Putting the Ninth Ward on the Map

22 Pages·2014·5.31 MB·English

by  Rachel Breunlin

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Anthropology Faculty Publications Department of Anthropology and Sociology
12-2006
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Rachel Breunlin
University of New Orleans, [email protected]
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Breunlin, Rachel, and Helen A. Regis. "Putting The Ninth Ward On The Map: Race, Place, And
Transformation In Desire, New Orleans." American Anthropologist 108.4 (December 2006): 744-764.
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RACHEL BREUNLIN
HELEN A. REGIS
Putting the Ninth Ward on the Map: Race, Place,
and Transformation in Desire, New Orleans
ABSTRACT In this article, we consider how long-term patterns of resistance to structural violence inform citizens’ responses to
displacement before and after Katrina. Drawing on Abdou Maliq Simone’s (2004) conceptualization of people as infrastructure, we
recenterthediscussionabouttherebuildingofNewOrleansarounddisplacedresidents,takingtheplace-makingpracticesofmembers
ofasocialclubasalensthroughwhichtoexaminethepredicamentofthecityasawhole.Membershavebeengeneratingalternative
waysofthinkingaboutanddwellingtogetherinarestructuringcity.Theirperspectivesarearticulatedthroughin-depthinterviews,focus
groups,andtheembodiedpracticesofclubmembersandtheirfollowersastheymakeclaimstothecitythroughmassive,participatory
street processions known as second lines. These distinctive ways of thinking and being in the city—the subaltern mainstream of the
second-line tradition—are now being deployed by exiled New Orleanians reconsidering their relationship to home. [Keywords: place,
Katrina,urbanrestructuring,publichousing,race]
Theinnercityhasbeen“letgo”andforcedtoreweaveits Jackson1985;Low1999,2003;Rutheiser1999;Scott1998;
connectionswiththelargerworldbymakingthemostof Smith1996;Sorkin1992;Williams1988;Zukin1991).
itslimitedmeans. Afterthestorm,thesehistoriesofrestructuringremain
strangelyabsentintherebuildingdiscussionshostedbycity
—AbdouMaliqSimone,“PeopleasInfrastructure:
IntersectingFragmentsinJohannesburg” andstateplanningcommissions.Nonetheless,theyarean
I important part of the collective memory and discourse of
N THE AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE KATRINA, the displacedresidents,whorecallhowthesetop-downpolicies
mourning of the potential loss of New Orleans is of- disproportionately impact black and low-income commu-
tendiscussedinrelationtothecity’sdistinctiveidentity— nities.Publicskepticismovercurrentdebatesaboutreduc-
a distinctiveness frequently linked to its otherness. Geog- ing the urban footprint, reintroducing wetlands into the
raphers, anthropologists, urban historians, cultural critics, city in the form of new urban parks, or building mixed-
andpoetswritingaboutthesocialandculturalhistoriesof incomehousinginlow-incomeneighborhoodsisinformed
New Orleans have sought to articulate its unique contri- byamindfulnessoflonghistoriesofurbanrenewalandin-
butiontotheU.S.landscape(see,e.g.,Campanella2006a; terstatehighwayandparkconstruction,whichcausedtheir
Campanella and Campanella 1999; Colten 2005; Dent ownformofdevastationinmostlyblackresidentialneigh-
1982;Dom´ınguez1986;Johnson1995;Kelman2003;Lewis borhoods:NorthClaiborneAvenue,LouisArmstrongPark,
2003[1976];Osbey1997;Pile2005;Regis1999;Roach1996; the Third Ward, and, more recently, the demolished pub-
Saloy2005;Walker2005;Ward2004;yaSalaam2000).Yet, lichousingdevelopmentsremainasscarsinthelandscape
thecontemporarycityarguablybearsthemarkingsofpro- of the city (Breunlin 2004a, 2004b; Crutcher 2001; Fields
totypicalU.S.urbanpolicyaswell(Eckstein2006).Urbanre- 2004;Samuel2000;seealsoHaymes1995).
