"Union, Justice, and Confidence"

In 1902, Louisiana adopted "Union, Justice, and Confidence" as its state motto.  How much does it live up to those values?  Well, 13,000 people can't speak for the whole state, but they do speak to a certain section of it, and I just learned that my home state of Louisiana is starting a petition (with 13,000 signatures already collected) to secede from the union in response to the 2012 election.  I am nothing short of embarrassed, appalled, and not that surprised -- all at the same time.

It is hard for me to talk about this because every assertion I make is fraught with condemnations against my people -- my family, friends, and community.  What I can talk about is how this confirms the magnitude of racist thinking that is active in my home state.  It amazes me that the tragedy of Katrina, for example (to use the easiest and most well-known example), has only served to sharpen racist sentiments rather than unite people across race and class boundaries.  I mean, there has surely been some bonding among individuals, but as a state entity, the people of Louisiana are woefully divided...and more so than the division of our country at large.  

Orleans parish, which covers much of New Orleans, voted 80.3% for Obama, and surprisingly, even East Baton Rouge parish went 50.8% in favor of Obama.  Out of 64 parishes, 10 voted for Obama and 54 voted for Romney.  Not only that, but 16 of those 54 parishes voted more than 70% in favor of Romney.  I'm not at all suggesting that communities who vote for Romney are automatically racist.  Far from that.  What I'm interested in is the fact that, according to census data, the parishes that voted for Obama are communities in which 50% or more of the population is black.  Compare that to a place like my home parish, Lafourche Parish, in which 81.1 % of the population is white, and the parish as a whole voted 73.2% in favor of Romney.

It's obvious to me that given these numbers, race has a significant influence on how people are voting.  Given the suffering that many Louisianans are experiencing after the major oil spill and the economic downturn, it is amazing to me how many people are voting against their own class interests.  I am not jumping to any major conclusions, but I am seeing that racism is playing a huge part in this equation.  This petition for secession is, in my opinion, nothing more than an articulation of this disquieting racist thinking.