24 Burst results for "Mitch Landrieu"
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"In fact, there is a lot of evidence that there has been and continues to be a sequela from the institutional designs that have existed. And so we jump forward into this. We were having a conversation and then we're yelling at each other. And then we still haven't gotten past it. And then you continue to have the incredible deaths that we've had. I could start back before Emmett Till if you wanted to start back before the lynchings, we don't have to do that. You all are all smart. You can think about it. But the relationship between the African American community and the police departments in this country have been fraught with tremendous difficulty, the George Floyd murder with Derek Chauvin is still in everybody's mind and then of course Harry Nichols was murdered the other day by 5 or 6 or 7 or 8 police officers who were acting in the wrong way with uniforms on, but they murdered him. And I had the honor of representing the president along with marisha Lance bottoms and the vice president and a Tyree Nichols funeral. Every white person in America should be able to understand that when you look in a mother's eyes where they should be white or black or Hispanic or Asian and that mother has had to watch her son get stomped to death, you have to find some level of communion in that. And when you start talking about well, the police are not the police. Well, you have to start saying, well, not in America. That shouldn't happen here. And we shouldn't be having this conversation over and over again. So the president did address this the other day. In the State of the Union speech, and the truth of the matter is I have never been more proud and more honored to serve him because he said two reasons. We obviously love and care and think a lot about men and women who put their lives on the line every day and might not come home as a mayor. I actually had to go to the funeral of the police officer who we shot in the head and sit with his wife. So that's a painful experience. But it is also true that police officers who act the wrong way who do the wrong thing who acting as police officers do should be removed because that is a crime too. And he spoke directly to that that we can have justice and we can have peace. But you can't have justice in peace if the community does not trust police officers. So he spoke to that issue. But he said something that no president's ever said, much less from the well of the people's house, is that a lot of white people don't understand that African American community members have to have something called the talk.
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"And so when people of America were thinking about all of that stuff and all the challenges that they were going through, they could be forgiven for not really caring too much about what we did in Washington D.C. because we talk a lot. We don't get anything done. And so now we are 14 months into this. They're 20,000 projects coming out of the ground. And you know, people go, well, I really hadn't been paying that much attention to it. Until the president, I think you will agree with me, brought the heat the other night at the State of the Union address. Like my guy don't like my guy, he showed up in a really big way the other night and delivered 72 minutes of hell, right? About where this country was gone and what we did with people who were sitting in the audience being a little bit less nice than he was trying to be with them as he tried to bring the country together. And people over time will see this. I'm not saying that polls don't matter. But if you go back and look at the polls of all of the presidents over time, you will see that his polls and where he is on approval ratings are not horribly inconsistent with what other presidents were at the time. And you will recall, or I will recall for you that before the elections a couple of months ago, everybody was saying this guy's dead. And, you know, there was going to be hell to pay after the midterms. And that hasn't turned out to be true either. The one thing that has turned out to be true about Joseph R Biden is that he is always been counted out and he has always won. That's what you know. And the only poll that really counts in terms of whether this stuff works or not is if there is another election day on that day, who they run it against, what the vision, the president's vision is, and whether or not we were actually able to hit our marks. And we have demonstrated time and time again on all the things that have mattered to this country when people were running. How many jobs did you create? What's the unemployment rate? Did you really hit your mark? How many pieces of legislation have you passed? How do you compare? When you compare him to every other president at this time in terms of actual success, not perception, but real success, he ranks at the top of the president that have ever served. We've got 6 minutes left and given how loquacious you are. I know this is going to be the last question because I want to switch gears. I want to switch gears and in all seriousness. Do you all want 32nd sound bites? No, no, no, no. What we do? I know, I'm totally loving this, but I want to bring you back to when you and I spoke in May of 2017, I interviewed interviewed you about your removal of confederate statues from New Orleans. You were still mayor of New Orleans. And you told me then that when confronting race, quote, you can't go over it, you can't go under it. You can't go around it. You actually have to walk through it and walking through it is hard and it's painful and it's uncomfortable, but when you come out the other side we're all going to be better off for it. And I thought of this when I was listening to President Biden during the State of the Union and he talked about the talk. Black parents have to have with their children.
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"Making sure that healthcare is available. And the other things that we can do lower in gas prices, a dollar 50 a gallon lower than it was. Some time ago, and by the way, for the last 6 months, inflation is actually being gone down every month. So that's the reality as it exists today. Having said that, when anything costs more, it's a problem. But the infrastructure Bill is anti inflationary because the investment is over a long period of time. And although the projects today are affected by it, as inflation ebbs over time, we're going to be able to build more stuff longer. And I'm hoping that in the future, when people see how wonderful this particular thing is and that there really is no Republican or a democratic way to fill a pothole. You just need to get the damn thing filled. Because it's a pain in the butt. Can I say that? If I'm watching, I'm glad I checked before I said it. But what's going to happen is it's going to grow the economy. It's not going to diminish the economy. And so yeah, you concerned about it, but you can't build this thing out of the context of what's going on in the real world in real time. But we think over time is going to ease up because it's a 5, ten year program. And my expectation is if we get this right, this is why it's critically important for all of us to work together. On the one thing that everybody agrees on in this town. Is that Congress will see the benefit of the American people will want more of it and will continue to invest because this is the one thing that's going to put us in a position to win the future. But the 21st century. So since this conversation has gone on, you've gone ticked through a litany of successes, a litany of programs and policies and philosophies of the president that are supposed to nerd to the benefit of the American people.
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"Means making sure that people have been left out. People in lounge county, Alabama that don't have access to indoor plumbing. Tribal communities, African American communities that have been forgotten. Rural communities that are both white and African American in places that don't have clean air and water, you governors have to give us a plan that makes sure that we see all of those people. Governor of Mississippi, talk to me about what's going on in Jackson. The governor in Texas talk to me about what's going on in Houston. If you want to lay down a highway in the middle of an African American community and dissect that community like we've done, well, maybe we're not going to do that again. So send us the plans. We'll look at the plans. When we approve the plans, then we'll actually start working together. So equities one, the second is a better America means using products that are made in America. So many of you know this. We basically started kind of letting folks make stuff for us. And send it back to us in charge of us a lot more in hollowing out small communities, especially in rural America. And in the south where I'm from, you see this all over the place where you have these towns that had just the downtowns kind of gone. We want to bring manufacturing back. Is a president succeeding. Thank you for that question. 800,000. 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, 200,000 more than we had before, so there's great evidence that this idea of using products that have made in America's work. And third part. Make sure that you have great labor stand. As a president thinks that trickle down economics is a myth, it doesn't work. He wants to build stuff from the ground up, which means he wants to invest in folks that are on the ground. And high labor standards are really important. And to the extent that you can use union labor, which he believes built a middle class in the middle class built America is important.