newalandslumclearance,discriminatoryhomeownership As with other U.S. cities since the 1950s, urban plan-
programs and segregated public housing, suburbanization ners,developers,andgovernmentofficialsviewed“redevel-
and gentrification, along with the rise of gated communi- opment”asawaytoimprovelandvalueanddealwithcom-
ties,haveallfractured,bulldozed,orreconfiguredelements plicatedsocialproblemslinkedtostructuralracismandclass
of the 19th-century city that had more in common with dividesbysimply“deconcentrating”poverty.Thisstrategy
theCaribbeanarchipelagothantheU.S.South(seeEckstein isoftenlinkedtoanaturalizedviewthatlanduseshouldbe
and Throgmorton 2003; Gottdiener 1985; Holston 1999; maximized—governed by highest and best use—negating
AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Vol. 108, Issue 4, pp. 744–764, ISSN 0002-7294, electronic ISSN 1548-1433. (cid:2)C 2006 by the American Anthropological
Association.Allrightsreserved.PleasedirectallrequestsforpermissiontophotocopyorreproducearticlecontentthroughtheUniversityofCalifornia
Press’sRightsandPermissionswebsite,athttp://www.ucpress.edu/journals/rights.htm.
BreunlinandRegis • PuttingtheNinthWardontheMap 745
residents’“placeattachments”(AltmanandLow1992;Low ingdevelopmentsinthecityremainclosed,theirentrances
andLawrence-Zuniga2003).Writingaboutthedemolition sealed with new iron doors and windows installed by two
of public housing, Shari Feldman and Wendy Hathaway companies—Vacant Properties Security Inc. and Accessed
havepointedout,“Memoriesofhardships,personallosses, Denied—and with chain link fences around their perime-
turnover,andracialtransitioncausedbymassiverelocation ters. In the middle of June 2006, U.S. Housing and Urban
under Urban Renewal should signal caution about unin- Development(HUD)SecretaryAlphonsoJacksonconfirmed
tendedeffects[ofsimilarpolicies]”(FeldmanandHathaway residents’fearsthattheywouldnotbeallowedtoreturnto
2002;seealsoGreenbaum2002).Cityresidentsunaffected theirhomeswhenheannouncedplansto“redevelop”four
bytheseearlierredevelopmentpoliciesmaybeunawareor ofthecomplexes—B.W.Cooper,C.J.Peete,Lafitte,andSt.
unconcerned of their large-scale impact, and thus do not Bernard.Morethan5,000unitswillbepermanentlyclosed
factorthemintothepost-Katrinarebuildingdialogues.For forredevelopment(Filosa2006).
manyAfricanAmericans,however,thepoststormdiaspora In response, the Advancement Project filed a lawsuit
islivedthroughacollectivememoryofmultiplediasporas, onbehalfofNewOrleanspublichousingresidentsagainst
includingthoseexperiencedbyNewOrleanianswhentheir theHousingAuthorityofNewOrleans(HANO)andHUD,
homesweretorndowninthenameof“progress.”1 which stated that agencies have prevented low-income
In2001,whenonlyafewbuildingsoftheDesirePublic black families from returning to New Orleans since the
HousingDevelopmentremained,wespoketoaformerres- storm. It also states that the demolitionof public housing
ident who was visiting her elderly mother. Surrounded by violatestheguidingprinciplesonInternalDisplacement,as
acresofvacantlandintheNinthWard,shesaid: outlinedbytheOfficeoftheUnitedNationsHighCommis-
sionerforHumanRights.Inparticular,principle28states:
Igrewupwithmyneighborseatingmyfood.Yeah,and
weatetheirfood.They—[thecity]don’tthinkaboutthat,
Competent authorities have the primary duty and re-
theyjustlookingatthequalityoftheland.“Icouldputa
sponsibility to establish conditions, as well as provide
mallthere.”Theyaren’tthinkingaboutthegenerations.
