Chocolate New Orleans—A simple analysis

20 January 2006 | Kipita

[kipita]

A simple analysis based on the lives of many who are living through the “tragedy”.

[Shalom Israel]

I don't know how scared Nagin is of the migrant workers in NO right now, but I think you might be on to something. Your reference to "elite blacks... sure of their constituency" makes me wonder to what degree elite blacks are in fact unable to connect with their constituencies?

During the OJ trial, the prosecution dragged the jury to OJ's house, because they wanted the jury to see that OJ had more in common with whites than blacks--for example, his wall was full of pictures of the rich and famous, with hardly a black face among them. Surprise! Cochran and company had thought of that, and they filled the walls with pictures of black people, and as an added touch put a Bible on his night-stand.

Perhaps Nagin finds it as hard to relate to real black people in the same way that Howard Dean couldn't relate to southerners, when he claimed that his party would be the party of southerners with confederate flags on their pickups. Similarly, Nagin is essentially promising his constituents "fried chicken on every plate," not realizing that they aren't as motivated as he'd imagined by a love of fried chicken.

Not that well articulated, maybe, but an interesting thought. Maybe he's out of touch with people who can't buy a fancy house in Houston the day after the disaster.

[kipita]

Not that well articulated, maybe, but an interesting thought. Maybe he's out of touch with people who can't buy a fancy house in Houston the day after the disaster.

Actually, many black Americans feel that elitist political Democratic blacks are the same or worse as whites they "think" are racist. They just don't know who or what to identify with and support. From my perspective, you've expressed sentiment that is felt in an easy to understand way.

[Congressman Billybob]

Thank you for your analysis, which is based on personal knowledge of the quite different communities which are involved. It's a shame that some of the "reporters" who are "covering" the rebuilding of New Orleans don't talk to some people who actually know what is going on, on the ground.

Congressman Billybob

Latest column: "On Judge Alito, the San Francisco Chronicle is Unfit to be a Newspaper"

[Albion Wilde]

It is hard to imagine New Orleans without large creole and black communities. Mardi Gras with Mariachi bands - it could work, I guess.

The tastelessness of Nagin's bringing race into the "y'all come back" discussion in this particular way was disappointing to hear, but in general I think people make too big a fuss over careless remarks.

Also, from my perspective as an older person who has lived in several cities, large demographic/ethnic shifts happen with regularity. I once lived in an Italian Catholic enclave where people who weren't Italian were regarded with suspicion and outright discrimination; yet the local Catholic church had the names of dozens of Irish priests, bishops and former parishioners engraved in marble plaques inside the church and certainly in the cemetery.

My birthplace, Washington DC, has been going through this difficulty since the late 50s, when the civil rights legislation was passed and government jobs were suddenly available to blacks, who flooded into white working-class neighborhoods, with the added impetus of realtors who "red-lined" the areas that would be "sold to black" and which would not. "White flight" to the suburbs ensued, mostly by lower-middle-income whites. Now real estate costs so much anywhere in DC that white yuppies are trying to "gentrify" those all-black enclaves, which are fighting back with signs in the front yard and angry civic meetings. Some of the people wanting to get back in are people whose parents and grandparents felt pushed out of their homes, churches and family gravesites in the 50s. An African-American woman was quoted in the Washington Post as saying that blacks preferred to live with their own. *Sigh.* This is progress?

The question I have is this: if many of the displaced from N'Orleans will not be back, shouldn't the city clear the slate and reconsider whether or not to rebuild in the low-lying areas? Are there higher-ground areas adjacent that could be redeveloped in greater safety? Perhaps new communities could be more successfully integrated, so that you wouldn't have the reinstituting of racial enclaves.

[kipita]

The question I have is this: if many of the displaced from N'Orleans will not be back, shouldn't the city clear the slate and reconsider whether or not to rebuild in the low-lying areas? Are there higher-ground areas adjacent that could be redeveloped in greater safety? Perhaps new communities could be more successfully integrated, so that you wouldn't have the reinstituting of racial enclaves.

