Five years ago, Katrina came ashore. She did her thing, the engineering disaster (man made, y'all) did its thing and this city hasn't been the same since. I am just now realizing that everyone out there who has cable television has been watching these scenes play out all over again. The pandemonium. The chaos. And most of all, the sadness and heart break that occurs when your state and federal government fails you.
If you believe that you are safe in this country, that if some horrible, tragic events happen in your neck of the woods, you would be taken care of. Your government, local, state, and federal, would know what to do in an event such as Hurricane Katrina. Go on, chickens, keep on having faith, because as Americans, it's what we are born and bred to believe.
Except, what about the Gulf Coast? Remember the Gulf? Fabulous shrimp and seafood, sailing on the ocean blue (well, more brownish green...), and of course, the wetlands. Protection from mother nature's wrath is important.
Katrina happened and local government was late in calling an evacuation. Why? Because they had to consult with lawyers and business people. Katrina happened and our federal government, failed to show up for 4 FREAKING DAYS, while people in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, residents of New Orleans, and Biloxi, and Gulf Shores, and Chalmette, and Slidell, and on and on and on, were left to fend from themselves.
Do you think the residents of the Gulf Coast have faith in their government? Not really. There is a wariness, you can see it in the people's eyes when you hear them talk about Katrina and the BP Oil Spill. Wouldn't you be concerned?
So, upon this anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I am happy and grateful that I don't have cable television to revisit every tragic scene from that terrible time in our Nation's history. I mourned plenty during that time and developed a numbness to the events I was seeing on T.V. All the while, worrying about my family and friends in New Orleans who had been directly affected.
I now fully understand the scale of devastation that happened during Katrina. It took me living here for a year, walking these streets day in and day out. Hearing stories about Katrina, even now, still gives me the same nauseous, goosebumpy feeling that I had 5 years ago and have continued to have in reference to this storm. I realize that when I'm driving on the highway, there are parts that were completely under water. You still see the marks, but you also see the rebuilding and the hope. The people of this area are strong - stronger than most. And America needs to recognize that your fellow Americans from these parts are tough as nails and make a mean bloody mary. Fix the wetlands. Fix the levees. Make right on your promises.
Bottom line, I am so happy and grateful that Kevin and I moved here. I know the flavors of the gumbo that make up this city have changed and the true locals prefer the old recipe, but I think they are warming up to these new flavors. Come visit, too. You will fall in love with this special place. I promise.
P.S. I also posted my research paper in its entirety here.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Fear and Loss in New Orleans: Leaving the Big Easy Behind
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, devastating much of the north central Gulf Coast. America was glued to the television, watching the devastation pan out as the news coverage focused on the flooding in New Orleans and the thousands of residents still stranded in the area. Dramatic rescue scenes were a daily occurrence during the days following Katrina. American citizens donated millions of dollars to help aid the victims of Katrina. Many foreign countries were interested and very generous with supporting the crisis at hand. Residents were evacuated, flood waters receded, the city reopened and New Orleans residents slowly returned to a city that was unrecognizable. Two years have passed since Hurricane Katrina and there has been much rebuilding in many parts of the city, like the French Quarter and Garden District. These areas are popular with the tourists and it was important to get those neighborhoods up and running as quickly as possible.
The problem is not the individuals returning to the city to rebuild the lives Katrina uprooted. Rather, the problem is if the city of New Orleans is rebuilding and improving, how are residents deciding to move away after participating in the rebuilding effort? As of August 2007, the New Orleans population was only 67% of the population before Katrina. This number is encouraging; however, the population will not increase with any intensity if residents continue to leave the city. How do these former New Orleans residents feel about their decision to leave the city? Research has focused on New Orleans residents who were displaced by Katrina and have not returned to the city. Residents who lived in the city after Katrina and later decided to move can provide a different perspective on the problems that the city is currently facing.
Much of the research on New Orleans has focused on the lower income populations because they were some of the most affected victims of this engineering failure. The individuals who returned to New Orleans after Katrina had financial means and housing. They lived in the city during the beginning stages of the rebuilding process and put forth major effort in cleaning up the city. They worked in the city and supported the economy through taxes, local spending, etc. For most of these residents, the living conditions were comfortable despite the devastation. So, it is important to look at how these residents, who had better living conditions than most, decided to move away from a city they love. Also, it is important to understand how living in a city like New Orleans, with its unique cultural identity, changed these individuals and how this change affects the view of his or her current living situation. By examining these circumstances, insight can be gained about the next phase of rebuilding New Orleans.
According to Hausman and Reed (1991), crisis is defined as a time-limited state in which an individual faces a novel, problematic situation in which his usual coping skills are ineffective. In a crisis individuals may experience anxiety, confusion, and feelings of helplessness: their sense of well-being is disrupted. Hurricane Katrina was a crisis of great magnitude and every survivor has experienced some or all of these feelings about what he or she lived through. The authors go on to argue that relocation, moving to another location, takes a toll on individuals. This relocation can be a stressful event and Hausman and Reed define relocation as a traumatic or crisis event. If Hausman and Reed’s claims are true, these former New Orleans residents have now experienced two major crises in a span of two years and would have experienced emotions accordingly.
