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That’s Racist~!

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Varg

Ministers, garbage collectors call scrutiny of trash contracts ‘racist’

Not sure if it is just the Times-Picayune not reporting it or the garbage collectors and ministers not saying it but, nowhere in the story is any evidence of racism by the City Council shown by the protesters. There are accusations aplenty. Allegations. Suggestions. But nothing by way of evidence.

Any attempts by the council to change the terms of the agreements with Richard’s Disposal and Metro Disposal, which both are run by African-Americans, would amount to racism, several speakers said.

How do they figure? For an accusation like that, shouldn’t there at least be some sort of evidence? Is a testimony racist?

They don’t say how it amounts to racism. When Dog the Bounty Hunter was called a racist, there was some damn good evidence. Jefferson Parish supervisors with nooses in their offices? Pretty tough to say they aren’t racist. City Council doing what they were elected to do? For the benefit of a citizenship that is majority black? Where’s the racism?

Oh, it’s because the owners of the disposal companies are minorities. So the investigation must be racially motivated. Something about judging a person on the content of their character leaps to mind here. He had a dream ya know.

If the owners of the companies did nothing wrong the truth will be revealed only through the investigation. they should welcome it.

9 thoughts on “That’s Racist~!”

  1. D-BB says:
    November 27, 2007 at 7:35 am

    Hey, when I didn’t get my way, I always played the race card. It never worked. Then I found out you had to be black. Well damn.

  2. pistolette says:
    November 27, 2007 at 9:02 am

    So true. I hate how quick people are to play the race card. It’s a tired and cheap way to get attention to your cause, and doesn’t help to heal the racial division we have here.

    Btw, love the layout, very gothic 😉

  3. Varg says:
    November 27, 2007 at 9:54 am

    I don’t mind allegations of racism. It’s certainly out there on all sides of the fence. It should be addressed. I just want the allegations to be handled with the reverence they deserve. If it is alleged, there should be evidence of it. Not that gray fuzzy evidence either.

    Thanks for the compliment Pistol.

  4. Editor B says:
    November 27, 2007 at 10:23 am

    Varg, you make an excellent point, one that becomes glaringly obvious once it’s made explicit. At the very least the Times-Picayune has failed to either a) report the actual alleged discrimination or b) report the lack of substantial allegation.

    And D-BB don’t kid yourself. White people play the race card all the time, far more frequently than black people.

  5. mominem says:
    November 27, 2007 at 10:31 am

    This has all of the earmarks of an organized public mugging.

    People fly in from out of town to protest the investigation of a garbage contract?

    Garbage Collectors who either already worked a full day or should be working sit in the council chambers for hours?

    I also don’t see anyone trying to “change the terms of the contract”. I see Public officials trying to understand how the administration is administering the contract and whether they are allowing a contractor to get by with less than the contract requires.

  6. Varg says:
    November 27, 2007 at 2:55 pm

    I feel compelled to add that the Times-Picayune described Sidney Torres as being “white” when, if I am not mistaken, he is of Spanish descent. Being a Vargas, I’ve known a number of Torres’ and none of them were “white.”

  7. jarod smith says:
    November 27, 2007 at 7:26 pm

    Doc Willard and CWL did the protest because she is on sanitation committee. She dint want any criticism so rallyed dadddy and his SCLF up to create this distraction. The issue is 2x Jeff. Par. pickup vs. Orleans and they don’t pick up demolition except in a can according to Ms. White. No pun intended.

  8. Alex says:
    November 27, 2007 at 11:09 pm

    Love your blog, Varg, without even knowing what color you are. >

    I’m tired of the race card. Altogether. I mean, aren’t we ready yet to move to character, integrity, creativity, etc. as benchmarks for evaluating how right, just, appropriate any action is?

  9. Puddinhead says:
    November 28, 2007 at 8:32 am

    Varg, just as a sort of public service…I would suggest you not drive down to St. Bernard to promulgate the notion that the Torres’ are not “white”. That sort of thing kind of falls under the heading of “fighting words” in Da Parish. LOL

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3 Noble Truths

Know yourself. Know the Universe. Know yourself in the Universe.

Rev. Varg’s Artist Statement

Rejoice!

I say that a lot. I sign many pieces with it. I do this because I believe our lives are a true happenstance. A brilliant occurence from nothingness. We are so rare. We are so unlikely. And simply being born isn’t enough. From there we must survive, endure. So each morning, after our Sun departs and is reborn again. Please, for the sake of your ancestors and the Universe in general, hoist that cup of joe up and say, “Rejoice.”

Ours is a soulful existence. No matter how many McMansions, polyester fabrics, auto-tunes, modified foods and social networks we surround ourselves with, we are all still native, passionate beings made of ancient matter. We are organic and we have soul.

Wood also has a warm, soulful quality. Wood has a memory. It retains smells, traumas, events. It even has a calendar. This is why I have chosen it as my medium, for its old soul. I like to think the wood in my work is in its third incarnation. First a tree, then a home and now art. If you have a room that needs a little soul, get a piece. A room can never have enough soul.

My inspiration and subject matter comes from many sources, among them: Humanism, old ballads, trickster tales, flora and fauna, science, myths and folklore, stringed instruments, brass bands, amber spirits, lady vocalists, general relativity and quantum mechanics. Some of my pieces are there just to make a short, simple statement about what’s important in life. Some are more diffuse and abstract in meaning. A personal drama, an enduring line from a poem or novel, a poignant song lyric, the legacy of an important person, a fleeting thought … these are the subjects of my art.

I use hearts often because they are a very abstract way of depicting the human soul without also employing the very subjective human form. The symbolic heart is an apt representation for a person’s experience and essence. A body can immediatly conjure happiness, sorrow, youth, age, anger, bliss. These emotions can get in the way. Sometimes it’s simply about the experience.

I am the son of a sailor and a social worker, the grandson of a gypsy, a dancer and a nurse. I spent my youth moving from port city to port city, watching a lot of road go by and reading World Book Encyclopedia. After my parents settled down on the Gulf Coast, I was a miscreant youth, destroying cars and taking the wrongs things too seriously and the right things not serious enough. Eventually I began replacing my imagination with experience.

I will use any salvaged wood but prefer swamp cypress and longleaf heartwood pine.

I despise waste. Particularly the waste of organic matter. Trees are magnificent. They were here before we arrived and they’ll be around after we are gone. I’m making an effort to save as much wood as possible. Creating art is fun too. But beyond communicating with folks, but beyond making money ad providing for myself, beyond rescuing flooded parts, beyond reveling in the ethereal aroma of heartpine that hasn’t seen the light of day in 400 years, beyond all that, I am trying to make a simple comment on waste.

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