themeans,whichallowinternallydisplacedpersonsto
[conversationwithauthors,January14,2000]
return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity, to their
homesorplacesofhabitualresidence,ortoresettlevol-
ResidentsofDesire,Louisiana,didnotownthelandwhere
untarilyinanotherpartofthecountry.Suchauthorities
they resided and consequently their strong attachment to shallendeavortofacilitatethereintegrationofreturned
the social ties embedded in their part of the Ninth Ward or resettled internally displaced persons. [UN Office of
wentunrecognizedbypolicymakers.Owningland,previ- HighCommissionerforHumanRights2006]
ouslyalegalbasisforcitizenshiprightsandnowasymbolic
anchorofculturalcitizenshipintheUnitedStates,remains Bynotopeningpublichousingandfailingtoprovidebasic
an elusive goal for many marginalized by the ownership servicessuchashealthcareandpubliceducation,manydis-
society.AsAmahlBisharawritesinregardtoanothercon- placedresidentsandtheiradvocatesbelievethatlocal,state,
testedterrain(Israel–Palestine),notionsofculturalproperty and federal governments are violating their basic human
may serve to ratify specific relationships to land: “Prevail- rights(Sasser2006).Thesechangescanbesaidtorepresent,
ingnotionsofculturerecognizecertainculturesmoreeasily inacondensedtemporalframe,manyofthesameprocesses
thanothersforreasonsoftenrelatingtoaestheticandhis- recognized in other contexts as elements in the global re-
toricalcontingencies”(Bishara2003:158). structuringofcities.InNewOrleans,asinotherglobalized
U.S. citizens are outraged by state use of eminent do- cities, one discerns dramatic “reconfigurations of wealth,
main if it infringes on the rights of property owners, but socialspace,andurbancitizenship”(Zhang2002:312).
publichousingresident’sattachmenttoplaceisviewedas As in other displacements, people unable to return to
less significant because it has not gone through a market New Orleans are losing more than just shelter. The social
transaction.Sincethestorm,manyresidentshaveusedtheir networks they developed over generations are also threat-
status as homeowners to contest possible displacement. ened (Breunlin 2004b; Stack 1974, 1998, 2001; Venkatesh
Raynard Casimier Sr., a New Orleans pastor and prop- 2000). Writing about Johannesburg, Abdou Maliq Simone
ertyowner,isquotedintheTimes-Picayunesaying,“Some- suggests that one way to think about an urban area after
body wants our dirt. Disaster is big money. I want to see “the policies and economies that once moored it to the
my people come back for their dirt” (Filosa 2005). New surrounding city have mostly worn away” is to consider
Orleanianswhoarerentersorwhoresideinpublichousing peopleas“aninfrastructure—aplatformprovidingforand
arenotonlylockedoutofthisdiscursivestrategy,theyfind reproducing life in the city” (Simone 2004:411, 408). It is
themselvesoutsideoffederalandlocalpoliciesforhousing the residents of the city who find ways to reconnect, to
assistance.TheLouisianaRoadHomeprogram,forinstance, crossboundaries,andtobuildnewwaysofinteractingwith
isgearedspecificallytowardshomeownerswithseverehous- meaningfulplacesintheirlives—eveniftheyhavebeendra-
ingdamage.Althoughstateofficialshavesaidtheywillpro- maticallytransformed.AsNewOrleaniansreturnhomeor
vide incentives for rebuilding rental housing, no specific findtheircityisnowonlyaplacetovisit,theirtravels,rela-
plans have been made as we go to press (Eaton 2006). In tionships,andinformalandformalmethodsoforganizing
addition, with the exception of the Iberville, public hous- will have an important impact on the city’s recovery and
746 AmericanAnthropologist • Vol.108,No.4 • December2006
place making in spite of (or in response to) the top-down suffering but also of longing for freedom, second-line pa-
policiesbeingimplemented. rades continue to speak to the contemporary struggles of
thecity’smajorityblackandworking-classpopulation.Fol-
THESUBALTERNMAINSTREAM lowingStevePile(2005),itcanbesaidtoconstituteadream
Sincethebeginningofthecity’shistory,poorandworking- workofmarginalizedcommunities.
class black New Orleanians have been forced to live in Parades invite an embodied knowledge of the city ex-
ecologically and economically marginal land. In these ar- perienced at ground level among a multitude composed
eas,propertyvaluesremainedlow,schoolsweresegregated of club members, brass band musicians, and a heteroge-
and then abandoned by the majority of white citizens, neous cohort of marchers, dancers, and second liners of-
andjobopportunitiesremainedlimited.Inthelastdecades tennumberingfrom2,000to10,000people(seeFigure1).