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"What we just said. In the rebuilding of roads and bridges and airports and ports, we've been doing that for a long time. And we understand how to train folks to do that. But if you're building a clean energy economy and you're building hydrogen hubs, or you're doing carbon capture, or you're laying high speed Internet, or you're doing things like your electrifying the economy by now battery manufacturing. Sometimes those skills that we have right now are not transferable. And so we are really, we're going to talk to the governors tomorrow and the mayors about making sure that even though this is a national problem, it's not necessarily just a federal response. In other words, it has to be a localized response because the focus has to be different from town to town depending on what's being done. And so there's a substantial amount of money in this bill for workforce training, but it's not enough. But we're working with the governors and the mayors and the community and technical schools. And of course, labor unions that the president has talked about quite a lot through their apprenticeships programs to actually find individuals train them really, really well. Train them specifically for what's coming our way and make sure that, as we said, with a diverse workforce, women in the workforce, people of color in the workforce, then we need the tools to get them in the workforce like child care and transportation, putting all of those things together will help us build the kind of workforce that's necessary to help America win the future. And so I'm listening to you as a White House official. And part of me is thinking, well, he's supposed to say these things because this is your job. It is my job. Now, put your hat on as a former mayor. And a former mayor of a major city. Former mayor of New Orleans. Is the infrastructure funding really being directed to the right needs. Well, listen, when if you're a mayor of a city and you have a federal government that doesn't believe in investing in the people of America, much less the communities of America, you have nowhere to go and nothing to do. If you're the mayor of a city and you have a governor that doesn't believe in that at all, then you have nothing to do. But when you have when you're the mayor of a city, little town, a little community, whatever it might be. And you have a president and you have a Congress and you have governors and then everybody's on the same page, you got a chance to rip and run. And that's pretty much the response that we've gotten from everybody in the country. Now, I'm not trying to be overtly political here. It does not matter to the president whether congressmen and women are senators voted for the bill. It does not. He is instructed me and everybody else, make sure this money gets down to the ground and nobody gets left behind. But having said that, it is clearly true that even the people that voted no want the dough, all of them. And he said this the other night, he said this during the State of the Union speech, he said, look, I know many of you didn't vote for this bill. I'm very thankful the 14 of you that did and it was a bipartisan in that regard. But we're not worrying about that.
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"When I say the word infrastructure, do your eyes glaze over. Do you get that feeling you get at a party when you realize you're trapped in a conversation with the human equivalent of NyQuil? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then you've never talked about infrastructure with Mitch landrieu, White House senior adviser and infrastructure coordinator. In this conversation, first recorded for Washington Post live on February 9th, landru talked with passion and energy about infrastructure the way the rest of us talked about that last episode of white lotus. The better
Bloomberg Radio New York
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Bloomberg Radio New York
"From Bloomberg world headquarters, I'm Steve rappaport. Target's latest earnings beat Wall Street expectations, but its forecast was not so great. Bloomberg's genus surveillance reports. Target is predicting a slower than expected recovery from a rough 2022. Last year, weakening demand for non-essential hit the retailer's profits and its stock, the subdued outlook echoes the message from Walmart last week showing U.S. retailers remain cautious amid a cloudy economic picture, but similar to Walmart targets cautious outlook followed a strong fourth quarter the retailers key sales metric rose in the quarter, analysts were looking for a decline. Target CEO Brian Cornell says they're planning business cautiously in the near term to ensure the company remains agile and responsive to the current operating environment. Switzerland's banking regulator says Credit Suisse seriously breached risk management obligations in the greensill capital supply chain financing case. Finma ordered the Swiss lender to take remedial measures, including a periodic review of the most important business relationships for counterparty risks. Finma also announced its opening enforcement proceedings against four former Credit Suisse managers. Visa and Mastercard planned to defer the launch of some cryptocurrency products and services. Reuters reports the company's decided to hold off until market conditions and the regulatory environment improve. Elon Musk reclaims the coveted title of the world's richest person, the Tesla CEO's wealth got a big boost from a surge in Tesla stock, Musk started the year with a net worth of $137 billion, becoming the first person to lose $200 billion from their fortune. Those are the company's stories we're following this hour, I'm Steve rappaport, and this is Bloomberg. Global market news changes in an instant. So don't miss a minute. Listen to Bloomberg radio anytime anywhere around the world on the iHeartRadio app. Tune in, the Bloomberg business app and Bloomberg dot com. This is balance of power on Bloomberg television radio. I'm David Westin well, this is the week when they start rolling out that chips and science act, something we talked about a lot as Congress was passing it on a bipartisan basis, I must say. And it's a very exciting potential development in the development and production of semiconductors in this country. To take us through where we are, we welcome down Mitch landrieu. He's President Biden's senior adviser for infrastructure. Mister Orlando is the former mayor, of course, of New Orleans. So mister mayor, thank you so much for being with us really appreciate it. So first of all, it's like the kid in the back of the car. Are we there yet? When is money going to start going out the door? Well, we're getting there. I mean, right now, as we speak. So this is the announcement today from secretary Armando is what's called a notice of funding opportunity. Where they tell folks that funds are actually available to do a certain thing. And there's certain thing in this particular instance. There's something that this country has been waiting on for a long time. Everybody knows that this little chip that we have as part of everything that we do in our life. And most of them are manufactured overseas. And of course, we saw through COVID, the disruption of the supply chain. So the idea here is to bring those manufacturing capabilities back home. Number one, to push up on national security and protect ourselves. Number two to create manufacturing jobs here in America, the president's already created 800,000 of them. And number three to create high paying jobs with products that have made in America by folks that are in America. So this is a really big announcement. It's going to hit all of those different parts. Secretary raimondo rolled it out this morning. Of course, this is part of the president's overarching strategy to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States of America through investing in infrastructure through investing in climate and of course now through investing in semiconductors and making America stronger, more steady give on national security, a bigger push and to create those hundreds of thousands of high paying manufacturing jobs are going to come from these investments. Mitch my understanding of what's going on here is there's a fair amount of money in the United States government is putting up. But that's not all of it. The idea I think is sort of priming the pump that in fact, if you get the federal investment, you'll get the private. Where are we right now on constructing the factories? Are some of those factors already under construction? When will they start producing chips? There's no question about that. What normally happens in the idea in creating this industrial policy is for the federal government to show up