News from the French Quarter - love this story!

[rosesaylavee]

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050905/1061850.asp

In French Quarter, community refuses to fall into abyss of savagery
By ALLEN G. BREED
Associated Press
9/5/2005

NEW ORLEANS - In the absence of information and outside assistance after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, groups of rich and poor residents banded together in the French Quarter, forming "tribes" and dividing up the labor.
As some went down to the river to do the wash, others remained behind to protect property. In a bar, a bartender put near-perfect stitches into the torn ear of a robbery victim.

While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods - humanity.

"Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized."

While hundreds of thousands of people fled the below-sea-level city before the storm, many refused to leave the Vieux Carre, or old quarter. It is built on some of the highest ground around and equipped with underground power lines. Residents consider it about the safest place to be.

Katrina blew off roof slates and knocked down some already-unstable buildings but otherwise left the 18th and 19th century homes with their trademark iron balconies intact.

Many in outlying areas consider the Quarter a playground for the rich and complain that the place gets special attention.

While some wealthy people feasted on steak and quaffed warm champagne in the days after the storm, many who stayed behind were the working poor - residents of the cramped spaces above the restaurants and shops.

Tired of waiting for trucks to come with food and water, residents turned to each other.

Johnny White's is famous for never closing, even during a hurricane. The doors don't even have locks.

Since the storm, it has become more than a bar. Along with the warm beer and shots, the bartenders passed out scrounged military Meals Ready to Eat and bottled water to the people who drive the mule carts, bus the tables and hawk the T-shirts that keep the Quarter's economy humming.

"It's our community center," said Marcie Ramsey, 33, whom Katrina promoted from bartender to acting manager.

...snipped...

As bad as it is down there, the human spirit prevails. I am so grateful that some of the city has survived! A few of my ancestors started out in the French Quarter - glad to know some of my family's heritage is intact yet.

[earth mom]

1. Love this story too-Thank You! :) eom

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[expatriot]

4. 89% of the FQ is WHITE people... this is not a good story.

Wonder why it was protected so mcuh by the Louisiana PD

[kestrel91316]

11. It is the economic heart of the city ....................

if NO let the FQ be destroyed, no tourists would return. And, like it or not, NO is going to NEED those tourist dollars in the future, just as it has in the past. I plan to revisit the NO some day and SPEND MONEY there. I wouldn't bother if the historic parts were destroyed.

[expatriot]

20. I know what you are saying but it just makes me bitter nt

[xultar]

31. The FQ community see black folk as the reason NO sux. The FQ

community if they had their way would have all blacks removed from NOLA.

[nonconformist]

19. It's not a "good story" because they're WHITE?

:wtf:

[expatriot]

29. No... I meant story in how the story is written.

This is what offended me....

While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods - humanity.

"Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized."

It is contrasting the FQ with the rest of New Orleans and not explaining the factors that afforded them the differences.

[QC]

22. Yes, we know, since you've been running around posting that nonstop. n/t

[expatriot]

34. Okay, the reason I was posting that non-stop

was to de-mythologize these people's struggles as it seems to be mythified in the article I am not trying to belittle anyone's plight who was ANYWHERE in NOLA-area this past week. Everyone is equal here. And that is my point and the origin of my offense with this article. Those two paragraphs I have been citing all over the place are VERY divisive in contrasting FQ against the rest of the city without properly explaining the factors that arose to the different realities.

[Redstone]

38. Oh, Christ, here we go again.

Redstone

[Swamp Rat]

14. "Ooh... these white artisans got to play Survivor." - despicable!

Thanks expatriot for denigrating my mother. :puke:

I thought we were friends. :(

[expatriot]

32. SR. my critique is of the article's rhetoric not the article's subjects.

I am offended by how the <i>article</i> glorifies and romanticizes the different plights of those in FQ and the rest of NOLA.

This was a rhetorical criticism of the article instead of a criticism of the subjects of the article.

While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods - humanity.

"Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized."

It is contrasting the FQ with the rest of New Orleans and not explaining the factors that afforded them the differences.

[Swamp Rat]

37. OK

:pals:

peace

[Pachamama]

23. Guess you don't know New Orleans & the residents of the French Quarter?

Because, if you did, you would know that the residents and artisans of the French Quarter are color-blind and would lend a hand to anyone, regardless of race, color, sexual preference, religion or otherwise....

To suggest otherwise only shows your ignorance and quite frankly, I am offended by your statement.

The French Quarter is the economic heart of that city and everyone there is doing "open-heart surgery" to save the city.

