Social Stratification in the Deep South

Today (Day was a pretty low key day. We got up and a few people went to the library. The rest of us went to breakfast and the laundromat. After everyone had finished up with laundry and the last oral history at the library, we headed to New Orleans. I was really excited to come back and see the city, after having been here for spring break. Coming into the city, I was again impacted by the massive destruction that is still present. While the damage is not quite so severe here as it is in Bay Saint Louis, I think there will always a special place in my heart for the people of this city. We had a low key afternoon pretty much to spend however we would like. Lauren, Tania and I walked around the area by our hotel for a little while, before heading over to Bourbon Street to meet up with the other girls for dinner. It’s like entering a different world, walking from Canal Street onto Bourbon. I guess I never really walked down much of it the night we came downtown while we were here on spring break. Even at like 6, there were people walking around with drinks, some stumbling, and girls with very little clothing on, walking to work. Never in my life have I seen so many bars and flashy lights. It was quite a culture shock, to say the least.

Today (Day 9) we went to visit ACORN, an agency who works with city development, helps educate people about their rights, and fights those government agencies trying to infringe on those rights. It was shocking to hear what the woman who worked there had to say about how the poor were being taken advantage of. I think it’s despicable that the government and its agencies consider it acceptable to take from those who don’t have the knowledge to realize that they’re being taken advantage of. I think the thing that really inspired me the most about what this woman was saying was that it sounds a lot like what I want to do. The idea that someone can have their voting rights restricted or their home taken away just because someone can get away with it is completely unacceptable.

After talking to this woman, we went to look at some of the homes that they have been rebuilding in the Lower 9^th ward. I was again pained to look at all the destruction. As I noticed when working in this neighborhood over spring break, there are NO people around. We got out and walked around for a few minutes. Other than a group of workers, there was no one else there. It concerns me, especially after what the ACORN woman said about the government seizing property. If these people are not here rebuilding, it makes me think that this whole area will be demolished and transformed into some other type of housing…not of a low income variety.