January 27, 2012
Honorable Jim Letten
U.S. ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
Eastern District
650 Poydras Street, Suite 1600
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
RE: ALL Residents of the City That “Care Forgot”
Honorable Letten:
It’s been said that New Orleans is the city that “Care Forgot.” I submit to you that indeed it is just that and because of this, the city is experiencing mind numbing episodes of violence. This will be just the tip of the iceberg if we don’t do something sensible NOW. I write this letter to you on behalf of the city and my state.
I don’t feel that Mr. Landrieu, no matter how hard he may try, has the resources to even begin to address what is going on in New Orleans.
I feel 1000% certain the man who calls himself Governor of Louisiana – well, that’s a whole other letter there. Let’s just say, I know he doesn’t care. This has shown time and time through his actions – or lack thereof. His answer is sending in the National Guard to lock everybody up. Sure, that worked out so well last time, didn’t it? Let’s harass good, law abiding citizens, while our kids, friends, and family members continue to be slaughtered. We now know that is NOT the answer.
I believe at the time I write this, we know the NOPD’s official murder count to be 21. I note for your attention that this is the 27th day of January of 2012. 21 people have been murdered in New Orleans in less than one month. 21. 21 is an age that most young African-American men are fortunate if they can even reach.
How many mothers, grandmothers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, friends, fan, employers, employees, teachers, friends, firefighters, residents (and anyone else you can name) are missing loved ones because of senseless violence – violence that did not have to be, if only the powers that be really cared about their constituents?
I write this letter to you because I hope you “Care” and I pray that you will do something for ALL residents of New Orleans, no matter their income level, political connections, color of their skin, religion – ALL residents. ALL matter. If they have a felony record, it does not make it OK for them to die in the streets. If they are a law abiding citizen, they should be able to walk out their front door, without fear of being shot down. If they are committing crimes, we need to figure out how to stop the majority of it – most people are not born into this world as a criminal. The city of New Orleans has a way of creating and mass producing criminals. Why is this we ask ourselves? Well, there’s a good reason for some of it. ALL residents should be attended to BEFORE a problem begins – before we see ourselves 2 or 3 generations into systemic problems and social ills that should have been addressed long ago and that must be addressed now, with a common sense approach.
ALL residents should be able to allow their child to PLAY on a playground without fear of becoming the victim of an assassin’s bullet. Everyone is clamoring for answers. The city IS coming together and now is the time to make something positive come of it. What can be done? Is there any influence that you can give? Any thoughts on a common sense approach? Matter of fact, the city not only wants answers on why it took the violence taking the life of a “Good Samaritan” to get the attention of the powers that be – they want to know when that type of attention will be paid to ALL neighborhoods of New Orleans.
ALL residents of the city wants to know that they are not forgotten, that they too matter, and that they too should be able to be safe in and out of their own homes. Just think if Care would have paid attention decades ago, how New Orleans would be a completely different city now. It is an almost certainty that no one would be referring to it as the “Murder Cappy.” It would not be without problems, as no area is, but the level of carnage that we are now seeing, would not be in existence. It is the New Orleans the good citizens of New Orleans deserve, whether they are Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic, Asian, all of the above, or none of the above. ALL means “ALL” residents.
The City of New Orleans has seen some dark days and it has seen some days to be celebrated. Decades ago, the decline of civilization as we know it, began right before the eyes of many – many who are no longer here, for various reasons.
The “white flight” from the city began decades ago, as Jefferson Parish and points beyond filled up with new residents, mainly because little Caucasian children were “too good” to be in a classroom next to their African-American counterparts. That’s the reality of the situation whether folks want to believe it or not. That’s what has brought us to the point. THIS IS ALL TOO REAL.
Meanwhile, in the REAL world of New Orleans, the corruption that had been present since days of piracy and slavery, began to reach a feverish point where it was completely out of control. The poor and minority residents were of course, left in a city that Care seemed to forget, for Care was too busy with its own lives, baking cookies and building white picket fences and enjoying their wonderful lives that would never be touched by crime and other societal ills, for Care could not be bothered with poor and minorities – or so they thought.
