Folks the following came to me via email from a long time reader of Slabbed and a life long resident of metro New Orleans. As my mom’s family has very long roots in NOLA metro I’ve watched both seasons of Treme with interest and concluded it was crap myself but my main man says it better. ~ sop
I don’t consider myself a racist, although I guess everyone has their tendencies. But the post-Katrina media coverage and shows like Treme (which I will not watch) lead the rest of the nation to believe that Black New Orleanians have the market cornered on culture. So what you wind up with is the old, blue-blood history of New Orleans and the “Mardi Gras Indian” culture/history. In my opinion, those views completely ignore what the real New Orleans is all about.
To me, there’s so much more to what makes New Orleans and I think this video speaks to the way so many of us grew up. I can picture myself as a kid doing all of these things. My brother sent me the video yesterday. I had seen it quite some time ago, but I had a chance to absorb it yesterday. It stirred up great memories, but it more so made me sad for what the city has become. If you have never seen it, I know you’ll identify with it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmbXwjnCxx4