Q&A: Marc Morial talks 2024 election ahead of National Urban League Conference

National Urban League President Marc Morial speaks during the 2024 Essence Festival at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 7, 2024, in New Orleans. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images for Essence)

NEW ORLEANS — Starting next week, the National Urban League, the civil rights organization headed by former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial, will host its annual conference at the Hyatt Regency hotel in the Central Business District. The conference is expected to bring thousands of attendees to the city to discuss the challenges facing Black Americans and how best to tackle them.

Beginning Wednesday, the six-day event will feature rallies, panels and workshops about voting rights, equity and inclusion and economic empowerment — all in line with the conference theme of “Defend Democracy, Demand Diversity, and Defeat Poverty.” In addition to that, the conference will feature a job fair, a community service day and networking events.

The event comes to town at a time when Louisiana residents   — particularly Black residents — are facing a host of their own challenges. New Orleanians are pessimistic about the state of the city and its future ; the state is suing the Environmental Protection Agency to limit its ability to clean up pollution in Black communities using the federal Civil Rights Act; and multiple “tough on crime” bills passed this year by the state Legislature could double the state’s incarceration rate in the near future.

Verite News spoke with Morial, who served as mayor from 1994 to 2002 and as president of the National Urban League since 2003, about race and poverty in New Orleans, environmental and criminal justice and the 2024 election.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Verite News: How is the National Urban League conference going to help New Orleanians who are most vulnerable?

Marc Morial: The most important thing is there’s up to $10 million in economic impact when we bring our conference to New Orleans. And millions of media hits, social media, television and radio, that’s number two. And number three, with family and community day, which takes place on Saturday (July 27), we have a chance to provide services, backpack giveaways, health zones and a number of other things for the city and for the people of the city. Those are open to the public.

Verity News: As a former mayor and someone who is always looking at the state of Black America, what would you say is the current state of the city?

Morial: I think New Orleans is facing a crossroads. Some of New Orleans’ long-standing issues, like the racial wealth gap and poverty, are plaguing the city, the region and the state and particularly plaguing Black America. The Katrina crisis of now, [which started] almost 20 years ago, caused lots of [the] African-American middle class to relocate to places like Atlanta, Houston and Dallas. Many, many people who were homeowners have left the community.

The city continues to fight, but the city needs an accelerated plan to build its economy. The difficult issues that face New Orleans are the same issues that faced New Orleans 30 years ago.

It can’t be fixed by politicians alone. You need the cooperation of the state. You need the business and economic actors to understand the nature of the issues and the nature of the problems. These are the challenges. I think many of the challenges New Orleans faces are the challenges that other cities face. But I think New Orleans’ poverty and racial wealth gap is more extreme and more challenging than many other cities.

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Verite News: With the ruling in Louisiana v. EPA , which was referenced in the Urban League’s “ State of Black America ” report, how can environmental justice be protected with the use of the Civil Rights Act?

Morial: It’s a continuing fight … when many industries are just hell bent on challenging laws, challenging regulations, and they have the full support of many Louisiana politicians like the governor and his administration.

It’s not an easy fight because many of the business leaders and political leaders in Louisiana are complicit. They just deny the existence of the problem. And when the federal government steps in and wants to do something, they fight them. They oppose them. It’s shameful, because environmental justice is a public health issue. It’s about health, it’s about clean air, it’s about clean water, it’s about wholesome and healthy living conditions.

Verite News: For those who are opponents of the Civil Rights Act, where do you think they’ll draw the line on restricting that law?

Morial: I can’t tell you. I think some of them want to just water it down. We’re in a fight like no other, a fight in the courts and a fight in the court of public opinion around the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. And one of the biggest challenges we have now is a Supreme Court which is highly conservative and very complicit in this fight. This Supreme Court should be standing up for people’s individual rights, standing up for people’s individual liberties, standing up for a strong equal protection clause. Standing up for the right to vote and the right to fair apportionment.

Jeff Landry is wrong. Period. He's going to cost the state money. His pandering to this tough-on-crime crowd is not going to make Louisiana safer.

– Marc Morial, National Urban League president

Verite News: When Gov. John Bel Edwards was in office, he signed significant criminal justice reforms into law. But this year, Gov. Jeff Landry signed a number of tough-on-crime bills into law. What is your response to the change in attitude on criminal justice from the governor’s office?

Morial: Jeff Landry is wrong. Period. He’s going to cost the state money. His pandering to this tough-on-crime crowd is not going to make Louisiana safer. It’s not going to help communities heal. It’s wrong-headed policy. Louisiana made tremendous progress, saved money, healed a lot of lives with what I would call modest justice reform. Jeff Landry is just pandering to the far right.

Verite News: As head of the Urban League, what do you hope people will think about as they vote in this upcoming election?

Morial: I hope they think about democracy and the future of America and realize it’s not personalities. It’s the agenda of the candidates we vote for, and that people will…realize the race for presidency is not an “American Idol” contest. It’s not “Celebrity Apprentice” on steroids. It’s a contest between two separate agendas. And I think people need to do their research and understand these agendas as they cast their vote this fall.

Verite News: It’s been 60 years since the Civil Rights Act was passed. Where do you see the state of civil rights 60 years from now?

Morial: The civil rights community is as strong as ever in working to defend these laws and defend this progress realistically. This is a fight. You have this guy who just got nominated for vice president [Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio]. He wants to repeal civil rights laws . You have people who are trying to turn the hands of America back, literally, not to the 1900s but to the 1800s. And people of goodwill who want an America for all have to resist it and fight.

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The National Urban League conference starts Monday  for virtual attendees and Wednesday for those attending in-person. For more information, visit the conference website .

This article first appeared on Verite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The post Q&A: Marc Morial talks 2024 election ahead of National Urban League Conference appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator .