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Louisiana and its Southern History

Angail Wiley

Poli 314-001

Dr. James Steele

April 12, 2018

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Louisiana, the Bayou State, sits above the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi

River, bordered by Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east and Texas to the west.

Louisiana was first colonized by the French during the 18th century, and became U.S. territory as

part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. (Abrams, 2015) The capital of Louisiana is Baton Rouge

and is home to the historic port city New Orleans.

The South is known for its extensive history during the slave trade. While Louisiana is

famous for its unique cuisine, jazz and spectacular Mardi Gras festival, before international slave

trading was banned in the United States in 1808, the first stop was the slave markets of New

Orleans which was the biggest slave market in the deep South. Over 3,000 steamboats annually

brought tons of cotton, sugar, and other slave-produced goods down the Mississippi River.

(Abrams, 2015) Slaves were sold in the middle of the business district, on boats, and even in

French Quarter courtyards. However, there are not many indicators of this history found in the

state today. This steady slave trade essentially laid the foundation of the American economy and

Louisiana politics.

Slavery and the formation of culture can somewhat explain the current demographic.

According to the 2017 United States census, Louisiana had a population of about 4,684,333. The

U.S. Census Bureau’s last official headcount was in 2010, with the next census being assessed in

2020. (Jackson) About 484,674 people called New Orleans home in 2000, which was the last

door-to-door census before hurricane Katrina. “Either they’ve already moved back or they’re

settled wherever they ended up after the storm,” said Allison Plyer, executive director and chief

demographer at The Data Center in New Orleans. (Jackson) Hurricane Katrina can slightly

explain the decrease in persons over 65 in Louisiana whether it be because of deaths or

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migration. In 2010, they made up 14.4% but as of 2016, they make up 12.3%. Also, as of

2016, Whites made up 63.2% of the population while blacks made up 32.6%. (Jackson)

There are over 900,000 citizens who live in poverty, especially in the black

communities, despite the revenue generated from the annual Mardi Gras festivals and other

activities that take place in Louisiana such as the Essence Festival. After Hurricane Katrina,

the city demolished its major public housing projects were demolished by the city replaced

with less-dense mixed-income housing, the number of households with housing choice

vouchers tripled. Poverty has scattered in Louisiana since the storm but it has not disappeared.

Over 1 million people immediately scattered the state after the hurricane. Katrina is the

largest residential disaster in U.S. history. The population of New Orleans fell from 484,674

before Katrina (April 2000) to an estimated 230,172 after Katrina. (Berube, 2016)

Essentially, poverty and unemployment go hand in hand. The United States median

income in 2016 was roughly $57,620 and in Louisiana, it was about $45, 150. (Wilks)

Nationally, the unemployment rate as of November 2016 was 4.6%. In Louisiana, the

unemployment rate was higher than the national unemployment rate, sitting at 5.9%. The

national poverty rate in 2016 was 12.7 percent, based on the U.S. Census Bureau's 2016

estimate. (Harris, 2016) The poverty rate in Louisiana was 19.6%. In 2018, according to

February data, Louisiana’s unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Louisiana’s Secretary of State elections statistics showed that there were 3, 031, 808

total registered voters as of 2016. Of these three million, 1,936,556 were white and 943, 871

were black. (Morgan, 2016) There are more black democrats than republicans—which is

opposite of whites. There are 562,171 white democrats and 738,319 black democrats. On the
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other hand, there are 845,850 white republicans and 22,797 black republicans. 528,535 whites

and 182,755 blacks were registered with other parties. (O’Donoghue, 2016)

In the past two elections, Louisiana voters have made Louisiana a “Red state.”

