An Email

I got this email from a friend today and I thought I'd post it below The idea that Louisiana is without value points to an argument I have come across with alarming frequency. I have been struck by how curious it is that so many educated people wish to blame the poverty stricken souls who live in New Orleans for their troubles. One thing this disaster has done is put a spotlight on what it means to be poor in the richest country on Earth. Rarely do we see so many of our disenfranchised all together in one place and it should serve as a wake up call. We cannot continue to treat people this way. I am not a Christian by any stretch of the imagination but for a country that calls itself a nation under God I cannot imagine this type of blame fits into any scripture or WWJD debate. Re-read Isaih and I'm sure you'll find this does not fit the description of God's Kingdom. All of you who sit around pontificating about how if these people just went out and worked and got jobs they wouldn't be in this situation should examine how much you truly know about what it means to be poor. I don't mean middle class - I had to work to pay for my car in high school - poor - but destitute, generation after generation, hopelessly poor. I will not pretend to have any idea what that is like and so I will refrain from judging them. Instead I will judge the people who don't care.

Shame on you.

Read on.


Forwarded Email attached:

Believe it or not, there are people who believe we shouldn't help New Orleans.

Over Labor Day weekend, my fiance and I were on our flight home when we got into a surprising debate with a man about whether or not New Orleans and the Katrina victims actually deserved help. His position was full of wide generalities saying that New Orleans was just full of partiers who are sorry the party is over and now they're expecting handouts. He also said that even if rescuers dropped rafts, the people wouldn't use them because they're too busy looting. (?!?) The amount of absurd points he was making are too numerous to list and the sad part is apparently this man is a doctor in Florida. How he got that degree, I'll never know.

Although I'm happy with the points I made, I still wish I'd known more facts about New Orleans to emphasize how this historical area has contributed and influenced our nation's economy and culture in many ways (not to mention the other devastated areas like Biloxi).

So - in case you ever run into an ignorant idiot who feels New Orleans should be grateful for any small handout - here are the facts for you to throw out there as well.

About New Orleans:
(from www.Wikipedia.org)
New Orleans is the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in southeastern Louisiana along the Mississippi River, just south of Lake Pontchartrain, and is coextensive with Orleans Parish.

The 2000 census put New Orleans's population at 484,674 and the population of Greater New Orleans at 1,337,726.

New Orleans is a Southern city known for its multicultural heritage (especially French, Spanish and African American influences) and its music and cuisine. It is a world-famous tourist destination thanks to its many festivals and celebrations; the most notable annual events are Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Southern Decadence, and college football's Sugar Bowl.

The city was founded in 1718 and has played an important role in the history of the United States. The city was named in the honor of Philippe, duc d'Orléans, who was regent and ruler of France when the city was founded; the name of the city alludes to the existing city of Orléans in central France.

It is a major port city due to its location near the Gulf of Mexico and along the Mississippi River, making it a hub for goods which travel to and from Latin America. The petroleum industry is also of great importance to the New Orleans economy; many oil rigs are located in the Gulf. The Port of South Louisiana (which includes the port of N.O.) is based in the New Orleans metropolitan area and is the fourth largest port, in terms of raw tonnage, in the world.

Famous New Orleanians:
Louis Armstrong musician, New Orleans
Truman Capote writer, New Orleans
Kitty Carlisle singer, actress, New Orleans
Harry Connick, jr. singer/actor, New Orleans
Fats Domino musician, New Orleans
Louis Moreau Gottschalk pianist, composer, New Orleans
Bryant Gumbel TV newscaster, New Orleans
Lillian Hellman playwright, New Orleans
Al Hirt trumpeter, New Orleans
Mahalia Jackson gospel singer, New Orleans
Dorothy Lamour actress, New Orleans
Wynton Marsalis musician, New Orleans
Jelly Roll Morton jazz musician, composer, New Orleans
Huey Newton black activist, New Orleans
Cokie Roberts journalist, New Orleans
Ray Walston actor, New Orleans

Famous Louisianians:
Jerry Lee Lewis singer, Ferriday
Huey P. Long politician, Winnfield
Geoffrey Beene fashion designer, Haynesville
Van Cliburn concert pianist, Shreveport
Michael De Bakey heart surgeon, Lake Charles
Paul Prudhomme chef, Opelousas

All that Jazz:
(from www.redhotjazz.com)
The music called Jazz was born sometime around 1895 in New Orleans. It combined elements of Ragtime, marching band music and Blues. What differentiated Jazz from these earlier styles was the widespread use of improvisation, often by more than one player at a time. Jazz represented a break from Western musical traditions, where the composer wrote a piece of music on paper and the musicians then tried their best to play exactly what was in the score. In a Jazz piece, the song is often just a starting point or frame of reference for the musicians to improvise around. The song might have been a popular ditty or blues that they didn't compose, but by the time they were finished with it they had composed a new piece that often bore little resemblance to the original song. Many of these virtuoso musicians were not good sight readers and some could not read music at all, nevertheless their playing thrilled audiences and the spontaneous music they created captured a joy and sense of adventure that was an exciting and radical departure from the music of that time.

