New Orleans

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• SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
  2/16/2021
  

  Mardi Gras is a Critical American Tradition — Even Without Parades

  by Olivia Durand

  Mardi Gras rituals and public celebration have reflected the efforts of some white New Orleanians to establish and preserve white supremacy and the efforts of Black and Creole residents to express demands for freedom; the festivities are not just a party but "the active performance of what American society cares about."

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• SOURCE: New York Times
  2/13/2021
  

  With Mardi Gras Parades Canceled, Floats Find a New Home

  In a development unseen since the city's Mardi Gras begain in 1857, New Orleans residents under COVID lockdown are turning their houses into parade floats, an informal support program for artists missing the yearly boost the parade season brings. 

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• SOURCE: Bloomberg CityLab
  1/27/2021
  

  How the New Orleans Streetcar Revival Left Bus Riders Behind

  A number of historical dynamics, including racial segregation and the growth of a tourist economy, account for decisions in the Crescent City that have refurbished a fraction of the old streetcar system at high cost while ignoring the health of bus systems that poor and working residents depend on, says NOLA transit historian Kevin McQueeney. 

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  1/30/2021
  

  Only Accountability Will Allow the U.S. to Move Forward

  by Mitch Landrieu

  Full accountability for the Capitol Riot is essential lest white supremacists and other extremists take the lesson that their actions are accepted and permitted. The white supremacist massacres of the post-Reconstruction period show that moving on without accountability is impossible. 

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  11/13/2020
  

  Once a Symbol of Desegregation, Ruby Bridges’ School now Reflects another Battle Engulfing Public Education

  by Connie L. Schaffer, Martha Graham Viator and Meg White

  The New Orleans school integrated by Ruby Bridges is now operated by a private charter school company, part of a trend that three education scholars say jeopardizes the survival of the entire system of public education in the United States.

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• SOURCE: NPR
  11/7/2020
  

  60 Years Later, Ruby Bridges Tells Her Story In 'This Is Your Time'

  Ruby Bridges, whose integration of New Orleans Schools in 1960 was captured by Norman Rockwell, has written a children's history book about her experiences. 

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• SOURCE: The New Yorker
  8/26/2020
  

  Why Hurricane Katrina Was Not a Natural Disaster

  by Nicholas Lemann

  Fifteen years ago, New Orleans was nearly destroyed. A new book by Tulane historian Andy Horowitz suggests that the cause was decades of bad policy—and that nothing has changed.

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• 7/7/2020
  

  Unions Are Essential for Eliminating Racism

  A new study finds that unions don't just increase wages and benefits for workers on the job — union membership is also linked to diminished racist attitudes among white workers. If we want to defeat racism, building strong, democratic unions is essential.

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• SOURCE: Arts Fuse
  6/29/2020
  

  Book Reconsideration: “A Confederacy of Dunces” — Still an American Comic Masterpiece?

  A reassessment on the 40th anniversary of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces, a novel that many consider one of the funniest ever written by an American.

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• SOURCE: 4WWL New Orleans
  6/11/2020
  

  New Orleans To Create Street Renaming Commission, Change Names 'Honoring White Supremacy'

  The group will be tasked with identifying places to be renamed and create a plan to educate the public on the changes made.

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• SOURCE: New Orleans Public Radio
  6/1/2020
  

  Q&A: Historian Andrew Kahrl On The Segregation History Of Lincoln Beach And Plans To Reopen It

  The long-shuttered African American beach was created to preserve segregation in New Orleans.

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• SOURCE: American Songwriter
  5/15/2020
  

  Up From The Streets, a Vibrant Documentary on the History of New Orleans Music, Is Essential Viewing

  Because of its profound, often tangled and diverse roots, there have been plenty of quality documentaries on the music of New Orleans. This is arguably the best. 

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• SOURCE: The Nation
  5/5/2020
  

  What Was Saved

  Sarah Broom's memoir "The Yellow House" reconstructs not only her family’s history in New Orleans but also that larger arc of the black experience in the United States.

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• SOURCE: New York Times Magazine
  4/29/2020
  

  "A Terrible Price": The Deadly Racial Disparities of COVID-19 in America

  New Orleans's famed Krewe of Zulu celebrated Mardi Gras as federal and state health officials proclaimed low risk for Coronavirus. In two months, 30 members would have COVID-19 and eight would be dead, illustrating dire and longstanding racial disparities in health in America.

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• SOURCE: CNN
  3/8/2020
  

  New Orleans Cultural Historian Died of Coronavirus, But His Family Only Found Out on the Day of Funeral

  "I want to educate the world about our great culture," Ron Lewis wrote on the museum's website. "How we do this, and why we are so successful at it even though the economics say we ain't supposed to be."

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• SOURCE: BBC News
  3/31/19
  

  New Orleans mayor to apologise for 1891 lynching of Italian-Americans

  John Fratta, from the Order of the Sons of Italy, says the apology is about making people more aware of the episode - particularly because "they don't teach this in schools".

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• SOURCE: The News & Observer
  9-27-18
  

  New Orleans publicly unveiling slave market tour app

  In announcing the app at a news conference, African-American Mayor LaToya Cantrell said the New Orleans Slave Trade Marker and App Project "will let us honor the lives and dignity of those ancestors who were undoubtedly bought and sold here."

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• 6/8/18
  

  Mitch Landrieu: A White Southerner Confronts History

  by Chris Riback

  There was really no way for the city of New Orleans to prepare itself for the next 300 years without dealing with its Confederate statues, he says in an interview.

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• SOURCE: The Boston Globe
  5-20-18
  

  Former New Orleans mayor presented with JFK award for removing Confederate statues

  The award, established by members of the Kennedy family to honor JFK after his 1963 assassination, recognizes and celebrates “the quality of political courage that he admired most,” according to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

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• SOURCE: The Boston Globe
  3-27-18
  

  New Orleans mayor to receive Profile in Courage Award for removing Confederate monuments

  The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, created in 1989, is presented annually to public servants “who have made courageous decisions of conscience without regard for the personal or professional consequences.”