Assignment #2

People want to see and feel what they don’t usually experience. Maybe that’s the most reason why people travel around New Orleans. Unique characteristics in New Orleans have made it as a popular place to visit. It has a unique architectural style which shows historical backgrounds and multicultural heritage of the City, especially in French Quarter. It is also well known for Jazz, Carnival (Mardi Gras) and many music festivals. Its various historical backgrounds and geographic location difference compared with other regions in the U.S. are also considered as New Orleans distinctive characteristics. The major economic activities such as tourism-related works and cargo works are based on its attractive cultures and location. However, economic situation and segregated neighborhood in New Orleans are somehow very similar to other typical cities in the U.S.

New Orleans was found in 1718 by French, Jean-Baptiste Bienville and soon after it had a period of Spanish control. Later, it was under French rule again until the United States purchased Louisiana. During 1780s to 1810s, most of residents were whites: Catholics, Red necks, and white-Scotch Irises, but there was also small black population. At the beginning, most whites lived in French Quarter and black lived in Treme. The city grew with influxes of French, Creoles (Haitians), Americans, and Africans, which caused expansion of the city. One major difference of these immigrants was that there were free people of color among Haitian immigrants, which created a unique aspect compared with other regions in the U.S. Black population grew and eventually they formed a strong political power in mid 19th century. They voted and they published first black newspaper, L’Union. The newspaper demanded land and education opportunities for blacks. However, after the reconstruction, blacks lost their voting rights and their political voices. After the U.S. Supreme Court rule regarding Plessy v. Ferguson case, black history turned around and marched on opposite direction. Black became a powerless minority and isolated. Also, segregated housing policy early 1900s and desegregated public school policy mid 1900s accelerated housing segregation in New Orleans, which eventually caused a horrible consequence of Katrina disaster.

The people and cultures in the New Orleans have created different characteristics. First, different languages exist. Although American English is dominant, many people still speak French, Spanish depending on their origins. Second, music is one of the most distinctive cultures in New Orleans. The city is home to Jazz and many musicians. Since the end of 19th century when blacks lost their political power, Jazz represented their inner voices since they couldn’t speak out loud their opinions in public. Along with Jazz, Mardi Gras is another music related unique celebration, which is not observed in the U.S. Third, many antic or multicultural buildings and structures are still obsevable. In French Quarter, many buildings still have French and Spanish styles. Especially, French Quarter’s notorious nightlife is a world renowned place. People in New Orleans have tried to keep their cultural origins, which is the reason why they have this uniqueness.

New Orleans’ location is well known for ‘horrible site, but a perfect situation’. Until late 19th century when people realized what the cause of fever or disease was, many New Orleans residents had suffered from various diseases such as malaria. It was also a place to have many floods and hurricanes. On the other hand, it was a perfect place to build a port as a transportation hub. Since Mississippi river provided connections between city to city, cheap transportation system developed. Huge accumulated sediment along Mississippi river was a good location to develop a port and build houses. Also, hurricanes and river floods were common, high location was considered a safer place. However, as population grew rapidly, people had to find other places to live because of limitation of the area. Development of water pump helped to drain water from Jefferson Parish that became a residential area. Whites moved to the newly developed suburban area in 1950s to 1980s: white flight (Lewis 125). Also, desegregated public school policy accelerated the white flight. Most of black population still remained in highly segregated Orleans Parish. Also, newly built urban highway (I-10) triggered more white flight (Lewis 98).

Orleans Parish after the white flight confronted many problems. It was more segregated, alienated, and violated. Since blacks couldn’t find decent jobs, their income level was low. There was lack of school funding and public services in the area. Also, crime rate were very high. Those aspects seemed was very similar with other segregated neighborhoods in the U.S.