Anthony Cohen protests for housing for the homeless outside of City Hall in New Orleans on May 21, 2009. Cohen has been homeless since 2005. (Kenneth Hawkins/The New York Times Student Journalism)

During his final State of the City address on Wednesday, Mayor C. Ray Nagin discussed the issues he believed were most important to rebuilding New Orleans:  construction, redeveloping housing, economic development and safety.

Reacting on Thursday to Nagin’s speech,  Jackie Clarkson, president of the City Council, said that the mayor gave an address that showed that although New Orleans had a lot of work to do  ”the city is still recovering and will reach a full recovery.” 

An issue that Nagin said is preventing the city from reaching full recovery is racial division. He called race a problem that the city must solve, or he fears “we may lose our balance forever.”

Robert Whelan, a visiting professor of history at the University of Texas at Arlington and a former professor at the University of New Orleans, said that he was impressed by Nagin’s comments on race, calling them eloquent.   

“It’s a classic issue, and he made many good points,” Whelan said.

However, Whelan did dispute one of Nagin’s observations.  ”I’m not picking at Nagin, but he compared New Orleans to Atlanta and the two fail in comparison,” he said. Whelan said that in the 1960s, cities like Atlanta were working to desegregate their school systems and New Orleans didn’t do the same. He also said that New Orleans needs to focus on urban development if it wants to improve race relations. 

He said that in 1946, under Mayor de Lesseps S. Morrison, the city worked on an urban development housing plan that would have benefited black residents. The plan didn’t go into effect  because of complaints from local white politicians. Whelan said the city didn’t begin urban renewal  until 1964.

Outside of City Hall a  day after the State of the City address, Anthony Cohen, 50, said he didn’t believe his issue was on the mayor’s agenda.

 Cohen was  holding a hand-lettered sign, the city’s name not spelled exactly right,  that read, “Low Income Housing For Homeless More Jobs in New Oleans.”

In his speech, Nagin said that the city has awarded 300 elderly and disabled residents forgivable home-repair loans of up to $35,000, and he  announced that $10 million has been allocated for a second phase of that initiative. 

But despite that, Cohen, who said he has been homeless since 2005, said that there is much more that needs to be done.

Stacey Adams, 25, was one of the few people who Cohen said read his sign and stopped to speak with him instead of walking past.

Adams said the mayor gave a speech that many people expected him to, one that pointed out the positives.

 ”The state of this city is that it is still a great city,” Adams said. “I have been here all my life; no one can really understand New Orleans if they don’t live here. There are so many issues that lie beneath the surface.”

Cohen said that he will continue stand in front of City Hall with his sign.

“He didn’t talk about me,” Cohen said. “I must be a nobody because he didn’t talk about the homeless.”