with cash and with money, whether you're building a bridge or whether you're building a railroad or you're building high speed Internet or whether or not you're investing in all the stuff that we needed to manufacture chips. And then the private sector follows in. As a consequence of all of the investments that the president has made, you've seen now hundreds of billions of dollars for the private sector starting to show up in all of those different places. The same thing is going to happen with semiconductors as well. And as this money goes out, so we're going to put these notices of funding opportunities out there. Folks are going to come to us to say, listen, we think that you ought to work with us. They're going to be four or 5, 6, 7 of what they call these fabrication facilities across America that are really thoughtful and located. And then the private sector is going to come in on top of that. So this $50 billion that the Department of Commerce is talking about now is going to turn into substantially more when the private sector lays on top of that. And then of course, if we get our national security in place, we got a manufacturing in place, everything is just going to flow from there. My experience at least is when you ask for money, particularly a lot of money from something there's usually some strings attached. There's some strings attached here. Take us through some of those strings if you would, particularly starting with investment in China. Well, listen, we don't really look at it as strange. I mean, this is part of a much larger policy to make sure that we bring stuff back home to America to help our national
WTOP
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on WTOP
"The plains. Protesters gathered today outside the office of New York congressman George Santos saying it's time for him to resign. I am George Santos. This is George Santos. That's actually we don't know who does is. A handful of demonstrators outside the New York City office of Republican representative George Santos say it's not enough he's stepping down from two congressional committees. They want him to resign from Congress. Jonathan rudis owns a local real estate company. If you resign, we'll do our best to make sure that you get a short scale. Santos faces numerous investigations for lying about his background, but has so far refused to resign. Wendy Gillette, CBS News, New York. In Washington, there's a new detail to report on the classified documents found at President Biden's former office. CBS is Steven portnoy explains. The FBI searched mister Biden's office at the Penn Biden center in mid November. The search which was conducted in cooperation with mister Biden's lawyers was not previously disclosed, either by The White House, the president's personal attorneys or the Justice Department. The city of Memphis is preparing for Tyree Nichols, funeral tomorrow, vice president Harris will be in attendance at Tyree Nichols funeral in Memphis. The family's attorney says they spoke with the vice president for more than 30 minutes this morning. We're told that is when they invited her to the funeral and she accepted Harris will be joined by former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance bottoms as senior adviser to the president for public engagement, and with Mitch landrieu, a White House senior adviser. CBS has met piper reporting, President Biden also spoke to the Nichols family last week and invited them to his State of the Union address next month. Police have found the car used in a mass shooting in Lakeland, Florida that injured 11 people, but still haven't made any arrests. Police chief Sam Taylor. So some lab work
AP News Radio
In towns plagued by raw sewage, EPA promises relief
"Residents in an Alabama county hope to finally see action on their massive sewage problems Charlie may holcomb has lived on pine street and haney ville Alabama for 35 years She had missed to being more than frustrated by the promises not kept when it comes to the failed septic systems and open sewage that flood her yard and yards of so many neighbors in the small town in lowndes county one of the poorest counties in the nation They're talking about do it The EPA and agriculture department have launched a pilot program to help lounge and ten other communities across the country assess sewage problems plan improvements and make those improvements happen Former New Orleans mayor Mitch landrieu is President Biden's infrastructure coordinator I mean in America you shouldn't have to worry about not having indoor plumbing or safe water I'm Tim McGuire
KOMO
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on KOMO
"Celebration of the south lawn Friday for soon to be Supreme Court Justice katangi Brown Jackson here to discuss that and more former New Jersey governor Chris Christie former DNC chair Donna brazile ABC News political director Rick Klein and Politico White House correspondent Laura ferrin Lopez So Donna you were there in the rose garden You were also there when the vote was taken on the Senate to confirm her How big a moment It was a huge moment And you know she said but we made it We made it We all have made it That was the moment I think that many of us just started to lose it And then she finished up by saying she quoted the American poet Maya Angelou when she said I am the hope and the dream of the slave Everyone was crying I was sitting next to my former mayor Mitch landrieu from Louisiana We were holding hands And here Mitch who took the statues down in Louisiana Confederate statues And we're holding hands This is a moment a moment to rejoice Now look there's work to be done It's the Supreme Court of the United States But the fact that we finally have made this moment in American history It's a moment of celebration And yesterday John I was in the streets of Washington D.C. there paint a merle right next to a wonderful restaurant called you'll love this one Chicken and whisky That sounds like a good play And I was there Well you were invited You just didn't show up But this is why this model was so important for the country And especially little girls and little boys all over this world And it's a marker for women now in the Supreme Court high water mark for women on the court But let me ask you we heard governor Christie we heard from Mitch McConnell this week not willing to commit that there would even be hearings for if there's a vacancy next year if the Republicans retake the Senate He won't even commit to holding hearings We are in a new era really starting back with Robert bork and moving forward since then Of non cooperation between the parties on these appointments They have become ideological litmus tests for both parties And each party has ramped up the contentiousness of these things And so I said on the show 6 weeks ago that she would probably get two or three Republican votes in the second She got three And so this is the new era that we're in John And if Mitch McConnell is nothing he is certainly someone who plays his cards very close to his vest He doesn't know what is going to happen in the next two years and he's not a guy who's going to make any commitments on anything And by the way if the shoe were on the other foot Chuck Schumer I suspect would be doing the same thing And so that's the era we're in whether we like it or not And we have to be able to find our way forward But despite all that this was a bipartisan confirmation And so let's keep our eye on the ball in terms of what actually happened versus now moving to the next thing that we're all worried about This new justice was justice Jackson was confirmed in a bipartisan way as she will now be on the Supreme Court come October You're listening to northwest news radio You're a stock chart dot com money update on northwest news radio From ABC News Wall Street weekend trading will resume after a mixed end last week The Dow ended higher but the broad S&P 500 and the NASDAQ indexes closed lower Among the reports that could affect stock prices are a look at inflation with the monthly consumer price index Tuesday and the producer price index Wednesday Thursday we get a look at retail sales and the Labor Department's weekly report on initial claims for unemployment insurance Then reports on manufacturing and industrial production Friday COVID continues to squeeze the economy around the world particularly in China Shanghai residents face severe restrictions on movement and activities because of a surge in infections with economic effects rippling around the world ACM research a supplier of equipment for the semiconductor industry that has operations in Shanghai says the restrictions will cause a significant hit to its revenue Its stock fell 6% Friday a jump in COVID cases is also behind airline disruptions in Europe Chuck sievertson ABC.
