[/caption]Carol Forsloff - While New Orleans sets itself apart as a city on the move, it is only recently breaking away from black, white politics, a change that could also come in the rest of the state if African Americans attain leadership in the small towns of Louisiana. For if they do, they can eliminate some of the fear that continues to be the great divide.
In Natchitoches, Louisiana, a town of about 16,000, African Americans are becoming more and more a new and advancing force in politics. That newness has come from the fact that the numbers of African Americans have grown in this town, where the races are virtually even in terms of absolute numbers, with a slight lead occurring in the area of the African American population.
The talk is now whether it’s time for the town to have an African American mayor and whether that would change how people are treated in the community based on racial factors. While people deny the influence of race on politics, the back story of most elections has been the buying of canvassers by politicians from both parties, a way to garner loyalty in the African American community for special candidates. It is a long-standing tradition that some people are targeting and saying must end. White influence on black voting may end up being part of history’s dump as opposed to a future direction, as it has impacted politics from New Orleans to Shreveport and the backwater towns of the state.
Marvin Blake, a realtor-businessman is a good old boy of the South in the sense his ancestors were early residents of the state. His father was the first African American police officer in Natchitoches in 1967. The senior Blake had a supportive chief who often said, “If you don’t respect the color, you will respect the badge.”
Blake has grown up with that sense of self respect, beginning at an early age. He attended the lab school at the age of 9, as one of only three African American children among 30 attending the school at the time. He has continued the pattern of striving to do well by becoming a businessman in real estate. Now at the age of 51, he has three sons, a wife who is a teacher and a marriage of 31 years. And Blake maintains color is not the topic when it comes to politicis.
“I’m my own man,” he tells us. “I don’t see criticism of Obama on race, but I would like to see him channel money through businesses. I see the need to help small business succeed. It’s in that direction African Americans can be brought to parity with everyone else.
Some people think in black and white, but I don’t,” Blake explains. “We do, however, have to increase opportunities in the business sector in order to spur economic development. We need to teach people to fish."
Blake sees the solution to the problems between African Americans and whites in the area as bringing people together to develop businesses. He said, “We need a solid African American business class. If I become Mayor I would meet with banks and find ways to create small businesses and use HUD loans for communities to jump start loans.
The goal is to put people to work. Loans aren’t a “black” loan either, because there are plenty of people who are marginalized. We need to increase opportunities for everyone.”
The future is also the children, as Blake reminds those he hopes might elect him Mayor. “We need to work on the infrastructure of this town,” he says. “A child stepped in a ditch and tore his foot in half. That’s a terrible thing, because we have places that are dangerous with deep ditches and lack of proper sidewalks. We have to do things to improve child safety and respect for our neighborhoods.”
Black and white issues remain a problem in Natchitoches, that folks like Blake hope they might be able to overcome. But the talk remains about whether the whole town is ready for an African American mayor and whether the African American community will support a non white candidate and not be “bought” this time.
The mix-up in black and white is a heavy burden for Natchitoches, the town of the Steel Magnolias, that advertises its sunny place as great for retirees. Resolving the issue of color is the battle good folks believe can one day be won in a balanced way for serious progress and stability of the town. That type of example would be a good one for the nation, as people continuing to grow in ethnic appreciation and diversity everywhere.