In case your not familiar with ER Trauma rooms and emergency first aid, you check the pulse and you make sure the heart is pumping blood. You stop the open wounds from bleeding out and you put turniquets on. The people of New Orleans, (yes, even WHITE Artisans) are saving its heart right now. And you have a problem with that? :eyes:

[expatriot]

30. I wasn't accusing the RESIDENTS of FQ of being racist and classist

I was accusing the blindedness of the ARTICLE in how it was written.

This is what offended me....

While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods - humanity.

"Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized."

It is contrasting the FQ with the rest of New Orleans and not explaining the factors that afforded them the differences.

[Pachamama]

40. Okay...now I understand what you were getting at in your critique...

Peace...:hug:

Sorry, I'm a little edgy right now....this event and everything that has happened has me very protective of N'Orleans and its fine citizens...

Looks like Swamp'R felt the same way, although I know his pain must go 1000 times deeper than mine since he is from there....

[expatriot]

41. No, I deserved the flames. I worded it very badly.

ESPECIALLY in the thread I started right after I started my tirade in this thread. I got knocked down a notch or two as I deserved to. I was trying to put way too much theory and criticism into a subject that is for good reason very emotional, etc. and plus it just came out very, very badly.

Peace.

[wake.up.america]

3. You know, under Bush it has become the survival of the fittest...

This is a nightmare. The Democratic Party should be banding together to stop this insanity. At least give hope. Dean should be roaring like a wounded animal. All of us should be roaring. Roberts as Chief Justice for next 30 years? Good bye democracy!!

[leftofthedial]

5. a model for what will be left once the bushturd

and the fundies are done killing and destroying

[rosesaylavee]

6. Obviously, what was meant as a positive story

has been twisted and turned into a negative.

Fine. This place is important to me. Part of my family settled there for a few generations before moving north - that must make me a idiot for being grateful that is has partially survived.

[expatriot]

7. no, it doesn;t make you an idiot.... there is just a darker side to it.

there is reason why these people can play out a romanticized urban "burning man" here without the anarchy and despair of the other parts of the city.

[autorank]

26. I don't think we can even fathom what's going on in NOLA

So why criticize any one who is actually there.

It's a tragedy and the response is traumatic. This will go on for decades. The great "Johnstown Flood" in PA devasted an entire city. People were still showing PTSD symptoms 20 years later.

Lets let the NOLA citizens do whatever they want for whatever reason they choose.

It's the * folks we need to go after.

[expatriot]

35. i agree, i am critical of the article not the subjects of the article. nt

[Der Blaue Engel]

8. I love the story, rosesaylavee

Thank goddess something is left of New Orleans. And since it's the most "decadent" part, what are the christers (fake christians) making of this, I wonder?

[rosesaylavee]

9. Thanks - I needed that.

[DemBones DemBones]

13. I love the story, too. I'm glad that

the Quarter appears to have gotten through the storm reasonably well. My mother lived there in the early 1940's and I've been there many times. We were going to go down later this month, but now this has happened. . . I hope to see NOLA recover and not as a haven for the rich but as the kind of mix it's always been.

[nonconformist]

21. I loved the story. One of defiance, of hope, of New Orleans spirit. nt

[sandnsea]

10. HAVES have generators, doh

My original ancestor to this country supposedly came up through New Orleans in the 1700's, I have an affection for the place too. But if they don't understand that they could afford to be gracious because they had the means to survive, then they don't understand anything and NEVER will. I'm glad they cared for each other, but so did the people at the convention center and Superdome, or those folks would have surely died en masse.

[rosesaylavee]

12. I think I understand what the earlier poster was

upset about now. I didn't post it as a comparison to what happened in the Convention Center - that hadn't occurred to me at all until I read your post.

I liked this story because:

1 - it was the first news I had found that the French Quarter was somewhat intact...
2 - because it showed people (doesn't mention race in this article) were using the resources at hand and working it out collectively - which is admirable no matter what part of the city they are in.

I am sure that this cooperation for survival is happening elsewhere in NO and not just the FQ. It was the humanness of it that I so liked.

[expatriot]

18. thank you, my point exacly. nt

[Swamp Rat]

15. Thank you so much for posting this... we from New Orleans need hope.

:hug:

[rosesaylavee]

16. Glad you are ok, SwampRat

Let me/us know if there is a way to help you and your family.
:hug:

[Swamp Rat]

17. Thank you

We are under duress, but there are many more folks in a worse way.

One way we can all help is to stop the spread of misinformation here at DU and divisive rhetoric. Right now, more than anything, we need help and hope.

:grouphug:

[autorank]

27. NOLA will come back, it's spirit cannot be denied. It has millions of

supporters.

It's one of the few cities in the US that's a primary destination for people like me...I just go there because I love it and I did it often.

There are a gazillion Americans who heard this and just shuddered.

We know how special the place is and how much this country needs it as a counter balance to rigid, uptight conformity.

