THE CRESCENT CITY'S FIRST CITIZEN New Orleans, La. - New Orleans, the Crescent City, with the reputation of being "The City that Care Forgot," with the election of former General President Ernest Nathan Morial as Mayor, has taken on a new veneer and can now be known as "The City that Cares." Brother Morial made history Saturday, November 12, becoming New Orleans' first Black mayor in his undisputed defeat of veteran Councilman-at-Large Joseph V. DiRosa, who during the campaign attempted to establish his own ethnic identification by claiming that he, too, was a "minority" candidate, being of Italian birth, another political gimmick that would not be accepted by New Orleans' electorate, and when the "dust of battle had settled," both Brother Morial and his nativity had made history - "carving something new and something different on the scroll of time." A former judge of the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court and the state Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal, and Representative to the Louisiana State Legislature, Brother Morial's election to be New Orleans' first citizen, added another "first" to his colorful career, which reads more like "fiction" than "fact," and could easily provide background material for a best-seller in either category. Mayor-elect Morial's career and many achievements at age 48 are far from being accidental, nor has "he had greatness thrusted upon him." His accomplishments have come through dedicated and sacrificial concern and efforts on the parts of Brother Morial and his family. Being the true Alpha man and brother that he is, Brother Morial's philosophy is embedded deeply in the last ten words of the Alpha Phi Alpha Prayer, " . . . so that we may become, Through Thee, Servants of all," and his entire campaign was directed in that way, to serve all of the people to the best of his ability. Brother Morial was able to sell his image of dedication and concern to a progressive-minded New Orleans, and brought together a unified Black vote, not 100 percent, but strong enough, coupled with a sizable white vote, to win. The Morial Election results, according to some reports, is being considered for publication in the next edition of Guiness' Book of World Records, since a new record of "Black Togetherness" was recorded in New Orleans. Numerous Black and white political groups, fraternal and
"We played with whites in the evenings, but we couldn't go to school together," he said. "We'd walk to the movie together, and they'd sit downstairs, and we'd sit upstairs." During his campaign for mayor, Morial conducted a television interview in a small park where he'd go as a kid and stand outside while the white kids played inside. As a young law student, Morial recalls, his first night in the LSU dorm was met with students shouting, at the sight of him and a fellow black student, "Niggers in the dorm. Niggers in the dorm." When he takes over as mayor April 1, he will hold a high ex-officio administrative post at Tulane University, where he was refused admittance in the 1950's. Morial, at 48, is no fledgling on the political scene and has reached many milestones that no black before him has achieved. He was the first black to graduate from the LSU Law School, the state's first black legislator in this century, the first black judge to serve on the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court and the state Court of 8
religious organizations and just plain folks endorsed Morial, who was endorsed by both daily papers, The Times-Picayune and States-Item. Brother Morial received the backing of key Black groups like the Southern Organization for Unified Leadership, the Community Organization for Unified Leadership, the Community Organization of Urban Politics, the Black Organization for Leadership Development and the Orleans Parish Progressive Voters League. The New Orleans Frontiers Club International broke its policy and endorsed Morial, whose Alpha brothers were on his "left and right and behind him to assist him in any forward progress." Brother Morial's victory was not one of total Blackness. He also had the backing of some influential whites as well as the Alliance for Good Government, the Independent Women's Organization and the New Orleans Coalition. Brother Andrew J. Young, Jr., United Nations Ambassador, in New Orleans to deliver a Founders' Day address at Dillard University, where he spent his freshman college year, and to receive an honorary degree, although he did not endorse Brother Morial, opened his address with the following statement, that drew fire from the opposition's camp - "It's not 'Dutch' Morial that's on trial, it's this city. I hope you vote for your future -there is nothing more important in your life than who gets elected mayor in this city." . . . Brother Young also pointed out that "If you look at cities that elected mayors that happened to be Black - like Atlanta - they have been able to bring in millions of dollars of investments." In his announcement speech, Brother Morial promised to the City he will preside over as its mayor to deal with the multiple problems, the same as all major metropolitan areas, but gave no priorities - "We are going to make New Orleans a safe city, a city that will not tolerate the muggers, the purse snatchers, the armed robbers, the rapists, the burglars and the murderers." He has further promised to improve both the educational system and the Port of New Orleans, which are responsibilities not considered in the past to be mayoral. The inauguration ceremonies for Mayor-elect Morial and City Councilmen will be held on May 1, 1978, a date that will be long remembered and recorded in the history of New Orleans, "A New Jerusalem," the City that Cares. Marcus N. Neustadter, President Sigma Lambda Chapter New Orleans, Louisiana
Appeal, Fourth Circuit and was the first black assistant U.S. attorney in New Orleans. As the city's next mayor, Morial sees his role as "trying to improve life for other people." At this point, he refuses to discuss publicly his appointments, specific programs and the changes he will make in city government. His answer to when he will decide who the next police superintendent and other high officials will be is "sometime before April 1." Morial doesn't hesitate to refuse an answer to a reporter's question or, indeed, to say he doesn't know the answer. That characteristic is called "honesty" by Morial but "arrogance" by some of the news media. At this premature stage of his new administration, it is the only disparaging label that has been placed on him regularly. Morial conceded he is somewhat "impatient" and, like his predecessor Mayor Moon Landrieu, he complains vehemently of headlines and television news reports that are, in their minds, misguided. The Sphinx / December 1977