Breitbart News is in contact with a self-described “lifelong resident of Zachary, a Baton Rouge suburb, and a black man” who’s laid out the truth about economic conditions that Louisiana residents are facing.
President Barack Obama visited Zachary, after delaying a trip to Louisiana. This brave and insightful citizen journalist reached out again with perspective that the drive-by media won’t be bringing you about Obama’s visit. It’s a perfect bookend to a piece by Louisiana State Senator Elbert Guillory, the black attorney and politician who fled the Democrat party and “hasn’t looked back.”
Our anonymous citizen journalist writes:
Three phases of this storm. First, Livingston parish was hit and that is mostly conservative Republicans. Add a few subtle culture aspects of those who are Cajun or live and adhere to country rural living, and the people in Livingston Parish have the personalities that under these circumstances would challenge President Obama. The Governor knows this and kept him away.The second wave of the storm is what flooded various parts of Baton Rouge. They have the first wave of backflow water that is now part of the third phase, Ascension parish. These areas are black areas of the city and black people here hate Democrat Mayor Kip Holden because they feel he didn’t do enough during Alton Sterling killing. They wanted Kip to fire cops, stand up for “the community” or at least show his face. His lack of leadership really created a lot of animosity. During this storm kis has mainly done phone in appearance and hasn’t shown his face. During the demonstratios in July, you could see how angry the blacl people in Baton Rouge were and they weren’t afraid to shout it back then to every TV camera they could find. Again, everyone knew this and so it made sense to keep Obama away from there, too, even though that area was hit very hard.Up until President Obama landed, no one knew exactly where he was going. The parish president of Livingston, one of the hardest hit areas, gave an interview confirming the President would not be coming there. Trump and his mini motorcade went to Livingston last week.
Pres. Obama chose Zachary; a black middle class subdivision. He visited the Castle Place subdivision. It took a big hit, but it is one part of the city of Zachary. Overall, Zachary as a city was at the bottom of the list in terms of damage but as I wrote in my first letter, this is a peaceful middle-class town. It’s the place least likely to produce anything to disrupta photo-op.
Now it’s getting strange….
Obama went and visited a shelter here in Zachary that wasn’t operational until somewhere between yesterday and today. That shelter in Zachary that he visited wasn’t in the same neighborhood as he walked and visited. The shelter was in Zachary, but across town.
Most of the people who have come here have been parking trailers in family or friends yard and staying there.
Why would the city of Zachary open a shelter the day before opening schools were back up, marshaling a ton of resources away from a supposed shelter? Why would Obama visit a shelter that has hastily been put together in a neighborhood, though flooded, was the only neighborhood flooded in a city that was fully functional, aside from the school, through this entire process?
Yes, the hardest hit neighborhoods and cities—places where upwards of 90% of all homes and buildings were completely wiped out—have not supported Obama politically or otherwise.
The city of Baton Rouge still had major shelters full, as does Livingston and Ascension parish.
Let’s be frank: no way Gov. John Bel Edwards would have allowed Obama to go to Livingston or Ascension parish because the people there would have tested him, politely, and posed tough questions.
He’d also face a tough audience in Baton Rouge. Mayor Kip Holden is by far the least popular person in the black community here, and it’s a direct result of the Alton Sterling affair. Black people flat out hate him and the professional public servants despise him.
The same highway where Black Lives Matter’s Deray McKesson and others were arrested is now a valley of debris.
I hope I’m not stretching too far by saying this: I believe the aftermath of the racial politics that rose from the Alton Sterling case prevented Obama supporting those most severely affected by this disaster. Mayor Kip Holden probably couldn’t guarantee a safe photo op for the president.
I am thankful the President is in the neighborhood of my sister here in Zachary, but are officials scared of the response of the people who most needed his visit?
If you know the character and personalities of those in the hardest hit areas, someone would have without a doubt at minimum hit Obama with some very uncomfortable questions.
Breitbart News will continue to bring you the stories that the rest of the media won’t.
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