WTOP
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on WTOP
"Hour Presented by indeed dot com A matte piper in New York The last time prices rose this much Ronald Reagan was present Consumer prices surged more than expected over the past 12 months That price jump was 7 and a half percent last month compared with a year earlier Nowhere is it more evident than at the pump where the average price of unleaded regular has hit its highest mark in 7 years What can we do about it all right It's like an electric car I don't know Nash Lee used car prices were up more than 40% eggs up 13% And if you're buying roses for Valentine's Day West Palm Beach florist Jessica simcock says tight supplies mean Those prices unfortunately having increased by 32 50% Peter king's CBS News This Justin CBS News confirms that the national archives referral to the Department of Justice includes the possibility that some of former president Trump's documents may have been classified information The national archives has asked the Justice Department to investigate Trump's handling of White House records So far they've gotten some 15 boxes from his Mar-a-Lago estate The Biden administration is pledging $5 billion to blanket the nation's highways with electric car charges One every 50 miles White House senior adviser Mitch landrieu These new EV charges will use American parts iron and steel They'll be installed up and down highway corridors across the country by IBW workers and the benefits will ripple out thousands of miles away Auto manufacturers in both Canada and the U.S. are shutting down plants or scaling back production as a result of that continuing truck blockade by people protesting Canada's COVID restrictions Ottawa police chief Peter slowly says they have made arrests There have been over 1700 tickets issued There have been a total of 25 arrests to date including criminal charges for mischief and menacing behavior It is 6 in the morning in Beijing a fresh start for one U.S. skier hoping to win a medal as our Steve reports from the Olympics Michaela schifrin is certainly hoping for better results today the first two events for her here in the Olympics have just been terrible She was disqualified in both she missed the gate in her first event the giant slalom and ended the same exact thing in her second event the slalom today it's the super G and shifrin is expecting to do much better The Senate approves legislation to ban private companies from forcing employers and customers into closed door arbitration in cases of sexual harassment and assault Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson lobbied Congress over the past 5 years to pass a law banning the clauses The bill will allow survivors.
AP News Radio
Landrieu back in spotlight tackling infrastructure, equity
"Mitch Landrieu will be heading the task force coordinating more than a trillion dollars in federal infrastructure spending as mayor of New Orleans Mitch Landrieu oversaw billions of dollars in infrastructure repairs when he took over the recovery from hurricane Katrina he's been out of the national spotlight since twenty eighteen although he was sometimes mentioned as a possible candidate for the democratic presidential nomination particularly after a speech supporting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee now the former Louisiana state lawmaker and lieutenant governor has been tapped by president Biden as the head coordinator of his infrastructure plan during a visit to Ohio with the vice president labor secretary Marty Walsh another former mayor says he'll be serving alongside Landrieu going to make sure that all of this money gets spent in the right way on high quality projects with American made materials there's political risk to a role managing billion dollar transportation projects Andrew Coughlin and former deputy mayor under Landrieu said his skill with logistics will be a strength in his new role Walter Isaacson the New Orleans born historian says lead you loves the geeky details of infrastructure and bringing people together Jennifer king Washington
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"Dr kennedy welcome to the podcast. Oh it's always great. John beyond so the last time you were here you were on with your co editor of four hundred souls community. History of african america sixteen nineteen to twenty nineteen. But i've asked you here so low today because your name was invoked in my interview with a former new orleans mayor mitch landrieu and i thought you know what is a good opportunity to to have dr kennedy on. Here's what mitch said. Dr abram mix kennedy has said something that i had not really thought much about he basically has posited the theory that we've always moved side-by-side good with evil and one overtakes the other from time to time and both are always present. And then mitch goes on to say. And i don't know whether i don't know that he's more right than wrong. But it sure feels like right. Now the forces of what. I would describe as white nationalism white supremacy this notion that somehow whiteness is essential to the future of america for some people who consider themselves to be. Patriots is a very dangerous idea. And this this idea of good and simultaneously basically coexisting in one overtaking. The other i would love for you to since he's attributing it to you talk more about that. Where does that come from. And how does it manifest itself good and evil. Well i mean. I have written about the sort of racial history of this country a history of of of racial progress in an even a history of racists progress. I don't i wouldn't necessarily call it the clash between good and evil because i think it's it's important trustee too complicated even further in that you know you you have people who express sort of or maybe a part of both off forces at different times or or you have people have good intentions but you know it. Has you know a difficult outcome in. And still i don't know if we can essentially call that good or
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
Why Racist Policies Not People Are the Problem
"Dr kennedy welcome to the podcast. Oh it's always great. John beyond so the last time you were here you were on with your co editor of four hundred souls community. History of african america sixteen nineteen to twenty nineteen. But i've asked you here so low today because your name was invoked in my interview with a former new orleans mayor mitch landrieu and i thought you know what is a good opportunity to to have dr kennedy on. Here's what mitch said. Dr abram mix kennedy has said something that i had not really thought much about he basically has posited the theory that we've always moved side-by-side good with evil and one overtakes the other from time to time and both are always present. And then mitch goes on to say. And i don't know whether i don't know that he's more right than wrong. But it sure feels like right. Now the forces of what. I would describe as white nationalism white supremacy this notion that somehow whiteness is essential to the future of america for some people who consider themselves to be. Patriots is a very dangerous idea. And this this idea of good and simultaneously basically coexisting in one overtaking. The other i would love for you to since he's attributing it to you talk more about that. Where does that come from. And how does it manifest itself good and evil. Well i mean. I have written about the sort of racial history of this country a history of of of racial progress in an even a history of racists progress. I don't i wouldn't necessarily call it the clash between good and evil because i think it's it's important trustee too complicated even further in that you know you you have people who express sort of or maybe a part of both off forces at different times or or you have people have good intentions but you know it. Has you know a difficult outcome in. And still i don't know if we can essentially call that good or
