believed it safe to engage in a sensible and reasoned discussion about race in America, Reverend Jeremiah Wright is blazing away with his own brand of fire and brimstone from his pulpit of African American church theology.

The controversy exploded after the September 11th attacks. Wright preached a sermon chastising America for dropping atomic bombs on Japan and supporting, what he characterized as, state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans.

Just recently, Rev. Wright told the national press club in Washington, D.C. that he hopes, “The most recent attack on the black church – it is not an attack on Jeremiah Wright – it’s an attack on the black church.”

At a news conference in Wilmington, North Carolina, The Washington Post quotes Barack Obama who said: “I just want to emphasize that this is my former pastor, any of the statements that he’s made both to trigger this controversy and that he’s made over the last several days are not statements that I’ve heard him make previously. They don’t represent my views. And they don’t represent what this campaign’s about.”

Some people say that Rev. Jeremiah Wright is a racial demagogue and others say Obama’s repudiation of Wright is too little too late. What do you think?

I started thinking about this a few days ago after I received an e-mail from a resident in Tall Timbers. The e-mail reminded me of just how difficult it has become to live in the New Orleans area with the increase in home insurance and property taxes.

I should point out that while property taxes are understandable the exorbitant cost of home insurance is outrageous.

There was a great deal of fanfare not too long ago when several private insurance companies started writing home insurance policies locally.

The bloom soon fell off the rose after it we learned that those companies were only cherry picking a few homeowners out of the many thousands of homeowners who are at the mercy of the state run home insurance program, which has doubled and in some cases tripled the cost of some monthly mortgage payments.

Unless this problem changes there will only be two kinds of people left in New Orleans: The extremely wealthy and the extremely poor.

Saturday morning on NewsChannel 6, during the 6:30am and 9:30am half hours, I will have an extensive interview with Mayor Ray Nagin.  The mayor brings us up to date on rebuilding fire and police stations.  He responds to the New York Times article that is critical of the recovery progress. I also ask him about the recent controversy about forming a business with his wife and sons that led to a contract with a Home Depot outlet.

     I almost wanted to pull my hair out after reading the latest account of the attempt by Governor Bobby Jindal to land a huge salary for his economic development secretary and the department director.  How can one of the poorest states in the country justify paying a combined salary of well over a half million dollars to two individuals at a time when some members of the legislature are whining about paying a few measly dollars to a handful of toll takers and ferry workers at the Crescent City Connection. 

  State Representative Patrick Connick questioned whether it was fiscally prudent or even necessary to pay ferry deckhands and bridge toll collectors $26,000 a year.  These are hard working citizens.  Many of them are struggling to take care of families.  It seems rather callous to write them off as non-essential.  

  Just think of it $320,000 a year for the economic development secretary, a job which pays $180,000 in the state of Tennessee.  Which state is doing better economically?

Belle Chase Rep. Ernest Wooten wants to allow people with a concealed weapons permit to carry guns on school campuses. He suggests that having law abiding armed citizens on campus would reduce violence.

I, too, am sick and tired of the wanton violence that plagues us. I would bet my paycheck that most of us are.  Are we willing to go so far as to allow people to carry guns on campus?

Imagine the potential of a wild-west shooting frenzy among the people with good intentions and the bad people and some innocent kids caught in the crossfire. That is just one example of what could go wrong. Firearms on campus! What do you think?

The one thing that Barack Obama and his controversial Spiritual mentor have taught us is that race is still the millstone around our collective necks that continues to divide us as a nation and a community.  It is a subject that lies ever so slightly beneath the American landscape.

   It was refreshing for me to hear Obama tackle the issue in an objective attempt to put the subject in perspective.  Sadly, his effort falls short when compared to the harsh style and hateful tone coming from his former minister.  

   Unfortunately, most people will not remember the collegial, reasonable and enlightened speech by Obama. That is a shame because we will miss a great opportunity to have a positive discussion about race in our country.  On a personal level, a lot of us are confused about how race affects us, consciously and subconsciously.    For example, the fact that many of us have mixed ancestry is still a secret.  I was 53 years old when I learned that my father’s dad was Irish.  I found out while attending my father’s funeral in St. Louis, Mo three years ago.  While at my dad’s youngest brother’s home, I stumbled upon an old family album.  Just last week a close friend revealed that his mother disclosed that his great grand father married an African American woman.  He says she told him this in confidence because she did not know how his sisters would feel about it.

  I submit that collectively we are simply people drawn together under a unique circumstance and we need to embrace that with a healthy conversation about what that means.  What do you think?

-Norman Robinson

   As I sat listening to the various speakers during the ‘Twenty Third Annual Crime Stoppers Awards Luncheon’,    I asked myself when was the last time we acted as a community united in the effort to keep our neighborhoods safe from the criminals who terrorize us.   The fact is we have spurts of outrage among segments of our community but nothing sustainable and inclusive.

   I have no scientific evidence, but I do have empirical evidence to support my point.

   For example, several days ago when a young female student from an uptown magnate high school died after a drug overdose there was outrage and shock among the, so called mainstream members of our society.  One of my upper middle class friends exhibited frustration and confusion.  He said he could not understand how this could happen to a person who was not what he described as a “low class poor person.”

   It is that kind of thinking which divides us; the thugs know it.

   There can be no unity among us in the battle against criminals until every crime outrages us all no matter whom the victim is.  What do you think?