Episode 3: Dutch Morial and the Police Strike Of 1979

In 1979, Ernest “Dutch” Morial became the first black mayor of New Orleans. He won the election with 95% of the black vote, and just 20% of the white vote. He campaigned on a platform of police reform, but it wasn’t just Dutch who wanted to re-organize the NOPD – they were organizing themselves. They wanted a union, pay increases, and better working conditions. Soon after Dutch took office, the police wasted no time. They staged their first strike, in history. Their bargaining tool? Mardi Gras.

Sticky Wicket: Louisiana Politics Versus the Press, hosted by Laine Kaplan-Levenson, is an award-winning miniseries out of WWNO New Orleans Public Radio and WRKF Baton Rouge that takes on four historic clashes between Louisiana politicians and the media. Turns out, these relationships have always been love/hate in the Pelican State.

The series is a collaboration between WWNO, WRKF, and the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH), which funded the project as part of the Democracy and the Informed Citizen initiative of the Federation of State Humanities Councils. Democracy and the Informed Citizen seeks to deepen the public’s knowledge and appreciation of the vital connections between democracy, the humanities, journalism, and an informed citizenry. Sticky Wicket complements four Democracy and the Informed Citizen feature articles on Huey Long, Jim Garrison, Ernest “Dutch” Morial, and Kathleen Blanco that ran in the summer, fall, and winter 2018 issues of 64 Parishes magazine.