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Whites as a Minority and the New Biracial Coalition in New Orleans and Memphis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 February 2006

Baodong Liu
Baodong Liu
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh
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Extract

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina flooded more than 80% of the city of New Orleans. As the stories of hurricane victims, mostly African Americans, dominated the national news coverage, New Orleans' racial politics in particular, and the racial divisions in general, once again invited public debate. Why did a city that had been firmly controlled by African-American politicians from the mayor's office to the city council exhibit such a clear racial image? What role did Whites play in the city's political establishment?This project was supported by research grants from the American Political Science Association and the University of Wisconsin, which allowed the author to travel to Memphis and New Orleans to collect original data and interview the mayor of Memphis and other politicians. The author would also like to thank Susan Reed, Martin Gruberg, Wayne Parent, and David Siemers for their helpful comments on an earlier version of the article. Special thanks go to the three reviewers and the editors of PS: Political Science and Politics, and to Laura Fisher-Guex, James Vanderleeuw, and Susan Howell for their invaluable assistance with the data-collection/recording process.

Type
FEATURES
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , January 2006 , pp. 69 - 76
Copyright
© 2006 The American Political Science Association

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