Instead, Sharon Jasper was at the New Orleans City Council meeting screaming "racist" at a white man who favored demolishing four of the city's housing projects in favor of mixed-income developments.
LATER, Jasper complained to the council that opponents were being treated "inhuman" and that she liked to have nice things, like anyone else.
She said she grew up in the projects, and her family always had nice things, because they wanted live well. She said that, in her now-abandoned apartment in the projects, she had a side-by-side refrigerator-freezer.
Because she likes nice things. Like her 60-inch TV. Inside the publicly funded apartment she occupies. Because she doesn't have the money to actually pay rent herself.
I guess it's racist to suggest that if you don't have the money to pay rent, you don't have the money to be buying big-screen televisions.
Hell, I would like a big-screen TV. Unfortunately, we have this thing called a "house payment." Unlike Sharon Jasper, the unwitting spokesmodel for What the Hell is Wrong With New Orleans. Well, at least a sizable chunk of what's wrong with New Orleans -- and a big, big part of why the rest of America has had it up the wazoo with the Crescent City.
You don't believe this ex-Louisianian who now lives in the Midwest? Check out the comboxes for any story having anything to do with Katrina and federal aid for New Orleans.
Can anyone say "extreme sense of entitlement"? How about "extreme outlook-reality disconnect"?
Then again, we're all just racists. Unlike the saintly souls engaging in a near-riot outside City Hall and the ones inside the council chamber shouting down council members and brawling with police.
Attacking police officers. At the city council meeting.
HERE'S A BIT of The Times-Picayune's liveblogging on the contentious council meeting way down yonder . . . in America's Chechnya:
11 a.m.: Meeting begins after several people ousted from chambers
The council finally opens the meeting, with the customary pledge to allegiance and the playing of the national anthem. At this time, several people have been removed by police, including rapper Sess 4-5, who when asked for his real name by a reporter, replies, "F---- off."
The chamber is filled and quiet, after the fracas that broke out in the center of the chamber near the podium.
10:54 a.m.: Protesters scream as they are forcibly ejected
Protester Krystal Muhammad is carried out of the chamber by a group of police and deputies. She screams repeatedly. "I'm not a slave!" she shouts. A second woman is also forcibly removed, as Fielkow calls the meeting to order, one hour late.
"Next time you'll be asked to leave," an officer tells the remaining crowd. "Plain and simple."
The Rev. James Smith gives the invocation: "May we never be lazy in our work for peace. May we honor those who have died in defense of our ideals....Help all of us to appreciate one another."
10:50 a.m.: Fights break out, police struggle to maintain order
A struggle breaks out in council chambers. Police officers race to break it up. At least three people are ejected, as shouting fills the chamber. A woman slaps at a cameraman's lens, drawing his ire.
"Security, security," Council President Arnie Fielkow says into the microphone. "If you do not obey the rules, you must leave."
Krystal Muhammad shouts out, "I'm not going nowhere."
10:42 a.m.: Protesters boo council members
Several protesters greet the council members with boos and slurs. Krystal Muhammad calls Council Member Stacy Head a racist. Head responds by blowing a kiss and waving to her.
Muhammad keeps shouting. "Stacy Head, she's the real devil in charge!"
Jay Arena shouts, "Jackie Clarkson, you're a sell-out."
10:37 a.m.: Council finally enters to howls from audience
Council members begin entering the chamber.
"Bring your coward selves out here!" Krystal Muhammad shouts. "Let the people in here. We've got plenty of seats in here."
Muhammad, who says she is with the New Black Panther Party, calls out to the council members: "You no good sell outs. I bet your house is still standing!"
10:30 a.m.:Lawyer criticizes council for limiting audience
City Hall officials stick by their earlier statement that they are limiting the crowd to 278 for safety reasons. Council members still haven't entered the room. The meeting was set for 10 a.m.
Attorney Tracie Washington accused officials of changing the rules for the public housing crowd.
"That's retarded," Washington says to Peggy Lewis, clerk of council. "You have to let these people in. You've got 800,000 police here. Ain't nobody going to do anything in here."
10:22 a.m.: Both sides wait for meeting to start, words exchanged"I'm for the demolition and rebuilding," says John Ales, 42, a cook who lives in Mid-City. He is the man seated behind Sharon Sears Jasper, who minutes earlier had called him a "racist white man."
Meanwhile, the council members have yet to enter the chamber. A man is shouting in front of a bevy of video cameras about the homeless problem and how he is from public housing. "All of us are getting screwed," he shouts.
10:15 a.m.: Audience told they must take a seat, tempers flare
The meeting hasn't started yet. Council members haven't entered the chamber.
Civil sheriff's deputies continue to try and keep order, telling the people inside that they may not stand during the meeting and that everyone must have a seat. Tempers flare in one section of the chamber.
"You're a racist white man," Sharon Sears Jasper, a former St. Bernard complex resident shouts at a man seated behind her.
"Ma'am, the color of my skin isn't the issue," the man replies.
"Stop the demolition! Stop the demolition!" several people start chanting.