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White Protesters Shunned at Rally over Racist Murder
By Matthew Cardinale
www.OpEdNews.Com
At least three White protesters, and long-time social justice
advocates, were told by Black protest organizers that they were not
allowed at last week’s downtown rally over the racist murder at
Razzoo night club in New Orleans, says Orissa Arend. Arend discusses
the quandary of the Blacks-only Rally in her latest column for the
Louisiana Weekly print edition.
“I reported for duty to Razzoo on a recent Friday night to lend
support to protesters on behalf of the Anti-Violence Coordinating
Committee (former Black Panthers) and possibly get a story for the
Louisiana Weekly,” Arend wrote in her column.
“Razzoo, many know by now, was the scene of the tragic death of
Levon Jones at the hands of Razzoo’s bouncers on New Year’s Eve, eye
witnesses claim,” Arend continues.
But little did Arend know that she would not be welcomed at the
rally due to her skin color. “I thought this was just like other
issues like fighting the School Board, where we could all work
together,” she explained in a phone interview. “MERGE and
Neighborhood Unity (local advocacy groups) used to be mixed-racial
groups and now I understand them to be Blacks-only. But they sent
out a press release inviting people to come and protest. Maybe they
should have been more specific about who they meant.”
Protest organizers on the scene allegedly told Arend and two other
White protesters to leave because, “This is a Black problem. Go
organize in your own community.”
To be sure, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have
called Jones’s murder explicitly racist and demanded an
investigation into the killing.
The groups have additionally called for a boycott of Razzoo, and
they have threatened an African-American boycott of the whole city’s
tourist industry if officials do not adequately address the issue.
“Yes. It’s a Black problem,” writes Arend. “But it’s definitely a
White problem, too. When you have three White bouncers pinning a guy
down until he is dead because they don’t like his attitude about a
(possibly
nonexistent) dress code, you have a White problem. When you’ve
created a culture on the world’s most famous good-time street that
allows a young life to be snuffed out in slow motion while people,
including police officers, stand around and watch, you’ve got a
White problem,” writes Arend in her column.
“The point is, this killing wouldn’t have happened to a White
person. I mean, you can’t prove what wouldn’t happen, but I really
don’t think a White person would have been killed.”
Three White bouncers -- Clay Montz, 32; Matthew Taylor, 21; and
Arthur Irons, 40 -- face charges of negligent homicide in the death
of Levon Jones, 25, according to TheNewOrleansChannel.com. Jones,
from Georgia, was in town for a flag football tournament. His family
has since begun pursuing legal action against Razzoo.
“On New Year's Eve, Jones and a friend tried to enter Razzoo
nightclub on Bourbon Street,” continues TheNewOrleansChannel. “Amid
circumstances that remain unclear, words were exchanged, and the
altercation ended with Jones handcuffed on the ground and restrained
by at least two of the bouncers.”
The Coroner’s Report stated that Jones was face-down in a chokehold
with a bouncer's knee pressing on his upper back, according to
TheNewOrleansChannel. Jones' carotid artery was compressed and his
lungs collapsed, resulting in "cardiac death from suffocation," the
report continued.
Razzoo states that the bouncers pinned down Jones after he did not
comply with the club’s “dress code.” Civil rights advocates say that
the dress code is selectively enforced to keep minorities out of
Razzoo and other clubs, while Whites are allowed to wear all types
of clothing.
Club owners have since released an additional account, contradicting
their first account, now stating that Jones had attempted to punch
bouncers and force his way in the door. The Razzoo owners have
released a videotape of the incident to the police, but refuse to
release it to the media. A photo that was released appears to show a
friend of Jones, who was not murdered, in an altercation with
bouncers.
“I don’t think the photo did what the club owners wanted it to do,”
says Arend. “First of all, even if he punched one of the bouncers,
that doesn’t give them the right to kill him. Second, [the photo]
showed that there were policemen standing right there watching and
not doing anything.”
“For better or for worse, the culture of Bourbon Street, its owners,
its customers, its enforcers of behavior, mores, and taste – this is
basically White culture, or at least one aspect of it,” writes Arend.
“For this White scribe, that’s a scary thought. I want an alternate
reality. Consider these two realities on Bourbon Street: The White
reality is topless-bottomless-anything-and-everything-goes. The
Black reality is an impromptu “dress code” – infractions sometimes
punishable by death. THAT’S a White problem,” Arend concludes.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has called for stricter training of
bouncers in the city, enhanced procedures for on-duty police
officers (who have been accused of being lackadaisical and
negligent), and a “secret shopper” program where Blacks who actually
work for the city will randomly attend local clubs and document how
they are treated.
Additionally, the FBI has launched a preliminary civil rights
investigation into the incident.
However, will the underlying causes of racism in a city be dealt
with, when some advocacy groups are imposing additional divisions by
race among their supporters?
Matthew Cardinale is a freelance writer, advocate, and graduate
student at UC Irvine in sociology and democracy studies. He may be
reached at mcardina@uci.edu.
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