I was emailing my Granddaughter this morning. In a previous email, I had been extolling the experience and history of Mardi Gras. I mentioned that people go kinda crazy. She replied she might like to visit Mardi Gras someday. Her reservations reflected a concern for her safety amid the celebrated antic's of Mardi Gras attendees. I assured her that while it might sound somewhat threatening, she should experience it.
I cautioned her that while I might be grousing about being stuck out here on the Northshore and all of its baggage, the City of New Orleans is different. Specifically, I said that you can find someone or a group of people with whom you can be comfortable in almost any major city. I know it's a cliche, but Cities are nothing but a collection of villages.
Reflecting on that, I realize that while we, as a society, find ways of segregating ourselves, we habitat with like thinking people. From out and out ethnic ghettos to parish dominant neighborhoods, we have used ordinances and other tactics to create barriers that keep out or minimize the effect of undesirables. The flipped coin has two sides. For every white person who doesn't want black people in his neighborhood, some African-Americans do not want to live with white people.
I realize, wherever your comfort zone, the reason the place you end up living might be because of a job, a mother-in-law, a school, or some practical issue. It's been long known and acknowledged that the biggest draw to the suburbs was the schools.
Suburban schools were supported and funded better because of the active support of white affluent parents. Suburbs became, by design, higher cost and politically powerful. There was an old saying in the bar business that if you wanted to get rid of the riff-raff in your clientele out of your bar, you only had to raise your prices. If you see a black family living in the suburbs, you are looking at a wealthy black family.
In Mandeville, it is no secret that its population grew tremendously because of white flight and Katrina. People use the same code words to describe why they left New Orleans or would never even think of living there. It gets down to the fact that, like Milwaukee, New Orleans is a minority-majority city.
New Orleans is not just the second-largest city in Louisiana. It is the most European city in the United States. When you enter the French Quarter or take the Streetcar named Desire out to the Garden District, you are transported to a place like no other. It's the architecture, It's the constant reminder of its colonial French influence. Yes, Bourbon Street has that slightly tawdry feel, particularly after sundown, but just a block away is the real reason this city exists, the "Big Muddy," the Mississippi. River cities always offer that feeling that the next boat that arrives will bring new adventures
Even Northshore residents will admit that New Orleans is one of the most welcoming cities in the World. I'm told it has an atmosphere of wanting to get to know you for what you can do. It's probably because of the high regard for music and performance, but that is only a guess.
I cautioned her that while I might be grousing about being stuck out here on the Northshore and all of its baggage, the City of New Orleans is different. Specifically, I said that you can find someone or a group of people with whom you can be comfortable in almost any major city. I know it's a cliche, but Cities are nothing but a collection of villages.
Reflecting on that, I realize that while we, as a society, find ways of segregating ourselves, we habitat with like thinking people. From out and out ethnic ghettos to parish dominant neighborhoods, we have used ordinances and other tactics to create barriers that keep out or minimize the effect of undesirables. The flipped coin has two sides. For every white person who doesn't want black people in his neighborhood, some African-Americans do not want to live with white people.
I realize, wherever your comfort zone, the reason the place you end up living might be because of a job, a mother-in-law, a school, or some practical issue. It's been long known and acknowledged that the biggest draw to the suburbs was the schools.
Suburban schools were supported and funded better because of the active support of white affluent parents. Suburbs became, by design, higher cost and politically powerful. There was an old saying in the bar business that if you wanted to get rid of the riff-raff in your clientele out of your bar, you only had to raise your prices. If you see a black family living in the suburbs, you are looking at a wealthy black family.
In Mandeville, it is no secret that its population grew tremendously because of white flight and Katrina. People use the same code words to describe why they left New Orleans or would never even think of living there. It gets down to the fact that, like Milwaukee, New Orleans is a minority-majority city.
New Orleans is not just the second-largest city in Louisiana. It is the most European city in the United States. When you enter the French Quarter or take the Streetcar named Desire out to the Garden District, you are transported to a place like no other. It's the architecture, It's the constant reminder of its colonial French influence. Yes, Bourbon Street has that slightly tawdry feel, particularly after sundown, but just a block away is the real reason this city exists, the "Big Muddy," the Mississippi. River cities always offer that feeling that the next boat that arrives will bring new adventures
Even Northshore residents will admit that New Orleans is one of the most welcoming cities in the World. I'm told it has an atmosphere of wanting to get to know you for what you can do. It's probably because of the high regard for music and performance, but that is only a guess.
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