In N.O., petitions clash over Bayou Classic
7th December 2015 · 0 Comments
Mere days after the annual football face-off between HBCUs Southern University and Grambling State known as the Bayou Classic, some citizens in New Orleans are now calling for Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu to ban the 42-year-old event from the city.
A petition on Change.org, started by a user named Derek Crow, was drafted last week urging Mayor Landrieu to move the Bayou Classic out of New Orleans, citing the event as the reason for increased crime and destruction in the French Quarter and around the city each year during the week of the event.
The petition states:
“Every year the Bayou Classic comes to our city and destroys the city and turns the streets into a war zone. WE, the citizens of New Orleans, demand that you stop allowing this event to take place in our city. Let these schools host this event in their own city’s and in their own stadium. Let their tax payers fund the overtime for police and security.”
The petition has a goal set of 2,500 signatures (It had 2,343 signatures at the time this story was written).
On Dec. 3, according to an update posted to the petition page, Ward has submitted a copy of the petition to the mayor’s office as well as the city councilmen:
“I have printed and emailed a copy of the petition and comments to the mayor, every council member. We have voiced our concerns. Now lets see if the elected officials actually do something or if they need to be voted out.”
In an interview with KSLA News in Shreveport, Doug Mosley, the President of Shreveport’s Grambling Alumni Association, Shreveport’s Grambling Alumni Association, said increases in crime should not be attributed to fans in town for the game.
“It’s hard to say that we come and we create all of this. That’s not a good thing to say, considering the number of dollars that we spend when we come to New Orleans,” said Mosley.
This year, it has been reported that nearly 63,000 fans attended game, the largest crowd the event has seen since returning home after Hurricane Katrina. A crowd it seems other residents in the city aren’t willing to lose.
In response to Ward’s petition, a user by the name Go Dee J Nonstop posted a petition in support of Bayou Classic, urging Mayor Landrieu to keep the sporting event in the city.
“This is a petition to keep the Bayou Classic here in our city of New Orleans. There is another petition circulating that’s making false accusations toward visitors of our city during that time. If Bayou Classic stops it changes the 40 year culture that is loved by all. Mardi Gras causes more trouble in the city than Bayou Classic and Essence Festival combined. Please join the fight for the retention of Bayou Classic. If we don’t stand together now, we will lose part of our culture later.”
Go Dee J Nonstop’s petition has a goal of reaching 500 signatures (at the time this story was written, the petition had 441 signatures). There was no indication on the petition page as to whether or not that petition had already been delivered to the mayor’s office.
While the city does not have a contract with Bayou Classic and the event takes place in the state-owned Mercedes-Benz Super-dome, Landrieu welcomes the opportunity to host Bayou Classic.
“We are a welcoming city with great capacity to handle large crowds, especially sporting events,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “The historic Bayou Classic not only boosts the city’s economy by attracting over 250,000 people with an estimated economic impact of nearly $200 million, but also benefits the athletic programs and scholarship funds of the two participating universities,” he said.
This article originally published in the December 7, 2015 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