of the 20th century, Louisiana had the highest per capita Like the structure of many performances in both sacred
incarcerationrateinthenationandwascontinuallylisted and secular realms of African American culture, the pa-
among the states with the highest rankings in measure- rades are interactive, participatory, and often break down
ments of poverty, unemployment, crime, and diabetes. It thebarriersbetweentheaudienceandperformersthrough
also ranks among the lowest in literacy, insurance cover- call-and-response as well as dancing. Participation in the
age, and public funding of the arts and education. The paradesleadstorecognitioninothersocialrealms.Asone
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina can be viewed as part of a club member explained, “Being a part of these activities,
much larger pattern of structural violence affecting lower- youmeetpeople.Orpeopleknowyou.That’showIgotto
income residents of the majority black city, a disaster of beknownbecauseIwasalwaysinvolvedwithsomethingin
longuedure´e. mycommunity”(Breunlin2004a:22).
Yet, for as long as black New Orleanians have been In this article, we have been inspired by geographer
marginalized, they have also created their own organiza- Nicholas Blomley’s (2002) analysis of alternative concepts
tionsthatconstituteasubalternmainstream.Forhundreds of land ownership and value that are not usually recog-
of years, African American communities have organized nizedincapitalistdiscourse.Althoughanthropologistshave
themselvesintosocialclubsintheNewOrleanssecond-line longbeeninterestedincollectivelandownership(see,e.g.,
tradition,participatinginalong-standingsociopoliticaltra- Meyers 1992; Roseman 1998; Verdery 1998; Zhang 2001),
ditionofselfhelp,mutualaid,andresistancetostructures it is rarely evoked in the context of the contested terrain
ofoppression.Theyalsopubliclyregistertheirrefusaltobe of North American cities where residents participate in a
defined by others, by the mainstream media, and by the capitalist economic system but may still have alternative
depressing statistics that typically describe their commu- waysofunderstandingplace.Blomleyurgesustolistento
nities. They create their own social networks, institutions, the dense vernacular histories embedded in everyday ur-
and events that provide opportunities for public recogni- banlandscapes—tothestoriesofthosewho“build,[were]
tionandesteem.Althoughinvisibletoothersectorsofsoci- born,fought,loved,diedontheland”—not,hewarns,“as
ety,individualandlargersocialidentitiesdevelopthatare anexerciseinnostalgia”—butratherasawindowontothe
nonethelessextremelypowerfulintheirowncommunities. many ongoing enactments of property as social relations
From an early age, young people are welcomed into what createdinthelivedspacesoftheland(Blomley2002:569,
poetKalamuyaSalaamcallsa“spiritfamily,”whichbroad- 567).InWesterncapitalistsocieties,propertymaybepublic,
enskinshipbeyondbloodlinesthroughtheparticipationin butitisrarelyimaginedascollective.Playingonthevarious
communalevents(yaSalaam2000:28).Perhapsmostcen- meaningofthewordssettleandsettlement,heseekstounset-
traltothissubalternmainstreamaretheSundayafternoon tleournaturalizedunderstandingsofproperty:“Thedefini-
second-lineparades,whichhaveengulfedthestreetsofNew tionalauthorityoftheownershipmodelisdeemedvaluable
Orleansformorethanonehundredyears(seeRegis1999, in part, because it ‘quiets’ title” and it “ignores the claims
2001). andaspirationsofmany”(Blomley2003:xv).Recallingthe
Second-lineparadesareorganizedandpaidforbysocial generativeinsightsofMarxiananalysis,hesuggeststhatwe
andpleasureclubs,thecontemporarydescendentsof19th- thinkofpropertyas“abundleofrelationships”ratherthan
century benevolent and mutual aid societies, which pro- as“aspatializedthing”(2003:xv).Thefocusontheperfor-
videdhealth,unemployment,andburialinsurancefortheir mance or enactment of social relations of property allows
members.Thetermsecondlinereferstoarhythm,adance ustoconsider“thepossibilitiesthatpropertyintheurban
step,andaperformancetraditionsaidtohaveoriginatedin heartlandmaybedifferentiatedanddiverse”(2003:xv).
