Day 126: The Asphalt Of Good Intentions

Warm, muggy and sunny in Houston, Texas on January 1st. A good sign that 2006 is for me? Last night’s party was a blast, with almost all of the invitees present, even one with a bad back! The Mexican-German-Indian-American food and drink selection was a great success; cultural crossover gatherings make my globe-loving heart go pitter patter. Everyone smiled and joked, the party was at peace.

At one point in the evening, however, one of the guests began to complain about the amount of crime in his area of Houston and how life is so awful because his car has been broken into twice in the last few months. Suddenly, quite unprovoked, he turned towards me and said, “YOUR people are the cause of all of my problems right now.” MY people? Indian-Americans? Women? Geoscientists with black hair? Huh? What? As I put on a quizzical air, the guest continued, “Ever since you people from New Orleans showed up, crime in Houston has skyrocketed. The cops have told me so.” Other guests protested, “You can’t blame all new crime on New Orleanians. Crime was already on the rise before Katrina. Of course, that’s what the cops are going to say if they cannot control crime.” etc. etc.

The guest stood accused of two things I loathe – cultural generalization, viz. “you/your people” and spouting unverifiable second-hand information and opinions as fact. My face took on what my brother and I refer to as Mom’s Patented Daggers Look, the steely glare with eyebrows arched and the solemn promise that you are about to get your rear lopped off and handed to you.

“So, you know for a fact that all of this crime was committed specifically by New Orleanians? You have proof.”

“But, yeah, the cops told me.”

“Of course, they are going to say that to you if they want a criminal scapegoat. Have they told you that crime in that area is also generated by people with Houston addresses on their DLs?”

“Yeah, but I know … because I saw it.”

“You saw their identification cards yourself?”

“I videotaped a gang of 20 breaking into a car.”

White fright tends to amuse and scare me at once; for a second, I almost lost the glare. Since when does it take 20 “hardened career criminals” from anywhere, much less New Orleans, to break into a car? For Pete’s sake, just get me a coat hanger.

My next question was “Did they have special markings on them that identified them as New Orleanians or did you walk up to them and bravely ask to see their ID cards?” But, it wasn’t to be as John arrived to stand between the guest and me, and Mark attempted to ameliorate the situation by vouching for me: “Her people? Indians are some of the most hardworking and nice people I know.” This was when I shook my head with that “No, that’s not the point, either” look, glanced at John, rolled my eyes and walked away. At which, the whingy guest said, “Well, I don’t know about all Indians …”

“That Mumbai Mafia and their vendettas …” was all they got as I joined the other partyers in the study.

Let me reiterate my gratitude towards Texas, and Houston in particular, for generously taking in people from the storm-ravaged parts of this nation. The disruption to your daily life and strain on your city is more than duly noted, but we would do no less for you if you were in this situation. You may also notice that quite a few of us have well-paying jobs here, pay non-FEMA rent or live with friends and family, and put money into your economy everyday, money that we ought to be spending in New Orleans. And, for the record, a New Orleanian friend has had his car broken into twice now, both times by Houstonian perpetrators. This isn’t a tit for your tat, but presenting some more sides of the given situation.

I also understand that while most of the nation welcomes and supports its fallen neighbors during this tough time, there are a few who have the tendency to place the grand blame of social ills on one party or the other. This time it happens to be New Orleanians. Who’s it going to be tomorrow?

Yet another point to ponder: I don’t deny that the criminal element of New Orleans, America’s pre-Katrina murder capital, has now moved to the rest of the nation, but you should have known this before you offered to take them in. How did you plan for this? Did you think that some bad habits would fritter away if their bearer was taken out of his or her environment? Did you believe that a storm makes everyone suddenly nicer and socially responsible?

Again, they have. Criminals and gangs usually form when employment and the vision of a future, much less a bright one, are absent. Moving to new territory has presented many New Orleanians with economic and educational opportunities they did not have before. For example, a family of four from the Ninth Ward, with an underemployed mother and unemployed father and two kids faltering in school, now live in Janesville, WI with both parents gainfully employed and happier kids. Taking a lot of New Orleans’ children out of a failing educational system and spreading them across the nation may just help them. While they deal with the trauma of losing a home and their heritage, they gain the tools for a better future than before.

Quite a few New Orleanians were and are contributors to the American economy, and now have a greater ability to do so. This is one of Katrina’s gifts, if I may attempt to find some good come of a very sad sequence of events.

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This morning, I awoke to a Washington Post article on New Year’s Eve revelry in New Orleans. All of it sounded good until I read two things: the Lower Ninth resident who is suspicious of the Army Corps of Engineers’ plans to raze whole neighborhoods, and the tourists who brought in the new year in New Orleans because “we felt it would be good to put some money in the city … we feel so bad for the people here.”

Two things the city of New Orleans does not need right now:

* Wholesale and bad design decisions based on sympathy for former residents of areas below sea level or the environment, i.e. the sentiment that an entire neighborhood should be completely dispatched back to nature. For my part, I don’t believe that there is A Grand Plan to rid the city of its economically-malnourished. I also think that, if we don’t jump onto Grand Unifying Rebuilding Bandwagons and now, there is a way in which humans and nature can live side by side. Both are going to have make some sort of compromise as we move forward.

* Pity. Do not come to New Orleans because you feel bad for us. Sure, we can use the money, but the principle behind your presence matters to me. We don’t need a pattern established in which you gain karmic brownie points by visiting the city.

On that fateful day of September 11th, 2001, I cried as an American and sent money to New York City’s firefighters because my nation was hurting. I, too, want to visit Ground Zero, but not out of pity for the citizens of New York. Please visit to enjoy what New Orleans has the ability to offer, just four months after a major disaster, and stay a while with your fellow Americans.

With the dawn of a new year and a new life for our city, I ask New Orleanians and America to gauge the kindness of your heart before you offer it. And try to see what effect it will have in the long run for yourselves, the nation and, a new stretch, the rest of the planet. What seems like a mindless sweeping generalization, kind word or gesture on your part may actually be an insult to the receiving party. Each unchecked utterance and passive-aggressive response to it piles into a mountain of mutual resentment, something you, me and our cities can do without. Of course, New Orleans cannot go forth in a squeaky-clean manner, with happy-face confetti and permanent goodwill everywhere, but some things can and ought to be headed off at the pass with honesty.

The power to foresee the future may not be ours, but if we are aware, proactive and go at it with the spirit of ingenuity and cooperation, we have a stab at a better tomorrow.

More hurricanes notwithstanding.