I think the problem is many well-connected black politicians will lose influence if the black community doesn't come back. This makes decisions (and statements) more political then reality based.

[Albion Wilde]

Point taken. Human beings waste many opportunities.

[F16Fighter]

"The statement is not only racist, it’s also stupid and while Nagin is not a genius, he is not that stupid. Therefore, the statement has to have some meaning behind it."

His IS that stupid. But he doesn't care what anybody thinks (basically what he said in his tirade.)

The "meaning" behind his statement is "Whitey owes us," and "it's us (blacks) vs. them."

He's a Marxist at war with "white" America, and believes just as his brethren believes -- Jesse Jackson, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, Charles Rangel, Sharpton, Conyers, and the rest of the Black Caucus.

[kipita]

He's a Marxist at war with "white" America, and believes just as his brethren believes -- Jesse Jackson, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, Charles Rangel, Sharpton, Conyers, and the rest of the Black Caucus.

Nagin, who has been a lifelong Republican, switched parties and with mostly Republican $$$, won as Mayor based on being a reformer. In the beginning (believe me--I know), he tried to reform the city. He even stood-up for (in a relative sense) white French Quarter bouncers who killed a black youth. He endorsed the Republican candidate for Governor which earned him a lot of Democratic enemies. These events turned a lot of blacks against him. Predictably, he has recently joined the black elitist establishment and has become part of the corrupt system.

Jesse Jackson, Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, Charles Rangel, Sharpton, Conyers, and the rest of the Black Caucus have caused destruction within the black and white communities.

[F16Fighter]

" In the beginning (believe me--I know), he tried to reform the city. He even stood-up for (in a relative sense) white French Quarter bouncers who killed a black youth. He endorsed the Republican candidate for Governor which earned him a lot of Democratic enemies. These events turned a lot of blacks against him. Predictably, he has recently joined the black elitist establishment and has become part of the corrupt system."

His belicose rhetoric then makes it either evident he's been brainwashed, OR as you say, been enlisted in the Marxist "black elitist establishment."

[caryatid]

Perhaps new communities could be more successfully integrated, so that you wouldn't have the reinstituting of racial enclaves.

My memories of New Orleans go back a long way to my childhood.

Coincidentally, the civil rights movement and the segregation of neighborhoods in New Orleans occurred almost simultaneously. Prior to the civil rights era, the New Orleans I remember was the most thoroughly integrated city I have ever experienced in that areas of white and black residents co-existed peacefully in close proximity to one another almost like blocks on a checkerboard.

With more prosperous times in the 1950s and 1960s, came "urban renewal" in formerly blighted neighborhoods. I remember seeing stable neighborhoods with their "stoop culture" [neighbors sitting on their porch or front steps visiting with each other]. Children could play safely on the banquette or in their yards because there were always neighbors about. All of this changed, with the advent of air conditioning, to empty street scenes devoid of people.

Urban renewal caused property values to soar. Many folks chose to benefit from the sale of greatly appreciated property. Others, renters, were displaced when speculators bought up property, renovated it and the former renters could not afford the increased rents. There were also generational changes. Many of the homes that were "doubles" [owner occupied on one side with renters on the other side] were sold by heirs when their parents [the owners] died. These were renovated and the rents often quadrupled.

I remember many times hearing [or reading in the newspaper] the comment of angry, displaced people that: "Urban renewal means Negro removal". And, it did. Societal, cultural, and economic changes, all cyclical things, contributed to New Orleans becoming more segregated in its housing than it had ever been before.

As the "stoop culture" disappeared, people stayed inside and watched television in their air conditioned houses that occupied empty street scenes. Crime rates soared. It was a cycle ... the fewer folks there were "taking the air", visiting with their neighbors, the emptier the streets became ... crime increased ... and people became afraid to be out.

"Gentrification" of various architecturally interesting neighborhoods was a mixed blessing. Not only did property values increase too much for a lot of folks [white and black] to remain in the neighborhoods but, also, the diverse mix of residents that always made New Orleans such an interesting city began to change to a bunch of Yuppies [mostly white, some black] in one part of the city and less prosperous blacks somewhere else.