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"We have never been here. We've had such a minority that it running state legislatures and and in the senate that actually trying to govern the behavior of the majority who vehemently disagree with him. And i don't think that that is a condition that can stand for a long period of time and to have us remain at peace. I think that's a. That's a very difficult thing for us to do. Which is why. I'm calling on all the leaders in america to really rise above partisan politics and to get this piece right before we go to fighting about whether you believe tax cuts and not. Let me get you on this last question. Because one of the things and i hope listeners. Who might be hearing you for the first time or hopefully the third time on this podcast are hearing wh why there was such a buzz around you. I believe in in twenty twenty they is is mitchell. Andrew gonna run for president. I think that's because of what you did in new orleans and bringing down the confederate statues what you did in new orleans in your speech when the last statue came down how forthrightly and honestly you talked about your city's history our nation's history not just as an american but as a southern white american. Why do you feel. It is so important for you as a southern white and politician to be so honest and forthright about who we are as a country and why we must be so open and honest in in this conversation on race. The answer to that is really simple. I really love america. And i believe in the idea of america. I believe in the promise that we made to each other and as a consequence as a white male from the south. It's really important that all the white people in this country began to understand that we have in many ways fail to live up to that promise and that how we have acted in many ways has not been helpful to the country itself. this issue enlisted. Dr king's spoke to this pretty strongly. You hear dr barbara talking about it. This is not just about race. I mean in this instance. It is about protecting people who have not been protected but really what we're doing is calling america to purpose and calling america to honor the promise that we made to each other as fellow americans and who we are as america. That's really what this issue is about. And i don't know. I'm going to say jonathan experience molly fishes so much. Richard a deeper because of the people that have been part of my life black and white and brown diversity. I have seen being from new orleans. Which is you know was a great multicultural macro we have many problems but people will tell you when they come to offset what they love about. It is it's people. And then i tell you they liked the trees and then they'll tell you they're like the music then they'll tell you they're like the food but new orleans people have said we'll get all up in you because we approximate to each other and we care about each other in. We love each other. And i have i have just benefited so much from friendships with all my friends of different races creeds and colors. I can't imagine who i would be without them. And i see great promise in america in that regard and it makes me weep out. We'd beloved country. When i see how much we lose and how much we leave behind because we're so closed offers each other and i just have a because. I'm you know undying optimism..
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"Would you will come to conclude is inescapably. Is that white people. In america today have power and if the institutions need to be changed the only people who can change them people in power and and so we have to lean into it and by the way it's in our best interest to do so because the country is going to be better because diversity strength not a weakness in every institution that i have seen mop short sixty years of wife that has become wider has become smaller and less wealthy. Every one of them. And that's true. No matter what genre in our platform you're talking about politics music. Art history science government the private sector and so what. I'm saying to mitt. Many americans is we have to get ready for the future because the future is coming. Democracy is changing dramatically and we have to prepare ourselves. And we're going to be better for in a lot of ways. The future is already here. If you go to states like california or texas but let me push back on something you just said when you said when you look at who's in charge and and you mentioned you know look who's in charge in the white house. There were some people who said when president obama was in the white house. Look see race. There is no racism. So how do you. How do you counter the argument. We had a black president. Yeah no question. That's that's a constant refrain. It's just such a. It's such a way to fade off of. You know staying with the real problem just because you then you ask them well. Gee how many presidents have we had now one of those black and so that it was also us from entire history of difficult consequences just because president obama got elected. It was really nice that he got elected. It was a great thing it was. It was a leap forward. But then all of a sudden we elected president trump and we elected the clapback on and we seem to be resting in that and so this work is hard. People also say gee. It's not that bad. Comal harris as a person of color. And she's the vice president. Yes that's true as well but then you ask yourself but if you look at the entire power structure. The imbalance is so obvious and so stark. It is still. The people empowers challenge to fix and the people in power happened to be overwhelming lee white. So if the system is going to change only people who can change it can change it and that would be us. That's why it is. It is a what is called in white problem. Maybe saying another way. It's the problem of the people who are in positions of power. Whoever they may be to actually make sure that we change this system designs that have produced this unequal balance. That we have hints you get into this argument about equity versus equality and now you can see the haters coming after the whole concept of equity which is look. I'm sorry about past. Let's just call them even and we'll just go forward from here which means you'll never catch up..
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"Those forces a thing that you have this idea. That dr uber mitch. His has said something that. I had not really thought much not true. That had thought much about it but the idea was at some point that we made progress in we retraced and then we made progress on the. That was one view of how we moved on. He basically has posited the theory that no. That's not true. We've always moved side-by-side good with evil and one overtakes. The other from time to time in both are always present. And i don't know that he's more right than than wrong but it sure feels like right now. The forces of what. I would describe as white nationalism white supremacy this notion that somehow whiteness is essential to the future of america for some people who consider themselves to be. Patriots is a very dangerous idea. I don't think however that it's just in america. I think you can see this rise of nationalism. It's premacy of this fear of losing happening. All over the world and from time to time throughout history this has occurred before it's important from our perspective to note that it's actually happening that the rise of of of the voice. This voice being put in the white house and being amplified on that level has and a sense of immediacy and urgency that we haven't felt since the very very early days of the civil rights movement when bull connor An leeann perez. And willie ranuch in those guys in the south were really caught affliction than also on cnn. Right now and it's very dangerous because it needs to be confronted and as you see this with crt people pushing back on this idea in this conflation critical race theory with everything that has to do with equality and fairness that's pushback. It's a push back just like you know. Not not wanting to teach our real history. It's a push back. Just like red line gets a push back just like restricting people's rights to vote and unfortunately that is a that is a very familiar. Refrain that we have seen throughout history. So in some instances it's not surprising but it's also disheartening that it continues to be so pervasive at in the second decade of the twenty first century. Are you surprised. By how few voices there are from among republicans among the political class the leadership class pushing back against the sort of the radical edges of the republican party. Who exacerbate exactly what you're talking about. Yes i am. I am very surprised. And i'm very disappointed in that. In this regard that the idea of equality should not be a party issue just like access to the right to vote should be a party issue. I think that it's fair to expect that. There are certain issues in america fundamental fairness equality access to the ballot That that that are above and beyond partisan politics and unfortunately I think that what has happened in the republican party. It has isolated itself on the issue of race. And that's that's unfortunate for a lot of different reasons..