Care was not affected by crime, except by paying higher taxes and having to watch where it parked its vehicle when coming into the city. While I – and New Orleans residents with any sense of decency – know that nothing could be further from the truth as our lives are REALITY BASED, Care continued to live in the suburbs or “less dangerous” areas of New Orleans, because Care didn’t “care” what happened to others, so long as their families were “fine”. Because Care forgot the city, the city in turn, forgot many residents and that is when evil took its foothold.
Years later, we are seeing the end result of what “Care” could not be bothered to see – this is what being too wrapped up in your own life, rather than being concerned about your fellow man and woman (no matter their race or income level) brings upon a city so beautiful and unique – a city that is New Orleans.
By stark contrast, we can see that you seem to actually “care” for a city where you were raised, a city where you went to law school, a parish where you actually worked inside of one of the most broken criminal justice systems in the world – New Orleans, the city that “Care Forgot” – Orleans Parish, one of the most violent places on earth, literally. Having been an NCIS agent, I would think that your mind and horizons have been broadened and that your ideas can greatly benefit this city. What do we do, Mr. Letten? WHAT DO WE DO? We need answers now. It is an election year, so what better year to get things done? Our politicians’ ears should be wide open right now. They have to know that the smoke and mirrors of days gone by, have led us to this point and we will no longer continue to place them into offices where they stand idly by, while citizens drop by the wayside. BUT, we need the help of someone who can bring attention to the problems and help find viable solutions. WHAT DO WE DO?
We wonder why a 2-year old can’t play in a courtyard without her mother having to grieve an untold loss. We wonder why we are seeing a generation of seemingly lost souls maim others without so much as a blink of an eye. We wonder why the majority of those good people living in New Orleans, have to deal with violence on an hourly basis. We wonder when it will end. We wonder when real help will come down, but most of all we wonder why it took a “Good Samaritan” being murdered in broad daylight, for Care to care. When will fathers be able to leave their homes and return unharmed? When will mothers be able to watch their children grow up to become whatever it is, they always dreamed of being? When will we see a day where t-shirts are to welcome home young men from college and not worn by the friends who will never see them again? When will we see a day where we are building schools, safe playgrounds and after school programs, rather than jails, overflow parking for funeral homes and the like? WHEN WILL WE SEE THE DAY OUR ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS “CARE” WHAT HAPPENS TO NEW ORLEANS? There are thousands of people from all races and walks of life who DO CARE, so that is no longer an excuse. There are thousands of African-Americans who CARE, but don’t know where to turn because they are in the city that CARE FORGOT. There are thousands upon thousands of PEOPLE of all colors who CARE, but because of the non-caring attitude of some, MANY suffer. WE NEED HELP, SIR.
When we begin to concern ourselves with reporting to the media whether a murder victim had a criminal record, we have lost sight of what’s important. When we reach a point where our police try to downplay an incident where a car full of young men are gunned down because it’s perceived to be “drug related” and because the victims may have “prior convictions”, at what point do we ask ourselves WHY we are seeing so much of this? Instead of sweeping victims under the rug as if they are sub-human, we need help finding viable solutions to preventing this type of violence in the first place.
We know that locking up people DOES NOT work. We know that the criminal justice system is shattered; it DOES NOT work. It may in fact, be creating a more violent breed of criminal. As the lyrics of a well known song say, “I’m from Louisiana where the politicians tell the truth if you believe what they say …. You can’t get caught with that yay, but you can walk with your K” [referring to dope and AK-47 automatic weapons]. That’s just plain sad. We wonder why song lyrics are so crass. That’s why – this is what the children of our city have to look forward to, unless they are fortunate enough to have a little means – and even if they are, at some point, the violence will spill over into their neighborhoods, as we now know it will. It should not have gotten to this point, but the reality is that it did. Now what is going to be done to fix it? PLEASE help.
Gambit Magazine named you “New Orleanian of the Year” for 2009. That was because you made moves in New Orleans that none of your colleagues cared to make. Please, please make a move here and help this great city. It’s at its knees and it needs a “CARING” hand up. Please show you “Care” for ALL residents.
NEW ORLEANS NEEDS YOUR HELP.
Thank you for your consideration,
Arlene E. Culpepper, Editor of The Heat Magazine