Flaherty (2005) describes New Orleans as a unique culture, one that is resilient and with a history of community and resistance. It is a city of extended families and social networks filling in the gaps left by city, state and federal governments that have abdicated their responsibility for the public welfare. Assistance programs that were established to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina received millions of dollars in donations during the crisis, yet this funding was not being seen by the Gulf Coast residents because much of the funding has been tied up in bureaucratic red tape. According to Rathke (2005), 50,000 jobs had been lost in New Orleans due to the economic situation after Hurricane Katrina. Rents feel like they have doubled in some areas. $800 is the new $400. $1000 is the new $400. Scarcity of supply commands a price.
New Orleans is a culture of dual existence. This dual existence highlights the struggle against institutionalized racism, where Caucasian upper class benefit and middle and lower income classes continue to suffer. Jervis (2007) describes one individual’s interpretation of the government after Katrina: “If disaster strikes another city, the best thing they could do is realize that the government will not do anything for you. We are in this for ourselves.” Because there was governmental mismanagement on every level, residents of New Orleans are wary about the government and the future that lies ahead. Toledano (2007) describes the history of New Orleans culture and politics with its roots deeply planted in European class hierarchy. In the past, New Orleans Society and Culture have excluded Jews, Italians, Latin Americans, Asians, women, blacks, and newcomers to the city. Toledano argues that while this belief system of exclusion lasted until the 1970s, these attitudes still linger on. If anything, this racism has grown since Hurricane Katrina, due to the media’s coverage on looting by African Americans during the storm. Combined with increases in crime and decreases in the police force, New Orleans has turned into a very dangerous city in which to live.
It is important to recognize that a temporary or permanent loss of culture can create an identity crisis for an individual (Dugan, 2007). It can be argued that individuals who move away from the area after helping with the rebuilding process have experienced a loss of culture and this loss is part of the motivation to move on. According to one New Orleans resident,
“The hardest part for me is realizing that New Orleans is never going to be the same. I knew a month ago that it was going to be gone. The racial composition has changed. It saddens me. I loved the diversity. Now it’s mostly white and some Mexicans. The city is what it is because of the people, and I worry about what it’s going to be in the future” (Davis and Land, 2007).
The fiber that makes up the city of New Orleans has permanently changed because of Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of Hispanic families have moved to the city looking for work in the aftermath of the storm. This Hispanic culture was not prominent in New Orleans prior to Katrina. Because a large portion of the African American community was evacuated and has not returned, the face of the city looks completely different.
Residents want a voice in the rebuilding process. They feel that communities, the people, have been left out of the rebuilding process for New Orleans (Harris, 2005). Plans for rebuilding the city describe a smaller but carefully planned city with revitalized older neighborhoods and restored portions of badly flooded neighborhoods selected by residents (Kates, Colten, Laska, and Leatherman, 2006). If this plan is followed, there is a fear that the city will turn into a Disneyland version of itself. Harris (2005) argues that you will lose your tourism industry if you turn it into something that you can find anywhere else because it was the whole mystique of New Orleans that made it a tourist destination. Bottom line, New Orleans is not the same city it was before Hurricane Katrina. The cultural makeup of the city has changed. The city is still mired in governmental mistakes, the economy is stretched and residents are frustrated with the progress that is being made to rebuild the Big Easy. These factors have taken a toll on many New Orleans residents and can be attributed to how more and more residents are deciding to leave.
Methodology
Participants
Five former New Orleans residents (3 women, 2 men, mean age = 33 years) volunteered to be interviewed. All participants lived in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina and returned after the storm to help rebuild. Participants were identified through association with the researcher and associations within social circles.
Materials
Participants were asked a series of questions about New Orleans culture and how he or she decided to move away from New Orleans. Participants were also questioned about how his or her personal perspectives have changed since living in New Orleans and how these changes affect the former residents’ viewpoint on current living situations.
Design and Procedure
Participants were asked semi-structured questions to guide the conversation. A combination of qualitative methods was used to approach the collected data. This research serves as part oral history, part case study and part textual analysis. Two interviews were conducted in person and three interviews were conducted over the phone due to location. All interviews were recorded with a Sony Clear Voice tape recorder. Data was transcribed and has been triangulated by comparison of answers and themes to responses have been interpreted.
Results
The first theme that emerged from the interviews was the dismal state the city has been in since Hurricane Katrina. Depression and hopelessness were described in how participants decided to move away from New Orleans.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
It’s just gotten harder and harder to live there. There is a feel in the city right now of pure hopelessness. It is depression. People are not able to come back—even to the land that their house was on before. There is an overriding feeling of depression in the city and I think for me that was a large part of it. Two years in that state is tough and it was time for a change.
Female A, 37
New York City, NY
My marriage ended—that is kind of a casualty of Katrina too. You saw a lot of relationships really, really suffer and really it was more because it just made more sense for me financially for me to go up and be with my family. It was hard to live in the city anyway and the housing was very limited and jobs were very limited. And because I was suddenly single I really couldn’t stay but I probably would have wanted to.
Participants described a range of feelings about moving away from New Orleans. These feelings ranged from feeling like they had abandoned the city to feeling healthier now that they have moved.
Male B, 25
Amarillo, TX
I feel like I abandoned the city because there are not enough good people in the city. They need good people there. Moving away was sad because it was home.
Female B, 26
Sacramento, CA
I feel better. I feel healthier, for sure. I feel some parts sad and I miss certain elements about it but as far as being immersed in it daily, I definitely think I can breathe clean air in a way here. It just feels healthier.