18th-centuryCongoSquareonthemarginsofthecolonial In this light, second-line organizations’ public perfor-
city,whereenslavedAfricans,freepeopleofcolor,andNa- mancesclaimaspaceinpublicdiscourseforalternativeno-
tiveAmericansgathered,alongwithafewonlookers,toen- tions of value, land, and dwelling together in place in the
gageincommerce,music,dance,andreligiousceremonies. restructuringcity.Whatismore,clubmembershavebeen
Accordingtothefoundationalmythicohistoryadvancedby generating alternative ways of thinking and being in the
anumberofcommunityactivistsandhistorians,thecity’s city—thesubalternmainstreamofthesecondline—thatare
distinctive second-line traditions originated in a freedom nowbeingdeployedbyexiledNewOrleaniansreconsider-
danceperformedonthemarginsofaslavesociety.Bornof ingtheirrelationshiptothecity.
BreunlinandRegis • PuttingtheNinthWardontheMap 747
FIGURE1. Fillingthestreetduringthe2004anniversaryparade.AsRaymondWilliamsputit,“Itwaslikeareunion”(conversationwith
authors,June2005).(PhotographcourtesyofArletWylie)
RESEARCHINGDESIRE ofresearchingandwritingabouttherelationshipsbetween
Over the last few years, we have developed a dialogue performanceandthebuiltenvironment,aswellasbetween
abouttheroleofsecondlinesincommunitybuildingand housingpolicy,politicaleconomicprocesses,andthesocial
restoration—these conversations began as we would run fabric in communities that sustain the performance tradi-
into each other at Sunday afternoon second-line parades. tionsforwhichNewOrleansissofamous:theculinaryarts,
Oneofourcentralthemeshasbeenhowtheperformances music,andtheperformancesofMardiGrasIndiansandso-
provide a space for geographically separated friends and cialandpleasureclubs(Ehrenreich2004).3
neighbors to reconnect (see Breunlin 2004a; Regis 2005). Theethnographicresearchforthisarticleemergedfrom
Following national housing policy, New Orleans began to a community documentary program Breunlin codirects in
teardownmanyofitspublichousingdevelopmentsinthe New Orleans called the Neighborhood Story Project (NSP
1990s and the first years of the new millennium. We dis- 2005).BasedatJohnMcDonoghSeniorHigh,NSPteachers
cussed how this process would affect the parade routes of workwithteenagerstoresearchandwritebooksabouttheir
socialorganizationspreviouslybasedinornearpublichous- neighborhoods. During 2004–05, one of the research sites
ingcomplexes,andhownewlocationsmighttransformthe was the Ninth Ward neighborhood of Waukesha Jackson,
manner of parading in urban and suburban contexts.2 In one of the students in the NSP program. Waukesha inter-
2002,Breunlinorganizedaphotographyexhibitandsym- viewedherneighbor,Evella“Ms.Coochie”Pierre,whohad
posium on the fate of public housing residents displaced moved to her block a few years ago when the Desire Pub-
from the St. Thomas and Desire developments (Displaced lic Housing Development was torn down. Each year, Nine
2002).Regisbegantofollowtheriseofnewsocialclubsin TimesSocialandPleasureClub’ssecondlinestoppedatMs.
suburban eastern New Orleans. We began to discuss ways Coochie’shouse.Theparadehadfosteredagroundswellof
748 AmericanAnthropologist • Vol.108,No.4 • December2006
pride in the neighborhood, so Rachel encouraged Wauke- taken from the city’s Seventh and Eighth Wards, among
sha to find out more about the second-line tradition—the otherneighborhoods,andallwereconsistentlyreferredto
bigdaywhenthestreetwasovertakenwithpeopleandbrass astheNinthWard.
band music. In the interview, Ms. Coochie explained that Aspeoplewereairliftedfromrooftopsanddroppedoff
her son, Louis Pierre, was one of the founding members on the ramps and elevated sections of the interstate by
of Nine Times. In early 2000, he was found shot to death neighbors who had “commandeered” boats, a larger pub-
at a bus stop in the neighborhood. The club continues to lic discussion developed in the newspapers and on televi-
honorhismemory,andMs.Coochie’sinvolvementinthe sion about the poverty that the storm exposed and how
organization, with a stop along the parade route. It was it was entangled with race. No longer was the discussion
throughthisinitialinterview,aswellasourparticipationin about what went so wrong with New Orleans levees and
theirNovember2004parade,thatwelearnedhowthesec- the rescue operation that followed after they failed, but
ondlinehasservedasa“reunion”forDesireresidentswho what went wrong before the storm. The Economist (2005)
weredisplacedwhentheirdevelopmentwastorndownin ranacoverstorycalled“TheShamingofAmerica”withan
2002.Moreover,theannualparadeservesasawaytorecon- image of a black woman in a New Orleans T-shirt crying.
