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Friday, March 02, 2007

Here's one I missed

NOLA Fugees editor welcomes visitors to New Orleans for Carnival.

The main point I want to communicate is that it is not for you to worry about us. Our neighborhoods, such as they are, are rendered unsafe specifically for your comfort. It is no accident that the 5 murders within 14 hours this past January took place while the downtown area was swamped with merry and raucous LSU and Notre Dame football fans. I was never more proud of my city when, at the corner of Poydras Street and Convention Center Boulevard, I witnessed an elderly, toothless citizen deliver a stirring rendition of “Walking to New Orleans” for the pocket change of several ruddy-faced, healthy, and thoroughly entertained LSU boosters.

That scene embodied who we are. No indignity is too demeaning, no discomfort too painful, no dread too real for us to dampen your good time. This was our method of operation even before Hurricane Katrina, only now we have decided, in the words of one of our wealthy ambassadors, to “kick it up a notch.”

I admit that this is not a concept we invented. In places all over the world, tourism is kept alive by the servility of the suffering.

In essence, what you need to do is let go of the idea that New Orleans is an American city. After all, when you cruise to Cozumel or Santo Domingo, or spend a week in a time-share condo in Aruba or Jamaica, do you let thoughts of the impoverished, desperate, isolated natives trouble your time beside the pool? Of course not.
Read the whole thing.

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