Participants were asked to describe his or her feelings about New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, and after Katrina. Every respondent described his or her love of the city prior to Hurricane Katrina with great affection. Returning to the city after the storm, respondents describe feeling sad and shocked as well as a renewed sense of community and belongingness.
Female C, 39
Amarillo, TX
It was just a mess. Everyone expected it to be a mess to an extent and you don’t go through something like that and not have it just really rip things up. In some ways, you saw some pretty quick improvements. Of course, in the tourist areas, the French Quarter was cleaned up really quickly because that’s where that money is. It’s basis of the New Orleans economy. But in other areas, the 9th ward, well if the television cameras were on and celebrities were in town things were getting done but then it started to feel like people were forgetting. I stayed for almost 2 years after Katrina and people were still in FEMA trailers and that is just horrible. The crime rate has just spiraled out of control there are not enough police to take care of it. Some places got thrown to the dogs because you have to protect the people somehow.
Female A, 37
New York, NY
I really kind of related it to a relative who had a horrible accident. It’s really painful to see someone you love reduced to the state. It made me sick to see what this city had become. I wanted to help the recovery but it was just a very, very sad place to live. Everyone was struggling, everyone had a story, and everyone had loss. It was just a sad depressing place to be most of the time.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
I was worried and scared but I was also in a place where I was going to do anything to rebuild that city. If anything it made me feel more of a part of that city than I already did. I had hope. There were things that were wrong originally but getting it back to where it was before the storm was so important.
Participants were asked how they feel about New Orleans after moving away and having some perspective on the situation. Participants express anger and a sense of wariness toward the city.
Female B, 26
Sacramento, CA
I still love certain aspects of it. I feel like it is a place I would go back to…perhaps to live, but at least to visit. I just feel wary of it where the city is at. It feels like something that is still very wounded. It’s still alive and it’s going to be ok but it is sick right now.
Male B, 25
Amarillo, TX
I don’t know, it’s a struggle. It’s struggling over there its still in bad shape. The government hasn’t done anything for it like they were supposed to even though the Katrina floods could happen again because the government hasn’t helped. We were only able to move back because we didn’t live in the city and the city has all these codes to rebuild. We didn’t need any codes…Slidell generally got the help first because they had good people in power that pressed for it and really let the government have it to get the help.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
It has given me perspective on why the city was the way it was after the storm. It doesn’t make me miss the city any more and I find myself getting even angrier about the politics that are still going on. I still feel very strongly about that city, I still love that city. I miss it.
Because New Orleans has such a diverse culture and is known for being such an eclectic, intoxicating city, participants were asked how living in New Orleans had changed them and how these changes affected his or her perspective on current living situations. Participants describe how the cultural diversity intensified their passion for life. Participants go on to describe their current living situations as boring and safe but feeling grateful for what they now have.
Female B, 26
Sacramento, CA
It has changed me as a person in many ways. It’s changed the way I understand economic circumstances and racial circumstances and what that can do to a person as they grow up. People just seem freer there to be themselves in certain ways. Maybe they didn’t have the freedom to develop their potential but did develop it within the limits they had to exist in. It’s like the jazz music that was all around. It just kind of poured out. I learned to really appreciate the order of falling apart, the crumbling of life and the beauty of it.
Female C, 39
Amarillo, TX
Oh absolutely. You can’t be somewhere like that and not change. You know Amarillo is a great city but diversity is not the first word I would use to describe this area. And New Orleans is very diverse. It is such a melting pot of cultures. You have the African American culture, the French culture. The difference between the haves and have not’s is so blaringly obvious there, so you just get this whole…it’s just a different place, it’s just a whole different world. It just made me…it made me more fun. I want to live a little more, be a little freer. I think it made me more spiritual, everything is old there and you just feel the essence of everything that has been there before and I think it just really made me think about my life and people who came before me and how they changed everything before me. I would love to go back there because it became home and I never thought any other place would be home but Amarillo, but it definitely is home.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
It makes me incredibly grateful for what I have at this point. In getting the job out here, getting paid so much more money for the same job I was doing there and really not as much work, it makes me incredibly thankful for what I have. It makes me question, why didn’t I change this before? Being out of all those things that you love about the city takes away some of the reason why it’s ok you weren’t getting paid as much. It’s made me really thankful for what it is and taking what I have for what it’s worth.
Finally, participants were asked to sum up in one word his or her feelings about New Orleans and why they decided to move away from the city they adore. The five responses were FEAR, REGRET, HOPE, LOSS, and HEAVY. Fear about living in a city that was no longer (if ever) safe; regret for moving away and letting New Orleans down; hopelessness for the city that was devastated as well as hope for what the future might bring; loss of identity due to the cultural changes as well as a loss of a sense of purpose; and finally emotional heaviness and the depression that creeps in like a fog after a large scale crisis like Hurricane Katrina.
Discussion
The interview data serves as an oral history for five former New Orleans residents and offers significant evidence that the culture in the city of New Orleans has indeed changed since Hurricane Katrina. For these former residents, cultural changes and financial hardships played a role in deciding to move away from the Big Easy. It is difficult to stay the course and fight the good fight if you don’t have your protectors backing you. The protectors in this situation are the government and the levee systems surrounding New Orleans. The government in Louisiana and particularly in New Orleans is known for its slow moving, corrupt behavior. Because funding for the rebuilding is not coming in, progress had become stagnant. With a decreased police force and a levee system that is still not back to the protection level it was at before Katrina, New Orleans is no longer feels safe.