Let New Orleans be New Orleans. Whatever people do is fine.

Remember the "looting" story. Yeah, right "looting" water and supplies that were not supplied for days. That was BS and there will be more BS.

Stand together and fight the ugly machine that is our Federal government.

Hang in there!!!

[Swamp Rat]

39. Did you see the Day of Decadence parade?

I was so happy to see my peeps remaining, in defiance of the Machine! If my dad weren't part of the equation, I would be there too. :P

Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
Where have you been?
It's alright we know where you've been
You've been in the pipeline
Filling in time
Provided with toys and scouting for boys
You brought a guitar to punish your ma
And you didn't like school
And you know you're nobody's fool
So welcome to the machine

Welcome my son
Welcome to the machine
What did you dream?
It's alright we told you what to dream
You dreamed of a big star
He played a mean gituar
He always ate in the Steak Bar
He loved to drive in his Jaguar
So welcome to the Machine

- Pink Floyd

[pat_k]

24. What image does "Some people became animals" evoke for you?

"Some people became animals," ...

We've heard this, or something similar, over and over again. In your minds eye, who do you see acting like animals and what are they doing? What do those vague terms "lawlessness" and "chaos" mean to you?

Do you imagine young Black American men stealing water, food, cars, or valuable from others at gunpoint?

Do you imagine armed, frightened, untrained bands of white vigilantes who "shoot first, and ask questions later"?

Do you imagine inebriated white racists on the attack and spouting abuse?

Do you imagine men in uniform using their guns to menace and imprison people in torturous conditions at the convention center?

What about the tourists incapable of seeing anything but threat in every black face? What about the people who create an atmosphere of deadly paranoid hysteria by passing on every unsubstantiated tale? How do we characterize their behavior?

The news media has made their biases clear by failing to include vigilante action in the "list" that invariably includes looters.

When so many people are armed – police, guardsman, thieves, vigilantes, untrained individuals intending to defend themselves -- the sound of gunfire can mean just about anything. Hearing gunfire and being told it is not safe does not say much about what is actually happening. Appearances can deceive. A shot in the vicinity of a rescuer could perhaps be someone “taking pot shots at” the rescuer, or it could be someone who has no intention to shoot at anyone firing in the air to bring attention to themselves..

In a crisis, rumors spread like wildfire and grow in the telling. The stories passed on and embellished in the hysteria say a lot about our collective biases. One carjacking becomes 100. A report of wrongful death at the hands of vigilantes doesn't get "picked up" at all.

Question assumptions – your own and those reflected in the news coverage.

If we do not take news outlets to task for lopsided reporting filled with unsubstantiated stories, they will continue to fan the fires of rampant rumor and deadly paranoia during a crisis.

[rosesaylavee]

25. In my mind's eye, I imagined the reference to be about the robber that

who attacked one of them and split his ear. Did I see the race of the attacker in my minds eye? No.

Did you read the whole story via the link? This group banded together to protect themselves - they don't identify against whom but I presume against those who are not into that collective survival thing they have going on. Who knows?

And, yes, some very likely have decided that anarchy is more to their liking and their behavior is reflective of that. I won't say animalistic as some of my best friends have been animals.

Race is definitely a huge part of this crisis - I wholeheartedly agree with that - as a part of this story, I do disagree on that.

I understand overall what you are saying and I do think it important to take the media to task when assumptions reflect bias.

[autorank]

28. pat_k, Best words on "the media" I've heard yet

"If we do not take news outlets to task for lopsided reporting filled with unsubstantiated stories, they will continue to fan the fires of rampant rumor and deadly paranoia during a crisis."

TAKE THEM TO TASK. REINFORCE WHAT THEY DO RIGHT, SPANK 'EM WHEN THEY DON'T GET IT RIGHT. AND, BY ALL MEANS, CALL THEM RACIST WHEN THEY ARE. ENOUGH OF THE BULL SHIT.

[expatriot]

33. That was my whole point in criticizing the article. it was rhetorical

IT is a rhetorical criticism of the article not of the article's subject, many people in this thread think I am wishing ill upon white people (I'm whiter than snow)

This is what offended me....

While mold and contagion grew in the muck that engulfed most of the city, something else sprouted in this most decadent of American neighborhoods - humanity.

"Some people became animals," Vasilioas Tryphonas said Sunday morning as he sipped a hot beer in Johnny White's Sports Bar on Bourbon Street. "We became more civilized."

It is contrasting the FQ with the rest of New Orleans and not explaining the factors that afforded them the differences.

[Buns_of_Fire]

36. The patient is seriously injured, but I'm reading a strong pulse

Atlanta has the Phoenix as its symbol. Perhaps they won't mind if New Orleans will also feel somewhat justified in using it.