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LINCOLN BEACH
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Carter) for 5 minutes.
Mr. CARTER of Louisiana. Mr. Speaker, let me paint a picture. It is the east side of New Orleans in 1959. A Black man at a swimming pool jumps off the high dive, arched in the sky. Fellow swimmers and passersby watch him from the shade of a palm tree. A Ferris wheel turns at the amusement park, and families picnic on the sandy shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
That is what Lincoln Beach was like in its heyday: a beach, amusement park, performance area, and pool for the Black community of New Orleans who were not allowed at the all-White swimming pools in the area.
Growing up, my community had fond memories of Lincoln Beach, as it was in the process of shutting down after courts decreed a racial nondiscrimination policy for private facilities on public lands, desegregating the all-White pools.
Since its closure in the sixties, Lincoln Beach has fallen into decline. It was a site for picnics and outings. Without any maintenance, and over the decades, mountains of debris have piled up. This historic site, where so many Black kids and families built communities in New Orleans East, was fenced off and forgotten to many, but not to everyone.
During COVID-19, some inspiring local activists and community members including Sage, Reggie, and Bliss, took it upon themselves to take the first steps toward reopening historic Lincoln Beach. They got into some good trouble and cleaned up the beach all by themselves, spending their own resources, time, energy, and money.
All on their own time, their own dime, they removed hundreds of bags of garbage and debris. About 3 tons of refuse was removed by these good-doing volunteers. After Hurricane Ida, they are facing some setbacks once again with flooding that floated the more than a year's worth of trash collection away. However, these committed activists are already back to work, cleaning up the beach and trying to remove obstacles to the future of what can be a revitalized, renewed Lincoln Beach.
After Hurricane Katrina, the primarily Black community of New Orleans East repopulated essentially at the same rate as the city of New Orleans, but businesses did not come back at the same strength. Many of the major commercial areas are full of vacant businesses in this thriving, rich, strong community of New Orleans East. The once-popular mall was razed instead of being rebuilt.
In 2019, a report said that 19 percent of the homes are vacant. Reopening a beautiful beach on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain could be a catalyst that will attract a renaissance of economic development in a community that has historically been underserved and should have equitable investments.
One of the most important things a Member of Congress can do is to fight for allocations to fund projects for development to improve the lives of the constituents in a particular area, like New Orleans East. This is an equity issue. This is a racial issue. This is an issue of economic development. This is an environmental issue and a recreation issue.
Lincoln Beach has a rich history, important cultural significance, and a huge potential for the future of this great community. I support the efforts of the city of New Orleans to direct RESTORE Act funds toward the project and today, I reaffirm my commitment to support the renewal of Lincoln Beach in any way possible from Congress, State, and local resources.
I came to Congress to fight for the people of the Second Congressional District, to fight for good jobs, healthy communities, equity and opportunities. One way to achieve this fight is for us to revitalize New Orleans East and to bring Lincoln Beach back to its full luster and beauty for the community to enjoy, to use as a catalyst for further economic development, to show what revitalization and community efforts, joining with Federal, local, and State resources, can do.
We can and we will do better. The people of New Orleans, the people of Louisiana certainly deserve it, and we will fight to continue to bring those resources to bear.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 194
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