When starting this research, I had expected to not only find out how these residents decided to leave the city and the cultural effects that New Orleans had on them personally, but to find the key to keeping more residents from moving away from the city. Since Katrina, the city has morphed from an easy going, cultural melting pot into a smaller, heavier, tarnished version of itself. It is easy to understand how these residents, under the stress of living in a city they no longer recognized, decided to move away and start over. I did not find the key to keeping more residents from moving away but I might have found the key to healing New Orleans. That key is time—time to heal, time to grow; time to let the new flavors of the city merry together, just like a pot of gumbo.
The problem is not the individuals returning to the city to rebuild the lives Katrina uprooted. Rather, the problem is if the city of New Orleans is rebuilding and improving, how are residents deciding to move away after participating in the rebuilding effort? As of August 2007, the New Orleans population was only 67% of the population before Katrina. This number is encouraging; however, the population will not increase with any intensity if residents continue to leave the city. How do these former New Orleans residents feel about their decision to leave the city? Research has focused on New Orleans residents who were displaced by Katrina and have not returned to the city. Residents who lived in the city after Katrina and later decided to move can provide a different perspective on the problems that the city is currently facing.
Much of the research on New Orleans has focused on the lower income populations because they were some of the most affected victims of this engineering failure. The individuals who returned to New Orleans after Katrina had financial means and housing. They lived in the city during the beginning stages of the rebuilding process and put forth major effort in cleaning up the city. They worked in the city and supported the economy through taxes, local spending, etc. For most of these residents, the living conditions were comfortable despite the devastation. So, it is important to look at how these residents, who had better living conditions than most, decided to move away from a city they love. Also, it is important to understand how living in a city like New Orleans, with its unique cultural identity, changed these individuals and how this change affects the view of his or her current living situation. By examining these circumstances, insight can be gained about the next phase of rebuilding New Orleans.
According to Hausman and Reed (1991), crisis is defined as a time-limited state in which an individual faces a novel, problematic situation in which his usual coping skills are ineffective. In a crisis individuals may experience anxiety, confusion, and feelings of helplessness: their sense of well-being is disrupted. Hurricane Katrina was a crisis of great magnitude and every survivor has experienced some or all of these feelings about what he or she lived through. The authors go on to argue that relocation, moving to another location, takes a toll on individuals. This relocation can be a stressful event and Hausman and Reed define relocation as a traumatic or crisis event. If Hausman and Reed’s claims are true, these former New Orleans residents have now experienced two major crises in a span of two years and would have experienced emotions accordingly.
Flaherty (2005) describes New Orleans as a unique culture, one that is resilient and with a history of community and resistance. It is a city of extended families and social networks filling in the gaps left by city, state and federal governments that have abdicated their responsibility for the public welfare. Assistance programs that were established to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina received millions of dollars in donations during the crisis, yet this funding was not being seen by the Gulf Coast residents because much of the funding has been tied up in bureaucratic red tape. According to Rathke (2005), 50,000 jobs had been lost in New Orleans due to the economic situation after Hurricane Katrina. Rents feel like they have doubled in some areas. $800 is the new $400. $1000 is the new $400. Scarcity of supply commands a price.
New Orleans is a culture of dual existence. This dual existence highlights the struggle against institutionalized racism, where Caucasian upper class benefit and middle and lower income classes continue to suffer. Jervis (2007) describes one individual’s interpretation of the government after Katrina: “If disaster strikes another city, the best thing they could do is realize that the government will not do anything for you. We are in this for ourselves.” Because there was governmental mismanagement on every level, residents of New Orleans are wary about the government and the future that lies ahead. Toledano (2007) describes the history of New Orleans culture and politics with its roots deeply planted in European class hierarchy. In the past, New Orleans Society and Culture have excluded Jews, Italians, Latin Americans, Asians, women, blacks, and newcomers to the city. Toledano argues that while this belief system of exclusion lasted until the 1970s, these attitudes still linger on. If anything, this racism has grown since Hurricane Katrina, due to the media’s coverage on looting by African Americans during the storm. Combined with increases in crime and decreases in the police force, New Orleans has turned into a very dangerous city in which to live.
It is important to recognize that a temporary or permanent loss of culture can create an identity crisis for an individual (Dugan, 2007). It can be argued that individuals who move away from the area after helping with the rebuilding process have experienced a loss of culture and this loss is part of the motivation to move on. According to one New Orleans resident,
“The hardest part for me is realizing that New Orleans is never going to be the same. I knew a month ago that it was going to be gone. The racial composition has changed. It saddens me. I loved the diversity. Now it’s mostly white and some Mexicans. The city is what it is because of the people, and I worry about what it’s going to be in the future” (Davis and Land, 2007).
The fiber that makes up the city of New Orleans has permanently changed because of Hurricane Katrina. Thousands of Hispanic families have moved to the city looking for work in the aftermath of the storm. This Hispanic culture was not prominent in New Orleans prior to Katrina. Because a large portion of the African American community was evacuated and has not returned, the face of the city looks completely different.