Louisiana's Red State status didn't change when it was time to choose a president. The state

contributed to the nationwide victory of Republican Donald Trump. In the 2012 election,

Louisiana voters chose Mitt Romney. Based on data, the state strayed away from becoming a

blue state even more. About 38 percent of Louisiana voters picked Hillary Clinton while in 2012,

40.6 percent voted to re-elect Obama. (Reimann, 2017) In the 2016 election, the three cities in

Louisiana that voted democrat included Shreveport, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. When we

analyze the demographics in these cities, half of the population in Baton Rouge consists of

blacks. In Shreveport and New Orleans, the population historically had more females than males

and almost 60% of the population is black. The share of African-Americans voting early in Orleans is

down from 70 percent in 2012 to 62 percent in the last election cycle, in spite of several thousand more

black voters showing up early to cast their vote in this election.(Mcclure, 2017)

It is no surprise that the governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, is a republican being as

though the state has voted red in the past two presidential elections. The current senators of

Louisiana are senior senator Bill Cassidy and junior senator John Kennedy. Both senators from

the state are members of the Republican party. Six people represent Louisiana’s congress. While

five of the seats are held by white members of the Republican party, one seat is held by a black

male democrat. Cedric Richmond has served the second district since 2010. (Sayre, 2016) There

has not been a Republican representative for the district since 2008. When looking at the

demographic of the second district, it is predominantly black—which explains a black

representative. Not to mention, a portion of New Orleans is a part of the second district.
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Based on the assigned text for the semester, The New Politics of the Old South,

Louisiana’s history as a republican state has been established for years. Although Louisiana is a

red state, the number of black elected officials has risen every year since at least 1968.

According to the text, there were 36 black elected officials and it only took 10 years for that

number to increase to 333—who were elected by black constituencies. Overall, African-Americans

make up 57 percent of registered voters in New Orleans, but are more than 60 percent of people who

actually cast a ballot in a presidential election. (Bullock, 2014) In general, black voters in Orleans still

voted at a higher rate that their registration suggests.

The first black elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives was in 1967 and the

first black mayor was elected in 1977. Both elections are surprising being as though blacks did

not receive the right to vote until 1965. Not to mention, this same deep south state that showed

enough liberation to elect a black House Representative is the same state that allowed for radical

Republican David Duke, a leader of the white supremacist group, Ku Klux Klan, to run for

United States senate in 1990. (Jones, 2012) Although Duke received 60% of the white vote, his

opponent John Jonston, was victorious with help from an “energized black electorate.” (Bullock, 2014)

This slight shift in politics is similar to that of the Uniter States’ most recent presidential eletions.

Former President Barack Obama was the first black President, and was elected for two terms, yet was

succeeded by Donald Trump. Aside from Duke losing, there still lies the principle that American citizens

allowed outright racist Republicans to run for office and have a strong chance/be victorious.

Although black voter registration has climbed since they were granted permission to register, they

are still struggling in Louisiana politics. While many blacks are running and winning local and

congressional offices, they are still struggling to saturate statewide offices in Louisiana. (Stole)
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In conclusion, the state of Louisiana is full of culture yet politically stagnant as a state presently.

Historically, Louisiana started as a democratically saturated state. However, according to the text,

registered democratic voters decreased while registered Republican voters increased. Being as though

Louisiana was one of the biggest slave markets during the slave trade, it is quite surprising that the state’s

political foundation was democratic.

One must also not neglect the impact of the biggest natural disaster in Louisiana, Hurricane

Katrina (and Rita), also affected the state’s politics. Voters began to vote for politicians that acted with

urgency after the disaster.

Although Louisiana is clearly in the deep South it took almost 30 years for the Republican party

to dominate the political climate. The Republican party realignemnt in Louisiana began to pick up speed

in 1960. One would assume that because of its close proximity to Alabama and Mississippi, it would

automatically be a red state.

In addition, Louisiana is one of the most populated states with blacks. Although it is populated

with blacks and many of them are registered to vote, it was still not enough to aid in Barack Obama’s

presidential victory—for both terms. Fast forward to the past presidential election, it was not enough to

elect Hillary Clinton either. Louisiana’s democratic foundation allows one to explain why blacks were

able to get into local and congressional offices so soon after they were even granted the right to vote—

especially in the Deep South. If Louisiana was operating on Republican ideals from the jump, blacks in

office would probably just be breaking records.

Louisiana is slowly becoming a consistent red state but cannot help to wonder what event will

happen in Louisiana next that will shift the political climate in this state yet again.
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Bibliography

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