nectwiththesoulsoffriendsandfamilywhohavepassed Similarly, Newsweek’s headlines read, “Poverty, Race, and
on.TheinterviewsfortheNeighborhoodStoryProjectcon- Katrina: Lessons of a National Shame,” and the cover fea-
tributedtoachapterofWaukesha’sbook,WhatWouldthe turedaclose-upofFaithFigueroa,aone-year-oldblackchild
WorldBeWithoutWomen?StoriesfromtheNinthWard(2005), fromtheLowerNinthWard(Atler2005).Asthesestoriesde-
fromwhichwehavedrawninthisarticle. veloped, the Ninth Ward became a metaphor for poverty,
As Waukesha’s book project was winding down, we race,andneglectaswell.Therealityofamajorityblackcity
asked Nine Times members if they would be interested seemed to take the United States by surprise. At the same
in continuing to participate in some interviews about the time, poor whites flooded out of their homes in adjoin-
Ninth Ward, the Desire residents, and their involvement ingSt.BernardandPlaqueminesParisheswereunderrepre-
in second-line parade networks. We spent time with the sentedamongtheimagesofdesperatevictimswaitingtobe
club at Ms. Coochie’s house and at Magee’s, a barroom a rescued. Even now, the more affluent Lakeview, Pontchar-
fewblocksawayfromthedevelopmentthatservesastheir trainPark,andGentillyneighborhoodsarenotdefinedby
“home base,” tape recording interviews and focus groups thedeathsintheseareasinthesamewayastheNinthWard
with the members. The last time we saw each other be- (Filosa2005).4
forethestormwasatWaukesha’sbookreleaseblockparty InWisdomSitsinPlaces,KeithBassodevelopstheidea
in the Ninth Ward. Several club members had come to a of“placemaking,”whichhedefinesasthefairlyordinary
readingbyNSPauthorsandtookprideintheaccomplish- waythatindividualsbegintothinkaboutparticularplaces
mentsofoneoftheirown.AtWaukesha’sparty,NineTimes and develop a way of understanding what happened
members surprised her with a second line—and teachers, there. He writes, “It is a common response to common
neighbors,andfamilymembersdancedwiththemaround curiosities—what happened here? Who was involved?
theneighborhoodandthensignedeachother’sbooks.The What was it like? Why should it matter?” (Basso 1996:5).
powerful sense of recognition and community ownership AlthoughBasso’sconceptualizationofplacemakingdraws
ofthesebooksandtheirneighborhoodhadaprofoundaf- onabottom-up,ethnographicallyinformedunderstanding
fectontheclubmembers,anditplayedanimportantrole of the phenomenon, the concept can also be applied to
in gaining for Rachel (and by association Helen) the re- thetop-downplace-makingprocessesofglobalmediaand
spect and trust that would allow us to continue working national policy. The media coverage following Hurricane
together. Katrina defined the Ninth Ward for the world. People
who had never even set foot in the area suddenly became
experts on our city’s future possibilities and past failures.
AFTERTHEFLOOD
Self-appointed pundits could be overheard declaring:
Inthemiddleofthisresearchproject,Katrinaandthestorm “Obviously,theNinthWardisjustgoingtohavetobebull-
surgethatfollowedoverwhelmedNewOrleans.Like80per- dozed.” “There’s nothing there to salvage.”5 For displaced
centofNewOrleansresidents,weevacuatedthecitybefore NewOrleansresidentsdesperatelywatchingtelevisionand
the hurricane and spent the next week huddled around seeking information, the disaster of the hurricane and
televisions, squinting to identify the New Orleans neigh- the flood was overtopped by the mediated disaster, as we
borhoodsthatwerebeingshownfromaerialvideofootage watchedandlistenedtoourcitybeingobjectifiedanddis-
takenfromhelicopters.Manyofushopedtoseeanimage tortedbyjournalists,armedwithGoogleDigitalEarth,live
of our streets, homes, and neighborhoods. The complex- satellitefeeds,andlittlelocalknowledgeaboutthepeople,
ity of the landscape became a surreal blur of motion and places,andcommunitiesthatmakeNewOrleanshome.