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"And this is cape up. Mitch landrieu is the former mayor of new orleans. Former independent governor of louisiana and one of the most outspoken white southern voices on race in the united states came to the podcast in tiny seventeen after he succeeded in removing the last four confederate monuments in new orleans now four years later our nation is in a different and more perilous place when it comes to race as true history is simultaneously being debated openly dismissed. And you see the push back now with people just completely frozen is just a basic history. We cover a lot of ground here including police reform voting rights and what he would say to senator. Joe manchin about the filibuster here at all right now. Mitch landrieu welcome back to the podcast. Thanks for having me in a continuation of a conversation. You and i have been having for now years and that is our country race. Our country's desperate need for not only racial reckoning but also reconciliation. And i would just love for you to start out by giving your assessment on where we are as a nation right now. Well i think that the word that comes to mind to media sobering and as you said in your question about this continuing conversation that we've been having it occurs to me that this is a conversation that the country's been having with itself sometimes well and sometimes very poorly since the beginning of our time it sure feels like we head backwards right now Bought that i am mindful that we just celebrated the first anniversary of john lewis's death And when people would get down in the dumps and say we haven't made much progress he would admonish us and say i'm evidence that we've made a lot of progress but we still have a very long way to go in. Freedom's not free. You have to work for it every day. I i am a little bit chagrined in not in a good place on why it seems to be so hard for us to do with obviously right for the future of the country but as a practical politician on whose job a used to be to assess. What's possible and what's necessary. It's important for us to realize that we were in. We are in a critical moment that this is a this is a time in. This happens every now and then where the country has to make a decision and that decision really matters about whether you're going to go back whether you're gonna go forward so i believe that we're in this really very difficult struggle where we have to continue to advocate very strong for the very simple idea that we all come to the table. Democracy is equals and that everybody should have a fair shot at the american dream. We don't have it right now. And that there are forces that continued to reject that very idea and that is a very dangerous face to begin. It's one that has to be confronted. Meaning meaning it needs to be spoken about spoken to and dealt with not to be ignored. Aren't so you talk about there. Are those forces.
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
"Mitch landrieu welcome back to the podcast. Thanks for having me in a continuation of a conversation. You and i have been having for now years and that is our country race. Our country's desperate need for not only racial reckoning but also reconciliation. And i would just love for you to start out by giving your assessment on where we are as a nation right now. Well i think that the word that comes to mind to media sobering and as you said in your question about this continuing conversation that we've been having it occurs to me that this is a conversation that the country's been having with itself sometimes well and sometimes very poorly since the beginning of our time it sure feels like we head backwards right now Bought that i am mindful that we just celebrated the first anniversary of john lewis's death And when people would get down in the dumps and say we haven't made much progress he would admonish us and say i'm evidence that we've made a lot of progress but we still have a very long way to go in. Freedom's not free. You have to work for it every day. I i am a little bit chagrined in not in a good place on why it seems to be so hard for us to do with obviously right for the future of the country but as a practical politician on whose job a used to be to assess. What's possible and what's necessary. It's important for us to realize that we were in. We are in a critical moment that this is a this is a time in. This happens every now and then where the country has to make a decision and that decision really matters about whether you're going to go back whether you're gonna go forward so i believe that we're in this really very difficult struggle where we have to continue to advocate very strong for the very simple idea that we all come to the table. Democracy is equals and that everybody should have a fair shot at the american dream. We don't have it right now. And that there are forces that continued to reject that very idea and that is a very dangerous face to begin.
Cape Up with Jonathan Capehart
Interview With Mitch Landrieu, Former New Orleans Mayor
"Mitch landrieu welcome back to the podcast. Thanks for having me in a continuation of a conversation. You and i have been having for now years and that is our country race. Our country's desperate need for not only racial reckoning but also reconciliation. And i would just love for you to start out by giving your assessment on where we are as a nation right now. Well i think that the word that comes to mind to media sobering and as you said in your question about this continuing conversation that we've been having it occurs to me that this is a conversation that the country's been having with itself sometimes well and sometimes very poorly since the beginning of our time it sure feels like we head backwards right now Bought that i am mindful that we just celebrated the first anniversary of john lewis's death And when people would get down in the dumps and say we haven't made much progress he would admonish us and say i'm evidence that we've made a lot of progress but we still have a very long way to go in. Freedom's not free. You have to work for it every day. I i am a little bit chagrined in not in a good place on why it seems to be so hard for us to do with obviously right for the future of the country but as a practical politician on whose job a used to be to assess. What's possible and what's necessary. It's important for us to realize that we were in. We are in a critical moment that this is a this is a time in. This happens every now and then where the country has to make a decision and that decision really matters about whether you're going to go back whether you're gonna go forward so i believe that we're in this really very difficult struggle where we have to continue to advocate very strong for the very simple idea that we all come to the table. Democracy is equals and that everybody should have a fair shot at the american dream. We don't have it right now. And that there are forces that continued to reject that very idea and that is a very dangerous face to begin.
