Houma-Terrebonne Chamber usher in new year
January 20, 2015Season for cakes fit for royalty – Mardi Gras kings, that is
January 21, 2015
Installation of a black judge and a new era of dialogue with the police were celebrated this week as signs that much has changed in Terrebonne Parish since the years when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke stirring words that moved the nation toward racial equality.
But during the parish’s annual celebration of King’s life and times, spoken words and printed signs called attention to what local civil rights leaders say is a continued need for progress.
The event was a forum for discontent as much as a platform for celebration, indicative of a racial polarization still addressed in public monologues rather than dialogue, and burgeoning political battles.
A crowd of about 100 people gathered at an American-flag decked courthouse square in Houma, followed by a march to the Dumas Auditorium for a more formal program.
Some marchers carried signs reading “Jobs Not Jail” and “Economic Justice Now.”
Among the marchers was District Court Judge Juan Pickett, who ran unopposed to become the 32nd Judicial District’s
first-ever black jurist.
“It is living the dream,” Pickett said. “Years and years of trying to reach the goal and today remembering people like Dr. Martin Luther King who laid the groundwork for people like me to have this opportunity.”
There was no mistaking the local celebration’s racially unilateral composition. The only white faces visible at the day’s events were those of public officials and journalists.
As marchers completed rounding the turn from Lafayette to Bond streets near its conclusion, briefly stopping traffic, a middle-aged white woman called out “N-devil-ACP” once allowed to go on her way.
Outside the auditorium community groups sold hot dogs, jambalaya and fried fish while members of the Camp 8 Riders, a black horsemen’s group that took part in the parade gave rides to children.
The voice of King, whose non-violent protests and activism in the 1950s and 1960s are credited with spurring federal legislation that knocked the wind out of the South’s Jim Crow system, rang through an outdoor speaker system.
Inside the mood was festive but reverent. Terrebonne Parish President Michel Claudet, Schools Superintendent Philip Martin, Parish Council members Arlanda Williams and Daniel Babin were among the officials seated at the dais, along with several ministers and Terrebonne Parish NAACP President Jerome Boykin.
Amid the speeches extolling King’s work and legacy, Boykin praised Houma Police Chief Todd Duplantis for having an open door during his tenure, admitting that at first he didn’t have high hopes for a good relationship.
“Many people have spoken words, but actions speak louder than words,” Boykin said, referring to outreach by Duplantis to various communities in the city, and the success of neighborhood watch program.
He also acknowledged Pickett’s judgeship as a reason for celebration. But Boykin then said the unopposed candidate’s success did not mean that a vital battle had ended.
“We can’t depend on someone letting us win,” Boykin said. “In six years, six short years all of the judges have to run for re-election. And guess what? It’s a strong possibility that the 32nd judicial district court will be all white again.”
Boykin spoke of the current federal lawsuit his organization is a party to, which seeks to halt at-large judicial elections in the parish in favor of a minority opportunity district, which would allow a candidate specifically chosen by a majority black electorate to be chosen.
Boykin’s harshest words were reserved for State Rep. Gordon Dove R-Houma, who opposed a 2011 bill that would have created such a district in a 2011 floor fight.
“He is the reason the African-Americans are going to court to fight, to create a district, a minority district forjudge,” Boykin said, claiming that Dove won his legislative seat by garnering the parish’s black vote.
“He carried every black district in Terrebonne,” Boykin said. “We sent him to Baton Rouge.”
Noting Dove’s announced candidacy for the office of Terrebonne Parish President, Boykin warned that black voters would remember what they saw as a betrayal of trust.
“He wants to run for parish president, well he went across the bridge but we are going to wait for him on the other side,” Boykin said to boisterous applause and cheers. “He does not deserve a single black vote in Terrebonne Parish.”
Dove, Rep. Joe Harrison R-Napoleonville and former representatives Damon Baldone and Hunt Downer Jr. gave depositions in the first week of January to the NAACP’s attorneys in connection with the suit, which alleges that the at-large voting scheme in Terrebonne violate the federal voting right act.
Opponents of a minority sub-district say such measures are not necessary to ensure fair choices, pointing to the seating of Pickett.
Reached for comment by telephone, Dove bristled at Boykin’s remarks.
“Jerome Boykin is self-serving; he is a divider not a uniter. I don’t so where anything I was told he said is serving anyone’s purpose but his own. We have a minority judge that was elected to the 32nd Judicial District, in Division C. His name is Juan Pickett, now Judge Juan Pickett. I was a supporter of his and he ran unopposed, therefore duly elected by the people of Terrebonne Parish. When nobody runs against you it means the people are happy with you. Maybe Juan Pickett is not the judge Jerome Boykin wanted.”
The NAACP does not endorse political candidates and Boykin has not stated a personal preference for the office of parish president, with incumbent Michel Claudet term-limiting out. But Dove, surmising that Boykin is supportive of Babin, said he is not seeking Boykin’s support.
“I don’t want it,” he said.
Arlanda Williams has also been spoken of a contender, though she has not announced.
Little was said Monday about the economic issues that challenge black people disproportionately in Terrebonne Parish, although some participants expressed keen knowledge of that situation, and Boykin noted that his organization has worked hard over the years on related issues.
The statistics are stark.
For the judgeship lawsuit the NAACP Legal Defense Fund has been collecting economic data from official sources like the U.S. Census, which show big gaps.
As of 2013 27.5 percent of black households in Terrebonne were below the poverty line, compared to 7.5 percent of white households.
The median income for whites is $56,271 compared to $31,348 for blacks.
Several young people who attended the events Monday said it was their first time.
Mikaela Johnson, a Terrebonne High School junior, said she joined the NAACP last year, and that participation is for her a good experience.
Marchers leave the courthouse square in downtown Houma for the Dumas Auditorium to celebrate the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monday.
Marchers approach the Dumas Auditorium on Bond Street in Houma Monday for an NAACP program honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
