section: Op-Ed
section link: /news/2006/04/06/OpEd/
headline: Small and Not So Easy
subheadline:
By: Sarada Peri
author link: /user/index.cfm?event=displayAuthorProfile&authorid=2121955
Issue date: 4/6/06
section link: /news/2006/04/06/OpEd/
headline: Small and Not So Easy
subheadline:
By: Sarada Peri
author link: /user/index.cfm?event=displayAuthorProfile&authorid=2121955
Issue date: 4/6/06
A couple of years ago, when I was teaching in New Orleans, if somebody had told me that my balmy home would be the hottest spring break destination for Harvard students, I would have laughed. At the time, New Orleans was still an overlooked swamp, a fun place to visit for bachelor parties and Mardi Gras, but mysterious in its normalcy and largely unknown in its reality. The unprecedented interest in and passion for New Orleans and the systemic problems that tightened Mother Nature's chokehold is therefore inspiring. But the danger in national efforts to rebuild this eccentric city is that we will lose site of what went wrong in the first place.
As New Orleans struggles to find itself, and as Americans everywhere try to help, we must remember its Janus-faced nature. It is an amazing historical and cultural phenomenon, a proud relic of America in so many ways. It is also a shameful manifestation of deeply-entrenched racism, inequality and neglect.
This fact was most evident in the city's public school system, an abyss of unspeakable dysfunction. To illustrate, after tracking down a former student in the days following Katrina, I asked him what had happened to our high school, the largest in the city.
"Ms. Peri," he said in a matter-of-fact voice, "the building was slammed, but I think it might be an improvement. The cafeteria kinda looks better."
He was kidding, but his resentment towards a school system that graduated him with minimal reading skills and elusive job prospects was certainly serious. The New York Times recently covered the systematic marginalization of black men in this country and how their plight seems to be worsening. The New Orleans Public School system embodied this trend.
Thus, when Mayor Ray Nagin released the Bring New Orleans Back Commission's report on how rebuilding should unfold, I was hopeful. The report flagged "unlivable" areas, directing the government to purchase houses in those neighborhoods and preclude further building. This policy has evoked vehement criticism from all corners, particularly from communities that wish to rebuild in the low-lying areas they had previously occupied. Despite the pain of losing houses, the pain of suffering another catastrophe that our government is clearly unequipped and unwilling to handle seems even more unbearable.
As New Orleans struggles to find itself, and as Americans everywhere try to help, we must remember its Janus-faced nature. It is an amazing historical and cultural phenomenon, a proud relic of America in so many ways. It is also a shameful manifestation of deeply-entrenched racism, inequality and neglect.
This fact was most evident in the city's public school system, an abyss of unspeakable dysfunction. To illustrate, after tracking down a former student in the days following Katrina, I asked him what had happened to our high school, the largest in the city.
"Ms. Peri," he said in a matter-of-fact voice, "the building was slammed, but I think it might be an improvement. The cafeteria kinda looks better."
He was kidding, but his resentment towards a school system that graduated him with minimal reading skills and elusive job prospects was certainly serious. The New York Times recently covered the systematic marginalization of black men in this country and how their plight seems to be worsening. The New Orleans Public School system embodied this trend.
Thus, when Mayor Ray Nagin released the Bring New Orleans Back Commission's report on how rebuilding should unfold, I was hopeful. The report flagged "unlivable" areas, directing the government to purchase houses in those neighborhoods and preclude further building. This policy has evoked vehement criticism from all corners, particularly from communities that wish to rebuild in the low-lying areas they had previously occupied. Despite the pain of losing houses, the pain of suffering another catastrophe that our government is clearly unequipped and unwilling to handle seems even more unbearable.