Residents want a voice in the rebuilding process. They feel that communities, the people, have been left out of the rebuilding process for New Orleans (Harris, 2005). Plans for rebuilding the city describe a smaller but carefully planned city with revitalized older neighborhoods and restored portions of badly flooded neighborhoods selected by residents (Kates, Colten, Laska, and Leatherman, 2006). If this plan is followed, there is a fear that the city will turn into a Disneyland version of itself. Harris (2005) argues that you will lose your tourism industry if you turn it into something that you can find anywhere else because it was the whole mystique of New Orleans that made it a tourist destination. Bottom line, New Orleans is not the same city it was before Hurricane Katrina. The cultural makeup of the city has changed. The city is still mired in governmental mistakes, the economy is stretched and residents are frustrated with the progress that is being made to rebuild the Big Easy. These factors have taken a toll on many New Orleans residents and can be attributed to how more and more residents are deciding to leave.
Methodology
Participants
Five former New Orleans residents (3 women, 2 men, mean age = 33 years) volunteered to be interviewed. All participants lived in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina and returned after the storm to help rebuild. Participants were identified through association with the researcher and associations within social circles.
Materials
Participants were asked a series of questions about New Orleans culture and how he or she decided to move away from New Orleans. Participants were also questioned about how his or her personal perspectives have changed since living in New Orleans and how these changes affect the former residents’ viewpoint on current living situations.
Design and Procedure
Participants were asked semi-structured questions to guide the conversation. A combination of qualitative methods was used to approach the collected data. This research serves as part oral history, part case study and part textual analysis. Two interviews were conducted in person and three interviews were conducted over the phone due to location. All interviews were recorded with a Sony Clear Voice tape recorder. Data was transcribed and has been triangulated by comparison of answers and themes to responses have been interpreted.
Results
The first theme that emerged from the interviews was the dismal state the city has been in since Hurricane Katrina. Depression and hopelessness were described in how participants decided to move away from New Orleans.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
It’s just gotten harder and harder to live there. There is a feel in the city right now of pure hopelessness. It is depression. People are not able to come back—even to the land that their house was on before. There is an overriding feeling of depression in the city and I think for me that was a large part of it. Two years in that state is tough and it was time for a change.
Female A, 37
New York City, NY
My marriage ended—that is kind of a casualty of Katrina too. You saw a lot of relationships really, really suffer and really it was more because it just made more sense for me financially for me to go up and be with my family. It was hard to live in the city anyway and the housing was very limited and jobs were very limited. And because I was suddenly single I really couldn’t stay but I probably would have wanted to.
Participants described a range of feelings about moving away from New Orleans. These feelings ranged from feeling like they had abandoned the city to feeling healthier now that they have moved.
Male B, 25
Amarillo, TX
I feel like I abandoned the city because there are not enough good people in the city. They need good people there. Moving away was sad because it was home.
Female B, 26
Sacramento, CA
I feel better. I feel healthier, for sure. I feel some parts sad and I miss certain elements about it but as far as being immersed in it daily, I definitely think I can breathe clean air in a way here. It just feels healthier.
Participants were asked to describe his or her feelings about New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, and after Katrina. Every respondent described his or her love of the city prior to Hurricane Katrina with great affection. Returning to the city after the storm, respondents describe feeling sad and shocked as well as a renewed sense of community and belongingness.
Female C, 39
Amarillo, TX
It was just a mess. Everyone expected it to be a mess to an extent and you don’t go through something like that and not have it just really rip things up. In some ways, you saw some pretty quick improvements. Of course, in the tourist areas, the French Quarter was cleaned up really quickly because that’s where that money is. It’s basis of the New Orleans economy. But in other areas, the 9th ward, well if the television cameras were on and celebrities were in town things were getting done but then it started to feel like people were forgetting. I stayed for almost 2 years after Katrina and people were still in FEMA trailers and that is just horrible. The crime rate has just spiraled out of control there are not enough police to take care of it. Some places got thrown to the dogs because you have to protect the people somehow.
Female A, 37
New York, NY
I really kind of related it to a relative who had a horrible accident. It’s really painful to see someone you love reduced to the state. It made me sick to see what this city had become. I wanted to help the recovery but it was just a very, very sad place to live. Everyone was struggling, everyone had a story, and everyone had loss. It was just a sad depressing place to be most of the time.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
I was worried and scared but I was also in a place where I was going to do anything to rebuild that city. If anything it made me feel more of a part of that city than I already did. I had hope. There were things that were wrong originally but getting it back to where it was before the storm was so important.
Participants were asked how they feel about New Orleans after moving away and having some perspective on the situation. Participants express anger and a sense of wariness toward the city.
Female B, 26
Sacramento, CA
I still love certain aspects of it. I feel like it is a place I would go back to…perhaps to live, but at least to visit. I just feel wary of it where the city is at. It feels like something that is still very wounded. It’s still alive and it’s going to be ok but it is sick right now.
Male B, 25
Amarillo, TX
I don’t know, it’s a struggle. It’s struggling over there its still in bad shape. The government hasn’t done anything for it like they were supposed to even though the Katrina floods could happen again because the government hasn’t helped. We were only able to move back because we didn’t live in the city and the city has all these codes to rebuild. We didn’t need any codes…Slidell generally got the help first because they had good people in power that pressed for it and really let the government have it to get the help.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
It has given me perspective on why the city was the way it was after the storm. It doesn’t make me miss the city any more and I find myself getting even angrier about the politics that are still going on. I still feel very strongly about that city, I still love that city. I miss it.