water.Earlyreportsindicatedthat“WardNine”hadtaken Ifweexpandtheideaofplacemakingbeyondthein-
thehardesthit.Later,thetermwasrevisedtothevernacu- ternationalmediacontextofnaturaldisaster,itisclearthat
lar,“NinthWard,”whichthenbecameametaphorforany theNinthWardhasitsownhistoryandrelationshiptothe
floodeddowntownneighborhood.OnCNN,wesawimages restofthecityandregion.AkhilGuptaandJamesFerguson
BreunlinandRegis • PuttingtheNinthWardontheMap 749
(1999)offerausefulperspectiveonplacemakingaspoliti- with small shotgun houses and Creole cottages rubbing
callycontingentprocess: shoulderswithgranderhomes,becameincreasinglysegre-
gatedinthe20thcentury(HirschandLogsdon1992:189–
Howareunderstandingsoflocality,community,andre- 200;Lewis2003:50–52).Asdrainageandpumpingtechnol-
gionformedandlived?Toanswerthisquestion,wemust
ogyadvanced,previouslyuninhabitableswampsnearLake
turnawayfromthecommonsenseideathatsuchthings
Pontchartrainweredrainedandthecityexpanded.Middle-
as locality and community are simply given or natural
andturntowardafocusonsocialandpoliticalprocesses and working-class families were able to buy homes in the
ofplacemaking,conceivedlessasamatterof“ideas”than newly developed areas with Federal Housing Administra-
ofembodiedpracticesthatshapeidentitiesandenablere- tion(FHA)andVeteransAffairs(VA)loans.However,these
sistances.[GuptaandFerguson1999:6]
federallysubsidizedprograms“redlined”raciallymixedand
Theirsuggestionthatwelookatpeople’sactualpracticesin denseinner-cityareasandrefusedtoissueloansthere(see
the making of place informs our exploration of the social Hirsch 1998, 2000). Black families who could afford other
andpoliticalmakingandunmakingofDesire.Withthisin mortgages were also denied access to new developments
mind, we consider how others have seen the Desire area throughrestrictiveracialcovenantsthatprohibitedanyone
andhowpeopleinNineTimesSocialandPleasureClubun- otherthanthe“Caucasianrace”frompurchasingproperty
derstandtheircommunityandreactagainstthedominant (Colten2005).
discourseabouttheirplaceinNewOrleans. One of the defining characteristics of the Ninth Ward
Talking with us before the flood, Raphael Parker, a is its relationship to water and industry. It has been clas-
memberofNineTimes,saidhebelievedthatparadinggives sified as “a low-income section of the city and has en-
theclubachancetoclaimaplacefortheNinthWardand duredchronicneglectintermsofcityservices.Theward’s
theDesireProjectsinthesociallandscapeofthecity.Aswe lower sections have been victimized repeatedly by flood-
drovetheroutesthathisclubtakesthroughtheneighbor- ing”(Colten2005:154).Therearetwomainreasonsforthis
hood,heexplained, repeatedflooding.Thefirstissimplytopography:Theland
setbackfromthenaturalleveeismanyfeetbelowsealevel
If I was to call the radio station ...and they ask me, (Campanella2006a).Moreproblematically,aseriesofman-
“Where you calling from?” “I’m calling from Nine made canals that connect the Port of New Orleans to the
Times.”I’dprobablyhavetoexplainwhatI’mmeaning
GulfofMexicoconvergeintheneighborhood.Inthe1920s,
bysayingNineTimes—acertainareawhereweparade.
