Originally posted September 26, 2022.
During my career, I have visited New Orleans many times. I was regularly there for the National Committee for Monetary Reform conferences in the 1980s. My final conference in New Orleans was in 1989, where I was a featured speaker along with two-time candidate for president, Pat Buchanan. Today, Pat is still one of my favorite political commentators. Since 1989, Debbie and I have visited New Orleans a number of times to enjoy the great music and food the city has to offer. But these days, New Orleans isn’t looking so good. Vince Coyner explains in The American Thinker that The Big Easy has become America’s deadliest city. He writes (abridged):
This past week New Orleans reclaimed the title of America’s deadliest city after seeing murders jump 141% over the last couple of years.
In New Orleans, the murder rate is a staggering 52 per 100,000 people. That compares to the national average of 6.9, the highest it’s been in a quarter century, and the 50 per 100,000 in Venezuela, the most dangerous country in the world.
If New Orleans were an outlier, it would be a shame; the fact that it’s not is a tragedy. Instead, New York, Chicago, Portland, LA, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and other American cities are part of the club. Crime has been up across America over the last two years, in most cases dramatically.
It’s one thing to rage against the machine; it’s another to commit violence against citizens, particularly when they are unsuspecting innocents or compliant victims.
This is today’s issue, which we see taking place across the county, from urban jungles like New York City to Midwestern communities like Salt Lake City.
What America’s experiencing today is exponentially worse than the typical crime that America is used to—and the truth is, young
Black men and, increasingly, young Black women are perpetuating most, although far from all, of it.
We see large groups of young people blitzing stores, grabbing merchandise off shelves, and running out with smiles on their faces. We see “shoplifters” methodically clear store shelves of merchandise and simply stroll out the door, unconcerned about getting stopped or arrested and often assaulting employees along the way.
Moreover, an element of violence seems unprecedented in its scale.
By Vince Coyner, American Thinker
More about New Orleans in better days:
- Greetings from Dick & Debbie with New Orleans Memories
- Greetings from the French Quarter, New Orleans.
- Warm Greetings From New Orleans
- RIP New Orleans R&B’s Cosimo Matassa
- RIP New Orleans Legend, Art Neville
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