Because New Orleans has such a diverse culture and is known for being such an eclectic, intoxicating city, participants were asked how living in New Orleans had changed them and how these changes affected his or her perspective on current living situations. Participants describe how the cultural diversity intensified their passion for life. Participants go on to describe their current living situations as boring and safe but feeling grateful for what they now have.
Female B, 26
Sacramento, CA
It has changed me as a person in many ways. It’s changed the way I understand economic circumstances and racial circumstances and what that can do to a person as they grow up. People just seem freer there to be themselves in certain ways. Maybe they didn’t have the freedom to develop their potential but did develop it within the limits they had to exist in. It’s like the jazz music that was all around. It just kind of poured out. I learned to really appreciate the order of falling apart, the crumbling of life and the beauty of it.
Female C, 39
Amarillo, TX
Oh absolutely. You can’t be somewhere like that and not change. You know Amarillo is a great city but diversity is not the first word I would use to describe this area. And New Orleans is very diverse. It is such a melting pot of cultures. You have the African American culture, the French culture. The difference between the haves and have not’s is so blaringly obvious there, so you just get this whole…it’s just a different place, it’s just a whole different world. It just made me…it made me more fun. I want to live a little more, be a little freer. I think it made me more spiritual, everything is old there and you just feel the essence of everything that has been there before and I think it just really made me think about my life and people who came before me and how they changed everything before me. I would love to go back there because it became home and I never thought any other place would be home but Amarillo, but it definitely is home.
Male A, 38
San Francisco, CA
It makes me incredibly grateful for what I have at this point. In getting the job out here, getting paid so much more money for the same job I was doing there and really not as much work, it makes me incredibly thankful for what I have. It makes me question, why didn’t I change this before? Being out of all those things that you love about the city takes away some of the reason why it’s ok you weren’t getting paid as much. It’s made me really thankful for what it is and taking what I have for what it’s worth.
Finally, participants were asked to sum up in one word his or her feelings about New Orleans and why they decided to move away from the city they adore. The five responses were FEAR, REGRET, HOPE, LOSS, and HEAVY. Fear about living in a city that was no longer (if ever) safe; regret for moving away and letting New Orleans down; hopelessness for the city that was devastated as well as hope for what the future might bring; loss of identity due to the cultural changes as well as a loss of a sense of purpose; and finally emotional heaviness and the depression that creeps in like a fog after a large scale crisis like Hurricane Katrina.
Discussion
The interview data serves as an oral history for five former New Orleans residents and offers significant evidence that the culture in the city of New Orleans has indeed changed since Hurricane Katrina. For these former residents, cultural changes and financial hardships played a role in deciding to move away from the Big Easy. It is difficult to stay the course and fight the good fight if you don’t have your protectors backing you. The protectors in this situation are the government and the levee systems surrounding New Orleans. The government in Louisiana and particularly in New Orleans is known for its slow moving, corrupt behavior. Because funding for the rebuilding is not coming in, progress had become stagnant. With a decreased police force and a levee system that is still not back to the protection level it was at before Katrina, New Orleans is no longer feels safe.
When starting this research, I had expected to not only find out how these residents decided to leave the city and the cultural effects that New Orleans had on them personally, but to find the key to keeping more residents from moving away from the city. Since Katrina, the city has morphed from an easy going, cultural melting pot into a smaller, heavier, tarnished version of itself. It is easy to understand how these residents, under the stress of living in a city they no longer recognized, decided to move away and start over. I did not find the key to keeping more residents from moving away but I might have found the key to healing New Orleans. That key is time—time to heal, time to grow; time to let the new flavors of the city merry together, just like a pot of gumbo.
Friday, August 27, 2010
The Most Dreaded Name in NOLA: KATRINA!!!
So did you know that my mother-in-law's name is Katrina? She's darling. I love her. She goes by Kitty, so it's ok. But I feel so bad for her because she doesn't ever want to tell anyone her real name down here. You can understand why.Katrina is a force to be reckoned with. Seriously. Kind of like mother in laws - ;) Just kidding, Kitty! xoxo
Anyway, it's now the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. 5 years ago this city was under water. This event really spurred my love for New Orleans and the devastation was soul wrenching. My family was personally affected. I openly mourned for New Orleans during this time. And, it was at this time that I figured out that I would somehow convince my husband to leave our happy lives in Texas and somehow go help rebuild this city. We haven't done a whole lot since we have been here, except get jobs and volunteer here and there. But, it's something.
I wanted to share one of my research projects that I conducted while I was in graduate school. I think you will find it interesting, considering we are now at the 5 year mark. Here is an excerpt from the paper and I will be posting it in it's entirety in an upcoming post. In case you are interested. It's titled "Fear and Loss in New Orleans: Leaving the Big Easy Behind"
Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, devastating much of the north central Gulf Coast. America was glued to the television, watching the devastation pan out as the news coverage focused on the flooding in New Orleans and the thousands of residents still stranded in the area. . .
Much of the research on New Orleans has focused on the lower income populations because they were some of the most affected victims of this engineering failure. The individuals who returned to New Orleans after Katrina had financial means and housing. They lived in the city during the beginning stages of the rebuilding process and put forth major effort in cleaning up the city. They worked in the city and supported the economy through taxes, local spending, etc. For most of these residents, the living conditions were comfortable despite the devastation.