New Orleans was still changing in the years leading up to Hurricane Katrina. Fashionable, trendy Magazine Street, now a Street of Dreams and fancy shoppes and charming boutiques ... was not quite so charming 25 years ago. I remember all too well when the stock boy at the friendly neighborhood A&P, in about the 3300 block of Magazine Street, had his throat cut from ear to ear; and, another time, when patrons were hiding behind the potato chip rack during a shoot out at the same store. Cityscapes change with the times. Some changes are good and others are not.

My understanding is that it was not until after Hurricane Betsy [mid-1960s] that the Lower 9th Ward became a predominantly black neighborhood. As late as the early 1980s, however, I knew an artist, who was white, with a Masters Degree in Art from Newcomb College, who still lived in her family's home in the Lower 9th Ward.

In my early childhood, the Lower 9th Ward was still a blue collar, white neighborhood. Those folks recognized the value of educating their children ... who then moved to the suburbs.

Many blacks in the Lower 9th Ward, prior to Hurricane Katrina, recognized the value of education, as well, and their children have also moved on to better things. Economic class has never been a static thing in this country. It is in a constant state of flux ... with some moving up and some moving down ... and, then, sometimes up again ... constantly changing.

Just as I have outlined above the many cyclical changes that have occurred in the housing market in New Orleans over my lifetime, Hurricane Katrina will someday be viewed as a cyclical change, as well ... albeit it a precipitous one.

Hurricane Katrina has been a life altering event for New Orleans and for the people who lived there. All the planning in the world will not alter the fact that serendipity will be the ultimate force that will re-shape the city. Despite our best efforts to study and manipulate the desires and behaviour of human beings, these things remain mutable and unpredictable. Some will see opportunity beckoning them to rebuild New Orleans ... while others will see only destruction and despair and will rebuild their lives elsewhere.

Only time will tell what New Orleans will become ... and whether it will be an amalgam of races living happily together ... or will be a chocolate city ... or whatever.

I do not believe that New Orleans will ever be the same. Perhaps it should not be. Over the past quarter of a century New Orleans lost a quarter of its population because those bright and talented people had found life in New Orleans untenable.

Just as we cannot, and should not, go back to horse and buggy days, or Jim Crow days, or colonial times ... New Orleans cannot go back to the way it was. That is over. That is past. Whether for the good or bad, our entire nation, including New Orleans, is experiencing a changing demographic.

I do believe that humankind is basically good and that, given an opportunity to develop itself, without too much manipulation and social engineering, the new New Orleans that will emerge from the disaster that was Hurricane Katrina has a bright future ahead of it. We can all pray that this is so.

[pepsionice]

I too believe that New Orleans will never return. By 2010...you will see a much smaller town. The Burbon street crowd will still continue to drive in and have a great weekend...with tourist dollars flowing in. But after that...other than port activity....this town will never be the same.

Baton Rouge will become the powerhouse of the state. Houston and Shreveport will increase in size because of the folks who never returned. I see all of this as positive. And it drives home the point that the feds really shouldn't throw $100 billion at this town in hopes of rebuilding it.

[Albion Wilde]

A very thoughtful post, thank you! It is true that there is never just one element in the question of who lives in what neighborhood. You rightfully pointed out the negative influence of such innovations as air conditioning on the interactions of neighbors, leading to increased crime and alienation. This has been true everywhere. Other factors happened at the same time: The Pill and the smashing of sexual taboos, the rise of pornography, permissiveness and divorce; the ACLU's bogus reading of the First Amendment to trump every other considerations; the completion of the superhighway system -- all these things came on board in the wake of the Civil Rights legislation, deeply changing family life and community stability.

When people don't interact and thus no longer know whom they can trust, I guess they reach for the superficial markers -- race, education, money -- to sort themselves out. Hence technology solidified the barriers between poor neighborhoods and rich yuppie neighborhoods, seemingly in response to greater freedom and equality!