The first Jazz was played by African-American and Creole musicians in New Orleans. The cornet player, Buddy Bolden is generally considered to be the first real Jazz musician. Other early players included Freddie Keppard, Bunk Johnson and Clarence Williams. Although these musicians names are unknown to most people, then and now, their ideas are still being elaborated on to this day. Most of these men could not make a living with their music and were forced to work menial jobs to get by. The second wave of New Orleans Jazz musicians like Joe "King" Oliver, Kid Ory and Jelly Roll Morton formed small bands that took the music of these older men and increased the complexity and dynamic of their music, as well as gaining greater commercial success. This music became know as "Hot Jazz", because of the often breakneck speeds and amazing improvised polyphony that these bands produced. A young virtuoso cornet player named Louis Armstrong was discovered in New Orleans by King Oliver. Armstrong soon grew to become the greatest Jazz musician of his era and eventually one of the biggest stars in the world. The impact of Armstrong and other Jazz musicians altered the course of both popular and Classical music. African-American musical styles became the dominant force in 20th century music.

What is Mardi Gras?
"Mardi Gras" is French for "Fat Tuesday." It is the day before Ash Wednesday, a day of celebration and partying before the rigors of Lent's forty days of fasting and sacrifice. While the calendar shows Mardi Gras as a Tuesday, the festivities begin much earlier, on January 6th (Kings Day), and most of the celebration is in the form of Balls and Parades for two weeks or more before Mardi Gras Day. Basically, although it is a big party, its origin is biblical.

Facts about the Port of New Orleans:
(from AP wire)

About 6,000 seagoing vessels pass through the Port of New Orleans annually.
The port handled 31.4 million tons of cargo in 2004, up 5 percent from 2003, with imports accounting for 72 percent of the traffic.
It's the largest tonnage port in the United States, handling nearly 200 million tons of commodities annually, including import petroleum products and export grain.
Hurricane Katrina interrupted farm shipments through New Orleans, where more than half of the nation's grain exports depart for overseas.
Freight railroads with lines through the New Orleans area damaged by Katrina were detoured as far north as Chicago.
New Orleans currently ranks third among Gulf Coast cruise ports with 26 percent of the market share.
Quick Facts about New Orleans:
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22/22071.html

Orleans Parish, Louisiana

People QuickFacts Orleans Parish Louisiana
Population, 2003 estimate 469,032 4,496,334
Population, % change, April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2003 -3.2% 0.6%
Population, 2000 484,674 4,468,976
Population, percent change, 1990 to 2000 -2.5% 5.9%
Persons under 5 years old, percent, 2000 6.9% 7.1%
Persons under 18 years old, percent, 2000 26.7% 27.3%
Persons 65 years old and over, percent, 2000 11.7% 11.6%
Female persons, percent, 2000 53.1% 51.6%

White persons, percent, 2000 (a) 28.1% 63.9%
Black or African American persons, percent, 2000 (a) 67.3% 32.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native persons, %, 2000 (a) 0.2% 0.6%
Asian persons, percent, 2000 (a) 2.3% 1.2%
Persons reporting some other race, percent, 2000 (a) 0.9% 0.7%
Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2000 1.3% 1.1%
White persons, not of Hispanic/Latino origin, %, 2000 26.6% 62.5%
Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 2000 (b) 3.1% 2.4%

Living in same house in 1995 & 2000', pct age 5+, 2000 56.8% 59.0%
Foreign born persons, percent, 2000 4.2% 2.6%
Language besides English spoken, pct age 5+, 2000 8.3% 9.2%
High school graduates, % of persons age 25+, 2000 74.7% 74.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher, % age 25+, 2000 25.8% 18.7%
Persons with a disability, age 5+, 2000 102,122 880,047
Mean travel time to work (mins), workers age 16+, 2000 25.7 25.7

Housing units, 2002 213,134 1,880,122
Homeownership rate, 2000 46.5% 67.9%
Housing units in multi-unit structures, percent, 2000 42.7% 18.7%
Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2000 $87,300 $ 85,000

Households, 2000 188,251 1,656,053
Persons per household, 2000 2.48 2.62
Median household income, 1999 $27,133 $32,566
Per capita money income, 1999 $17,258 $16,912
Persons below poverty, percent, 1999 27.9% 19.6%

Business QuickFacts Orleans Parish Louisiana
Private nonfarm establishments w/ paid employ, 2001 10,628 100,780
Private nonfarm employment, 2001 214,914 1,599,482
Private nonfarm employment, percent change 2000-2001 3.1% 0.4%
Nonemployer establishments, 2000 23,224 234,114
Manufacturers shipments, 1997 ($1000) 2,304,957 80,423,978
Retail sales, 1997 ($1000) 2,771,305 35,807,894
Retail sales per capita, 1997 $5,908 $8,229
Minority-owned firms, percent of total, 1997 28.6% 14.1%
Women-owned firms, percent of total, 1997 26.6% 23.9%
Housing units authorized by building permits, 2002 616 18,425
Federal funds and grants, 2002 ($1000) 5,276,203 29,987,664

Geography QuickFacts Orleans Parish Louisiana
Land area, 2000 (square miles) 181 43,562
Persons per square mile, 2000 2,684.3 102.6