WABE 90.1 FM
"mitch landrieu" Discussed on WABE 90.1 FM
"From W A. B E in Atlanta. I'm Kim. Droves in for lowest rights is and this is city lights in 2000 and 15, comedian director and daily show field. Correspondent, C. J Hunt was filming the New Orleans City Council vote to remove for Confederate monuments. But when that removal is halted by death threats, C J set out to understand why a losing army from 18 65. Still holds so much power in America. What results is neutral ground, an impeccably researched and moving documentary, least with wit and precise comedic timing. A former teacher himself, Hunt hopes the film will one day be incorporated into American classrooms. Earlier this week, City lights host Slows, right says spoke with hunt over Zoom and she started their conversation by asking Hunt. His background is black and Filipino when he started thinking about his own black identity. I understood as a black person, you know, from age four on But I grew up in Massachusetts and New York, and it wasn't until I moved to New Orleans in 2000 and seven That, you know, right after college that I thought about the strangeness of Confederate monuments because I really hadn't been exposed to them before. You know, we have our own, you know, suddenly horrifying monuments to you know, Columbus and to end other colonizers in the north, but One of my first phone calls home to my dad. Upon moving to New Orleans was Oh my God, Dad, they have a they have a giant statue of Robert E. Lee and the streets are named after Jefferson Davis, and that was shocking and horrifying for its own reason in moving here. Let's talk about the title of that You are a documentary. What does the neutral ground describe? The neutral ground is the name New Orleanians have given to the grassy median between two streets. And whereas in other cities it might be where someone spins a sign for a Going out of business, bed Bath and beyond. In New Orleans. It's a place where the community gathers and parties. It's where people fill the neutral ground and meet up for Mardi Gras, and that's where they stand and watch parades. That's where they would be barbecuing. That's right. One parks their car when it's you know, in times of storm, so this is a community space. It's also where the Confederacy chose to build most of its monuments. So I think the film is asking the question. What does it mean that our communal space is literally occupied by folks who were in slavers and in New Orleans white militias who attacked the government to teach black people a lesson and the disconnect comes out so beautifully in the film because Here. New Orleans is the cradle of so much We love about American culture that As a result of black live music, cooking language and dance and yet, you know, surrounded by the names of streets and this retching ongoing controversy. About this statues in the film. Many of the protesters we see believe that removal of these Confederate monuments would be Rewriting the past that this was their history repeatedly. You bring out there, saying the simple war was fought over secession, not slavery. C. J. I'm curious about your reactions and how you responded to these comment. You know, I I think you're right. And I think New Orleans really highlights that dichotomy of being such a black city. I'm giving the world jazz and half of the food we like. You know, these are from black people. But we also have this giant concentration of monument giant monuments, 60 ft. Tall monuments to the Confederacy. And if you look across the country What is the common denominator for the cities where you see the highest concentration of Confederate monuments? New Orleans Richmond, Atlanta. These are black cities. And for folks who honor The Confederacy. It is maybe never occurred to them. What it means that they live in a city that is mostly black people because of slavery. And has its highest places of honor dedicated to those who tried to perpetuate slavery forever. It has never occurred to them. What it must feel like to be a black child going to a school named after a man who would have enslaved them to be looking up at these things every day, and I think that's just how part of Whiteness works that when you see your history reflected on pedestals everywhere, the notion of simply moving that across town moving that to, uh, cemetery. Moving it to a museum feels like destruction to you Feels like how is my history even intact if it's not literally on a pedestal, and I think that was What we saw. You know, in the wake of the Charleston massacre as take em down, Nola and activists were saying We've got to move these things as our white Mayor, Mitch Landrieu heard the call of activists and said Yes, I will use my power to move these things. People thought that moving them was destruction of their history. We are not terrorists. We do not destroy the past. We are not allowing this material. It was Muslims, Jacobins and Communists will bent on destroying memory rewriting the past. It should be clear to everyone north of south that it is not. That is not that it is not sensitivity. Where do we stop about this? Know all the way to Washington and take down every memorial there. Yes, This is our history, And I think that.
The Frame
As protests grow, Belgium faces its racist colonial past
"As the protests over police racism and brutality rumbled across European cities some activists targeted that own country's colonial history in Belgium demonstrates a spray painted a statue of king Leopold the second Wallenstein U. K. statue of seventeenth century slave trader Edward Colston was toppled and thrown into a rhythm can the push for justice move forward without first looking back maybe the best way to reckon with our racist history is to dump it in the river we're going across America and abroad today as part of our one A. across America project it's a partnership with six public radio stations in various parts of the country we're joined now by someone who once said a great nation does not hide its history it faces its flaws and it corrects them Mitch Landrieu is the former mayor of New Orleans and author of the book in the shadow of statues a white southerner confronts history welcome back to the show image thank you so much I haven't also joining us is only a haci nada she's a writer and organizer of black lives matter U. K. black lives matter U. K. has compiled a list of sixty statues that it wants removed because they celebrate slavery Aaliyah joins us from London welcome hi thanks for having me Mitch you brought down a number of Confederate monuments while you are male you may or you did that legally I wonder what do you make of protests in various cities that are taking down statues and monuments illegally well it I need to involve myself and I wasn't the first one to talk about it it's been a long history of people who were leaders in New Orleans who tried to take those monuments down they all legal processes for doing it and there are the process used to doing it a peaceful protest you know the important thing is is that people now are beginning to understand how insidious those monuments are the ones that was specifically put up to celebrate those individuals who've spent their lives protecting slavery and so that's what the Confederate monuments are in the United States of America I can't speak to the ones because I don't know enough about them in other parts of the in the south in the United States of America there are three thousand monuments that will play stop for the distinct indirect purpose of revering and honoring individuals who fought to split the United States and hand over the cause of preserving slavery and that's just about the civil war of the confederacy was on the wrong side of that war they were on the wrong side of history and the last thing that we should be doing is honoring what's called a lost cause which is meant that somehow of the confederacy was a noble cause when in fact it was not in these monuments will put in places of all public places yeah they got the money and on on public on public land and with and will put up with the specific purpose of Riviera the person by general Robert E. Lee Jefferson Davis PGT Beauregard and there a whole host of others whose mission it was was to preserve
In Black America
Mitch Landrieu On The South's Racial Divide... And How To Bridge It
