-->

Saturday, November 25, 2017

"This city doesn't want you"

NOLA.com debriefs with Bunny Charbonnet on his sister's ill fated campaign for mayor.  There's a lot of interesting stuff in there. For instance, he talks about trying to talk her out of running at the beginning. The way he describes that is he says he told her, "This city doesn't want you."  It's not exactly clear what he means there but I think maybe this part later on serves as a pretty good elaboration.

What did this election teach you about how the fabric of the city has changed?

I think there's a confluence of people who have moved here from elsewhere, who believe they understand this city because they've gone to six restaurants and 12 festivals. But they don't understand the genesis of those festivals. New Orleanians understand the very core. They understand why Louis Armstrong sang Mack The Knife when no one would pick up the song. He understood the violence. He understood we are a packing town.

And that's OK. Because we need these new people here. But we need them to get to know us better. And I find that I learned -- I was indifferent to Uptown New Orleans, to the whole Mardi Gras culture and the business community. Not that I disliked them, I just had an indifference. I never understood them because I never tried. But I learned more about them than I cared to know (in this election). There is an interest in winning unlike no other area of town. They just play by a different set of rules and more resources.
Yes, I've got a lot more to say about this. It's been a busy holiday week. But think about this for now. Which city didn't want Desi?

No comments: