This essay offers a brief examination of the interaction between New Orleans Mayor Ernest "Dutch" Morial and the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans from the spring of 1980 to the late summer of 1981. Morial, the city's first African American mayor, attempted to implement several reform measures on the Sewerage and Water Board which included reduced term limits, an affirmative action policy, and a Minority Business Enterprise "set-aside" program despite opposition from a faction of white elite board members. These reforms reveal Morial's desire to confront social inequities in a post-integration southern city that were maintained in part by a fragmented government structure and conservative racial attitudes.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of New Orleans, 2004. / Title from electronic submission form. "A thesis ... in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History."--Thesis t.p. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.