[Albion Wilde]

other than port activity....this town will never be the same. Baton Rouge will become the powerhouse of the state. Houston and Shreveport will increase in size because of the folks who never returned. I see all of this as positive. And it drives home the point that the feds really shouldn't throw $100 billion at this town in hopes of rebuilding it.

That's the big question. I was not in favor of a big Federal payout to the Twin Towers victims, either. It sets a wrong precedent and rewards the wrong things.

That's not to say that people made homeless shouldn't be helped -- they should. But infrastructure is a different story -- there was much more that the local government could and should have done to prevent damage to the levees. Instead they spent money on a gambling riverboat and the arena. Now the rest of the country will be assessed, in the form of national debt and higher insurance rates.

[DoNotDivide]

Mexicans are only doing the jobs that even black Americans won't do.

I know so because Mexican President Vincente Fox said so.

[kipita]

Excellent, informative analysis.

I remember all too well when the stock boy at the friendly neighborhood A&P, in about the 3300 block of Magazine Street,

My father grew up on Annunication and attended Blessed Sacrament and Xaiver Prep. I grew-up downtown (7th and 9th wards) and I remember that area as having pockets of bad areas mixed in with areas with very expensive homes.

In my early childhood, the Lower 9th Ward was still a blue collar, white neighborhood. Those folks recognized the value of educating their children ... who then moved to the suburbs.

Incredible!. I grew-up in the 7th ward on Frenchmen Street (a few blocks from Galvez st.) and attended Corpus Christi and would therefore catch the bus with kids from the lower 9th ward. I never saw any white kids.

Prior to the civil rights era, the New Orleans I remember was the most thoroughly integrated city I have ever experienced in that areas of white and black residents co-existed peacefully in close proximity to one another almost like blocks on a checkerboard.

With more prosperous times in the 1950s and 1960s, came "urban renewal" in formerly blighted neighborhoods.

With integration, the best of the black families left for California and the suburbs which primarily meant New Orleans east.

I do not believe that New Orleans will ever be the same. Perhaps it should not be. Over the past quarter of a century New Orleans lost a quarter of its population because those bright and talented people had found life in New Orleans untenable.

I'll call this the "billion dollar statement" that America and the world should understand. You hit the nail on the head! Jackpot! etc.!

[caryatid]

A simple analysis based on the lives of many who are living through the “tragedy”.

---

This thread should have been *pinged* to the Louisiana List sooner. I have been mostly away from my computer over the weekend ... no excuses, kipita ... only apologies. We welcome kipita as a new subscriber to our List ... with his keen insight into New Orleans he will have much to contribute. This is a topical thread, rather than a dated news item; so, please keep the discussion going.

---

  ** Louisiana PING **

---

[ If you would like on/off the LA Ping List please FReepmail
me and your name will be added to or taken off of the list. ]

Note to caryatid: Your Louisiana flag has disappeared. Try to find it!

[Gordongekko909]

I don't have much of a choice in terms of whether or not I want to leave Louisiana after I graduate from law school, since I'm a civil law student. I'll be in either New Orleans, Lafayette, or Baton Rouge.

But if I stay in New Orleans, I know one thing: I'll be studying espanol as hard as possible so I can expand my client base.

[CobaltBlue]

Finally went back "home" (my old home) in New Orleans and Biloxi/Gulfport for a visit last week. Wow. Words can't describe it and the pictures don't come close.

Now that Nagin mentions it, I didn't see many black people -- plenty of well-to-do whites, lots and lots of obviously illegal Hispanics working hard and grinning from ear to ear, and a lot of happy rednecks with brand new pick'em-up trucks.

I know that black people are moving back, but only the ones with jobs and a place to live. Do they want to live five to a room like the Hispanics, working from sunup to sundown doing reconstruction? Doesn't look like it to me. Are they skilled laborers like the rednecks? I didn't see them.

Nevertheless, I just can't imagine New Orleans without blacks. I am white but lived in the Deep South all my life so feel like it's not racist to say that the best cooks, the best jazz musicians and the best blues singers have been black. Maybe those times are gone now. I sure hate to think so.