So, it is important to look at how these residents, who had better living conditions than most, decided to move away from a city they love. Also, it is important to understand how living in a city like New Orleans, with its unique cultural identity, changed these individuals and how this change affects the view of his or her current living situation. By examining these circumstances, insight can be gained about the next phase of rebuilding New Orleans.
According to Hausman and Reed (1991), crisis is defined as a time-limited state in which an individual faces a novel, problematic situation in which his usual coping skills are ineffective. In a crisis individuals may experience anxiety, confusion, and feelings of helplessness: their sense of well-being is disrupted. Hurricane Katrina was a crisis of great magnitude and every survivor has experienced some or all of these feelings about what he or she lived through. The authors go on to argue that relocation, moving to another location, takes a toll on individuals. This relocation can be a stressful event and Hausman and Reed define relocation as a traumatic or crisis event. If Hausman and Reed’s claims are true, these former New Orleans residents have now experienced two major crises in a span of two years and would have experienced emotions accordingly.
Flaherty (2005) describes New Orleans as a unique culture, one that is resilient and with a history of community and resistance. It is a city of extended families and social networks filling in the gaps left by city, state and federal governments that have abdicated their responsibility for the public welfare. Assistance programs that were established to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina received millions of dollars in donations during the crisis, yet this funding was not being seen by the Gulf Coast residents because much of the funding has been tied up in bureaucratic red tape. According to Rathke (2005), 50,000 jobs had been lost in New Orleans due to the economic situation after Hurricane Katrina. Rents feel like they have doubled in some areas. $1000 is the new $400. Scarcity of supply commands a price.
New Orleans is a culture of dual existence. This dual existence highlights the struggle against institutionalized racism, where Caucasian upper class benefit and middle and lower income classes continue to suffer. Jervis (2007) describes one individual’s interpretation of the government after Katrina: “If disaster strikes another city, the best thing they could do is realize that the government will not do anything for you. We are in this for ourselves.”
Because there was governmental mismanagement on every level, residents of New Orleans are wary about the government and the future that lies ahead. Toledano (2007) describes the history of New Orleans culture and politics with its roots deeply planted in European class hierarchy. In the past, New Orleans Society and Culture have excluded Jews, Italians, Latin Americans, Asians, women, blacks, and newcomers to the city. Toledano argues that while this belief system of exclusion lasted until the 1970s, these attitudes still linger on. If anything, this racism has grown since Hurricane Katrina, due to the media’s coverage on looting by African Americans during the storm. Combined with increases in crime and decreases in the police force, New Orleans has turned into a very dangerous city in which to live. It is important to recognize that a temporary or permanent loss of culture can create an identity crisis for an individual (Dugan, 2007).
It can be argued that individuals who move away from the area after helping with the rebuilding process have experienced a loss of culture and this loss is part of the motivation to move on. According to one New Orleans resident, “The hardest part for me is realizing that New Orleans is never going to be the same. I knew a month ago that it was going to be gone. The racial composition has changed. It saddens me. I loved the diversity. Now it’s mostly white and some Mexicans. The city is what it is because of the people, and I worry about what it’s going to be in the future” (Davis and Land, 2007). The fiber that makes up the city of New Orleans has permanently changed because of Hurricane Katrina.
Let me say, dolls, the city that everyone knew before the storm is not the same. It never will be the same. But, we must all remind ourselves that change is hard.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
I'm a Creep
Hi Chickens...
Still here, still living life in the "Big Easy". Life has been ever changing lately. I seem to be losing friends like whoa. Maybe that's the universe's way of telling me to let go. Let go of the past. Let go of these hangups that your supposed besties will always and forever be your besties. Life moves on.
Life has just been one big emotional roller coaster lately. Right now, I'm going down a pretty scary downward shift in the coaster and it's hurting my monkey heart. But, I've experienced worse. Much worse.
And I'm strong. Someone posted that the moon is in Mercury and it's a time of reflection. All I seem to be reflecting on these days is how people have wronged me and I've wronged them and it's brought about some pretty yucky responses. Ugh.
I hate this. I hate feeling like this. I just know that the universe provides for us in ways that we may never understand, but I am going to continue living this charmed life. You know why? Because I'm blessed. I'm blessed with a wonderful husband. I'm blessed with a wonderful family and friends who love me. And ultimately, my name is Kelly and I'm mean and tough.
Still here, still living life in the "Big Easy". Life has been ever changing lately. I seem to be losing friends like whoa. Maybe that's the universe's way of telling me to let go. Let go of the past. Let go of these hangups that your supposed besties will always and forever be your besties. Life moves on.
Life has just been one big emotional roller coaster lately. Right now, I'm going down a pretty scary downward shift in the coaster and it's hurting my monkey heart. But, I've experienced worse. Much worse.
And I'm strong. Someone posted that the moon is in Mercury and it's a time of reflection. All I seem to be reflecting on these days is how people have wronged me and I've wronged them and it's brought about some pretty yucky responses. Ugh.
I hate this. I hate feeling like this. I just know that the universe provides for us in ways that we may never understand, but I am going to continue living this charmed life. You know why? Because I'm blessed. I'm blessed with a wonderful husband. I'm blessed with a wonderful family and friends who love me. And ultimately, my name is Kelly and I'm mean and tough.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
The Tchopitoulas Challenge
Oh, Tyrannosaurus Rex!So I am not sure if I have ever mentioned before, but my hubby Kev loves to eat. Eat, eat, eat. Mmm...and ice cream. He eats ice cream out of a vegetable serving bowl. I'm not kidding. Oh, but here's the kicker - those of you who know Kev, know that he is tall and lean. Where does he put all this food?!?
