New Orleans Essay

Scattered along many of Louisiana’s rivers and bayous are majestic, historical homes built during a time of Southern prosperity. In the South, these homes and surrounding property often called plantations, were the product of middle to upper class slave-owning planters. Central Louisiana is home to a plantation that is “the oldest standing structure” in this area. During a recent visit to Kent House Plantation, I learned of the history, operations, and current events that help to keep the past alive.

Although it took almost fifty years after the American Revolutionary War was over, on July 4th and 5th, 1827, African American New Yorkers celebrated the passage of legislation that would finally free them from the bondage of slavery (11). In her book, In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863, Leslie M. Harris’s thesis is that class status was essential in the development of the black community in New York City from the moment they landed on Manhattan Island in 1626 (14). Harris also argued that the issue of slavery and emancipation of blacks in New York was an item that was brought up constantly, but elite white New Yorkers always hesitated on implementing legislation due to their constituent’s reliance on slave labor, their elite racist views of blacks (in general) as inferior (96), and the

When I survey the landscape in black America, it does not take long for me to recognize the massive impression of a vehement struggle of a collective group of people to simply keep their head above water. The problem in the black community is that it is where every ill of this nation is felt first. It is the place in which much of the economic devastation is felt and absorbed in order to relieve some of the pressure off of this nation’s more affluent citizens.

Social neglect is one of the causes that are responsible for the deaths in her community. Throughout Ward’s memoir she explains how her community was constantly neglected economically and socially which impacted the citizens. “They gave the violence of New Orleans many names” (4). New Orleans is a symbol for social neglect and represents the process of racism. The city is branded a violent place because of the supposable threats made against White people. All of the blame is automatically put onto black people as they are constantly stereotyped to be responsible for all the problems. All the stereotypes eventually evolve into discrimination as people of color are given unfair advantages, which resulted in racism. The social neglect also affected other individuals socially. “It’s not uncommon for young Black men to drop out here” (26). Social neglect also affected young black men especially since they were never given the hope or

The work of Michael Ross in The Great New Orleans Kidnapping Case: Race, Law, and Justice in the Reconstruction Era, helps us understand the history of New Orleans and Reconstruction Era in only 10 chapters of the book. “Ever since Reconstruction ended in 1877, many have questioned whether the North’s effort to bring a new social, economic and political order to the old Confederacy had any real chance for success” (6). During this essay we are going to discuss how Michael Ross helps understand more about the history of New Orleans in terms of the Reconstruction Era.

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was one of the most destructive in the history of the United States, proving that the levee only policy was a failure and the limits of human control over the river. The beginning of the flood, from the initial crevasse, poured out “468,000 second-feet onto the Delta that triple the volume of a flooding Colorado, more than double a flooding Niagara Falls and the entire upper Mississippi ever carried” (pg 203). The flood of 1927 “shifted perceptions of the role and responsibility of the federal government… shattered the myth of a quasi-feudal bond between Delta blacks and the southern aristocracy...accelerated the great migration of blacks north. And it altered both southern and national politics....”

The rich people from the city were all engaged in slave trade. The ultimate effect of the widespread slavery was that many families were psychologically tortured or killed physically leading to the braking of such families. After the abolishment of slavery, people started looking for their loved ones who had been sold in the New Orleans market. Therefore, it is difficult to forget the history of the city with such significant issues having happened extensively there. The picture tries to show people that slavery and business existed even during the colonial era. In this case, slave trade was the main business being undertaken during this time. Evidence from historical literature shows that ships were sold although they would be filled with slaves.

By the 1920’s the amount of African Americans in New York City had more than doubled. Meanwhile the roadways and subway system had just begun to reach Harlem, where some of the most influential Blacks had situated themselves. Soon after, Harlem became known as “The Black Mecca” and also as “The Capital of Black America”.