"I'm John L. Hanson in junior and welcome to another addition of him black America on this week's program divided by design with the Honorable Mitch Landrieu former mayor of New Orleans in Black America. You know so you know. We took all that information and said you know what are we gonNa do and one of the things we WANNA do is set up of an organization that helps number one. Educate most Americans about what the real history of our country is so that they can begin to understand institutional racism which clearly exists. Secondly we are going to Use Art Music Culture Sports to help change those stores and bring people together. We're going to do. Is We want to help. Train leaders and communities about what an equity agenda agenda would look like how equality and equity of two different things. And that if you really mean that everybody should have an equal opportunity that you have to design systems to do it and effectively. The conclusion was big picture was that the country is the way it is because we designed it this way and if we're divided you know somebody designed it so that we can be divided and if we want at the beach gather we got a redesign. It we gotta fix what we broke going up in the politically active and socially conscious family. Ms Landrus political roots. Run deep in Louisiana. Lisi Anna Way served two terms as governor and sixteen years in the state legislature and eight years as mayor of New Orleans to this any as seen seen firsthand how segregation and racism as affected communities in this country and particularly in the south over the course of year. His team met with people where they he lived. They traveled to twenty communities across thirteen southern states. They visit diverse parts of the region geographically demographically and culturally along their journey they had discussions in many different settings from one on one interview to small groups and roundtables to focus groups to community listening sessions. The capstone of their research is eighteen. Hundred Person Survey across the stage. They visited the report title divided by designs. The cavs for discussion or how. The American south experience issues of race and class in their communities. Recently in Black America spoke with Mayor Landrieu born and bred New Orleans Louisiana. The Anna one of nine children. We'd be my brothers and sisters. We got thirty eight kids and been here my whole life. There was an idea. What was I going up in New Orleans with nine kids families? You got to get to the front of the line as fast as you can get there. It was a I lived in a in a great neighborhood. We played street ball all the time. came from a big family. You know born and raised the and it was just a just a Lotta fun growing up. It's hard once you grew up in New Orleans to live anywhere else. 'cause wait okay. I'm sure everybody everybody feels good about the neighborhood. Do they grow up in what we we had a good time. What was it about your family and politics? You know it's an interesting. My Dad was a was a poor kid. He didn't hardly Nichols Rub together. Did know anybody grew up in a house that was about eighteen feet wide and sixty feet deep and live right across the street from from a cemetery grew up in a store room of his mom. Is You know house where she was. selling stuff to folks in the neighborhood he got around. You know after I got out of law school. Who figured that he wanted to try to do something good and ran for office and you know from there the whole family? Has You know based on what my mom and dad's work has been been kind. Kevin Gage the public service. Now not all of my brothers and sisters are in elected office. But you know they. They have spent their time. You know kind of following the lead of trying to give back where they could. In in your opinion what makes New Orleans such a vibrant city and people want to visit as often as possible. Well you've been here. Yeah you know we were talking a little bit Before your daughter went to school here this is a we celebrate it out three hundred dollars bursary this year. We have always been a very diverse place rich culture. You know history is such that and this is part of one of the efforts. I'm working on it we were. We were a huge Originating spot for slavery in America we also had the influence of the French the Spanish German. It was because of bovine. History is sorted history in some parts glorious than the others it has been a melting pot. That's reflected the soul of the country very culturally rich culturally deep and it has just been a really interesting place to live. You know I like to think of losses At least reflecting both burst both both the best and the worst of America because I- diversity from the beginning has been Great strength and You know it's it's it's got. His problems bought thought. You know. It is very reflective of the full diversity of what we hope that. America's GonNa be one day we're new became mayor of New Orleans. The city was experiencing just after Katrina. Give us a snapshot of how the city has progressed. Since that time. Well everybody remembers. I mean if it's almost like when nine eleven hit you remember where you were. Most people remember where they were. When Katrina hit? I mean it was a defining moment for us because the whole city was destroyed. I mean we. We got beat to death by that storm. I mean literally. We lost eighteen hundred of our brothers and sisters and bothered fathers aunts and uncles and kids every physical structure in the city. Almost underwater seventeen feet of water for weeks. I mean we had to rebuild this thing from nothing and you know like when when you're in a tragedy you come together because you have to you know you you better you better find somebody that can lift you up. You're not GonNa make it and you better listen body else up. But they're not Michael Baker and out of that tragedy. The people of New Orleans you know had a common focus and we came together. We had to rebuild all of our schools. We rebuilt the hospitals. We're opening up a brand new airport Next week with the rebuild all of our schools and we had to get our feet back underneath us and so you know although it was a very tragic tragic moment in the city miraculously. I mean the people found a way to rise above lots of different things. That separate us and rebuild the city and so the city is doing really really well. Now it is. It's further along than I think. People expected it to be. I think people now can look at the complications in Puerto. Rico go on in other places. It's hard to come back when you get beat. You know by by a natural catastrophe like that you'll see these wildfires in California put some communities. He's on the back one of the interesting things about it and this is something that we've all known is that people had stuff before the storm had an easier time coming back then people. That didn't have stuff. You know. So generation wealth and resilient to the communities are all very much an important part of. You know making sure that that you're ready to come back and it's been a little bit uneven but you know the city if you came here you'd be surprised at how how much progress has been in the last thirteen years the sand obviously with the rebuilding of New Orleans. You had a team. Well who are some of the other individuals that one part of the city government that you leaned upon on to get advice and insight. Well the truth is and I'm not trying to be cute here but the answer is everybody in the the only way that the city could come back was by having everybody in the world and help us so we got huge numbers of a financial and philanthropic donations from other countries Um working with the president of the United States was really really important in his cabinet. Getting the state government the local government but on the ground down on the ground having the faith based Community Mutiti the not for profit community you know individuals at all wanted to help everybody in kind of deal and You know there was so many people it'd be hard to call out. I want to but literally as I was the one of the most blessing. Blessed things was no matter who restarted. The answer was always yes. And that's why New Orleans feel so thankful to the rest of the country for all that that you guys gave us and so you know we want people to come visit and see it you know. I think you'll be surprised. You know we're like any other big city in America we have challenges and that will be here before Katrina and we're trying to figure them out from housing. The transportation redoing the criminal justice system all of those things. We still have great challenges with. But we're better off than we were before the storm.
New Orleans mayor on Confederate monuments battle, institutional racism
"This is one a i'm joshua johnson in washington mitch landrieu the mayor of new orleans made national news last year with a speech about why the city took down four confederate monuments in his new book he argues that it is time for a better south and now is a good time to make this argument new orleans is celebrating its three hundredth birthday this year mayor landrieu's new book is called in the shadow of statues a white southerner confronts history and he joins us now from npr in new york mr mayor welcome to one a thank you so much for having me i wonder when you walk past the places where those statues were a statue of robert e lee one of confederates jefferson davis one of general pg beauregard and an obelisk known as the liberty place monument what goes through your head what goes through your heart when you walk past where those statues were now before when you walk past them now those sites where the statue stood for so long well unfortunately now i can't walk by them and not think about put myself in the shoes of so many other people that have been forced to walk by them for their entire lives and i feel a little bit ashamed that i didn't have a better understanding or appreciation of why they were there who put them there and why really they helped hold new orleans in the south back statues we'll we'll put up on purpose well after the civil war was fought and concluded by a group of people who are called by historians the cult of the loss 'cause those are not my words those a historians words and those monuments will put up after the confederacy lost a civil war which by the way was an attempt to tear america apart destroy the country was a war fought against the united states of america america for the purpose of preserving slavery and when the confederacy lost and not all of the.