Anyway, there is this fabulous ice cream shop, The Creole Creamery , right around the corner from our house and they have this challenge called the Tchopitoulas Challenge. 8 scoops of ice cream, 8 toppings, 2 cans of whipped cream, cherries, and sprinkles. If you eat it all, your name goes on the Hall of Fame wall.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
The Zoo Doo!!!
I had the privilege of visiting the Audubon Zoo with my good friend R! What a great zoo in the middle of the park! So pretty!
Flamingos! Yay for pretty pink birds. It makes me miss Kimbo.
Turtles are happy at the zoo! I would be, too!
R hanging with our bear friend. Don't they look ferocious?!?
Sleepy bear . . . it was hot!
Cuteness!
AND!!! They have a carousel!
White alligator!
Lovely!
For Jon.
The End.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Hit The Road, Jack
And don't YOU come back, no more, no more, no more, no more....
Have you ever felt that way? Not about a lover, per-se, but a friend. HIT THE ROAD, FRIEND!
Okay, before anyone goes and starts thinking that I'm all upset and angry at something, cool your skirts.
Seriously. Not mad. Just an observation.
Have you ever had a friend or someone close to you that you are keeping around, except you can't quite really remember why you ever became friends in the first place?
Or, perhaps you thought you were thick as thieves and participated in very monumental occasions in each others' lives, yet you don't speak anymore.
Have you ever wondered why that is? Why, when you were bff's for EVER, and y'all, I MEAN FOREVER, and then you wake up one day and you hate that person's guts.
Okay, hate is a very strong word, but you get what I'm saying.
You simply cannot stand the very sight of said person, situation, WHATEVER. You are literally at your wit's end and are contemplating letting go of that rope that you so dearly have been holding onto for however long, but you pause . . .
Why?
Why do you pause? So you can have more pain? Beat yourself up a little more trying to make that person love you as much as you love them?
*PUHHHHHHSHAAAWWWWWWWWWWW*
This is an important lesson that everyone must learn on their own: You can't make someone love you, no matter how much you love them.
Period.
Therefore, we all have to be big boys and girls and take our knocks and figure out who the people are that come into your life that are keepers and others that come into your life to help you along on your journey, but aren't necessarily permanent fixtures - like drapes, really.
Not to knock the drapes, y'all. But, bad drapes can really mess your $*&t up. Seriously. Bad drapes are just bad drapes. And it's best to acknowledge the bad drapes for what purpose they served for you at the time, like say, attracting your future husband. (A whole other story, chickens...one that I could get sued over...maybe...I'm just saying)
Then you try to find other drapes that suit the flair of old drapes but aren't as treacherous as the previous set, you know. And then it just turns into this vicious cycle and frankly, people aren't window dressings.
But, I do have a point.
You will know in your soul when a relationship with a friend becomes toxic. It is best to step back and reassess...take a break, walk away - if you have to, and take care of yourself. Because, if you treat your life with your personal best interests at heart, you will find the right path and the right people with which to commune.
It just takes time and a few sets of bad drapes.
Have you ever felt that way? Not about a lover, per-se, but a friend. HIT THE ROAD, FRIEND!
Okay, before anyone goes and starts thinking that I'm all upset and angry at something, cool your skirts.
Seriously. Not mad. Just an observation.
Have you ever had a friend or someone close to you that you are keeping around, except you can't quite really remember why you ever became friends in the first place?
Or, perhaps you thought you were thick as thieves and participated in very monumental occasions in each others' lives, yet you don't speak anymore.
Have you ever wondered why that is? Why, when you were bff's for EVER, and y'all, I MEAN FOREVER, and then you wake up one day and you hate that person's guts.
Okay, hate is a very strong word, but you get what I'm saying.
You simply cannot stand the very sight of said person, situation, WHATEVER. You are literally at your wit's end and are contemplating letting go of that rope that you so dearly have been holding onto for however long, but you pause . . .
Why?
Why do you pause? So you can have more pain? Beat yourself up a little more trying to make that person love you as much as you love them?
*PUHHHHHHSHAAAWWWWWWWWWWW*
This is an important lesson that everyone must learn on their own: You can't make someone love you, no matter how much you love them.
Period.
Therefore, we all have to be big boys and girls and take our knocks and figure out who the people are that come into your life that are keepers and others that come into your life to help you along on your journey, but aren't necessarily permanent fixtures - like drapes, really.
Not to knock the drapes, y'all. But, bad drapes can really mess your $*&t up. Seriously. Bad drapes are just bad drapes. And it's best to acknowledge the bad drapes for what purpose they served for you at the time, like say, attracting your future husband. (A whole other story, chickens...one that I could get sued over...maybe...I'm just saying)
Then you try to find other drapes that suit the flair of old drapes but aren't as treacherous as the previous set, you know. And then it just turns into this vicious cycle and frankly, people aren't window dressings.
But, I do have a point.
You will know in your soul when a relationship with a friend becomes toxic. It is best to step back and reassess...take a break, walk away - if you have to, and take care of yourself. Because, if you treat your life with your personal best interests at heart, you will find the right path and the right people with which to commune.
It just takes time and a few sets of bad drapes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)