Racism is a constitutive feature of capitalism. Along with other modes of domination, racism constructs and enshrines those social hierarchies that legitimize expropriation, naturalize exploitation, and produce the differential value capital instrumentalizes in the interest of profit (Rodney 1981; Robinson 2000; Melamed 2015; Pulido 2016). Historically in the U.S., race has been produced in and through space. Housing, lending, zoning and environmental policies, as well as foundational and ongoing confiscatory processes at the heart of racial capitalism have linked race, place, and power in pernicious, “death-dealing” ways (Gilmore 2002:16; Lipsitz 2007; Fraser 2016). From the frontier to the plantation, the border to the reservation, the constitutive geographies of U.S. nationhood have inextricably bound race and space. Scholars of racial capitalism embed uneven development within this active and ongoing co-production of race and space. They emphasize that social difference is foundational, not incidental, to the production of the uneven spatial forms that underwrite racial capitalism. Race has been produced with and through space via urban renewal, restrictive covenants, systemic abandonment and the ‘racialization of state policy’ (Gotham 2000:14) by which the benefits of housing, lending and other urban policies have been afforded to some and denied to others (see Coates 2014; Shabazz 2015 for Chicago). Thus, vacant land and buildings on Chicago’ s South Side are not

The Texas revolution has fascinated Americans for more than a century now, from the epic martyrs of the Alamo to the unexpected victory of San Jacinto. Lost in all the glory and pain are some forgotten actors like the New Orleans Greys volunteers or the land speculators. Indeed, the ‘’Crescent City’’ always seems to be left out of classical interpretation of the revolutionary scheme of the Texas. What was the role of New Orleans? By looking at newspapers published between 1836 and 1839, the city implication would be put into perspective, using Texan battles description, drafting lists and land sales ads, to provide insight on the military implications and commercial ties. The Texan revolution is more than a stand alone event, but one who

This shows that African Americans not only helped incorporate Miami, but they played a key role in the City’s earliest politics. Despite this being a time were blacks had very little rights. At the incorporation of the City “Blacks were not silent”, it can be said that at least some took a proactive role. An example of this is the eloquent speech delivered by a “darky named Lightbum” (Dunn 58). It seems that given their initial level of influence African Americans have not gained significant ground in the dominating local politics as of

Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans, Louisiana on August 29th, 2005. The events that followed would leave the whole nation in shock until this day. One of the major topics of discussion after this disaster was whether or not the government's slow reaction time had anything to do with the fact that New Orleans is sixty-seven percent African American. As helicopters circled a wasteland that was once a major tourist attraction, the racism of the Deep South, thought to be extinct, proved it was only dormant. The same racism against African Americans that could be seen on Bourbon Street in the months prior to the hurricane reared its ugly head once more in Gretna, LA and was pointed out on live television by rapper Kanye West.

Since African Americans are limited to such opportunities, New Orleans is considered what is presumed to be a “racially segregated landscape of differentiated risk” -- spatial benefits of the post natural disastrous situation flowed to those who weren't from the lower socioeconomic tier. The racial projects that emphasize this formulation are found in how mainstream press coverage viewed those who were stranded and how structural programs not only failed to prepare relief but also intensified city

Where there is such a rich social history inside this awesome city of New Orleans, current occupants battle to get by with restricted fiscal and civic resources. As a result of the constrained resources residents believe that it’s hard to win a living and bring kids up in a protected, quiet, beneficial and prospering condition. The Red Flame Hunters are a gathering of African American youth from the seventh Ward drove by the helpful Edward Buckner from the First Huge 7 Social Legacy Division. The First Huge 7 Social and Legacy Division is a consolidated, non-benefit association, which is likewise a buildup group based expressions neighborhood program focus, situated in the seventh ward; one of New Orleans most difficult neighborhoods.

The racial and social structure of New Orleans in the late 1800s and early 1900s was divided into three categories. People of white descent were at the top of the social structure, and people of African American descent were at the bottom of the social structure. The third class, which was still below whites but above African American, was made up of the Creoles of Color. Creoles of Color were people who were comprised of both African American and white ancestry. The Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling in which whites and non-whites were “separate but equal,” Creoles of Color essentially had their social class demoted and were looked upon as the same as African Americans.