the Ninth Ward was split in two when the Port built the
That’ssomethingwecreatedrighthere.That’ssomething
new.[conversationwithauthors,June2005] Inner Harbor Navigation Canal, commonly known in the
city as the Industrial Canal, to accommodate ocean-going
Nine Times not only produces a parade but also effec- vessels between the river and Lake Pontchartrain. In the
tively produces a new experience of and representation 1960s, the Industrial Canal was linked to a large shipping
of neighborhood—Nine Times. It also claims a collec- canal,theMississippiRiverGulfOutlet,throughtheIntra-
tive ownership of a landscape that is considered marginal coastalWaterway.Foryears,“MR-GO”hasbeendenounced
land. asa“hurricanesuperhighway,”whichfunnelsstormsurges
cutting through the swamplands of Plaquemines and
LOCATINGTHENINTHWARD
St.BernardParishesintotheNewOrleansarea.Thecritique
Historically,scarcityofsafeandaffordablehousinginNew wasdemonstratedtobetruewhentheIndustrialCanallev-
Orleanshascorrespondedwiththetopographyofitsdeltaic eeswerebreachedduringHurricaneBetsyin1965andagain
site. The colonial city was built on the banks of the natu- duringKatrinain2005.
ral levee of the Mississippi River. Areas further away from The port activities found along the Mississippi River
the river were referred to as “back-a-town” and were orig- and the Industrial Canal, as well as a number of drainage
inallyassociatedwiththe“never-never-landbetweenback canalsandrailroadtracks,givetheareaanindustrialchar-
swampandnaturallevee”(Lewis2003:35–36).Theseback- acter. In fact, one of the main ways that residents define
a-townneighborhoodswerebuiltonlower-lyinglandsus- wheretheyliveisinreferencetotheIndustrialCanal:The
ceptibletoflooding.Thetopographytookonracialaswell UpperNinthWardisupriverfromthecanal,andtheLower
associoeconomicsignificanceasfreedslaves,migrants,and NinthWardisdownriver,betweenthecanalandSt.Bernard
later Southern and Eastern European immigrants denied Parish. Other defining characteristics of the physical and
otherhousingoptionsfoundhomesthere(seeCampanella social landscape of the Ninth Ward are structured around
2006b).Migrantsmovingintothecityfromcountrytowns wavesofhousingthatdevelopedwithpumpingtechnology
in Louisiana and Mississippi settled where they had rela- andotherlocalandfederalhousinginitiatives.TheBywater
tives who could take them in and help them to find work andHolyCrossneighborhoods,builtonthenaturallevees,
and housing. Newest and poorest migrants often moved aredesignatednationalandlocalhistoricdistricts.Further
intoareasthatweremorepronetofloodingandoftenwent “back-a-town,”working-classresidentialareasdevelopedaf-
withoutbasicamenitieslikewaterandsewerage.6 ter World War II as one of the few areas available to black
The city, which was often described as having one of families who were looking to purchase their first homes
themostintegratedresidentialpatternsintheUnitedStates or to find housing after being displaced from areas closer
750 AmericanAnthropologist • Vol.108,No.4 • December2006
to the center of the city because of “slum clearance” (see Upwardsofeightthousandpluspeoplearecorralledinto
CityPlanningandZoningCommission1952;GreaterNew these crumbling brick hot-boxes. ...Desire is a sunlit
nightmare.[1988:13]
OrleansDataCenter2005;Lewis2003:figure21,pp.36–37).
TheNinthWardremainedraciallymixedthroughthe
Desire is a critique of the United States (see also Eckstein
1960s, when Orleans Parish Public Schools began deseg-
2006:131).Butwhatoftherealpeoplewholivedthereand
regation in the neighborhood. Images of white mothers
who saw their lives as having other meanings and other
screamingatasmallblackgirlnamedRubyBridgesasshe
purposes?
was accompanied to William Frantz Elementary by the
Throughoutitshistory,thequestionofisolation—both
National Guard made headlines and brought the Ninth
physicalandpsychological—hasbeenanongoingsourceof
Ward into houses around the country. As in the news
debateamongadvocatesforandagainstpublichousing,as
coverage of Katrina, however, the aftermath of the event
wellasresidentsthemselves.9 Inthebeginning,thedevel-
was not widely reported: In this instance, white families
opmentwasseenasarefugebymanyfamiliesdisplacedby
pulledtheirchildrenfromtheschoolandsoonmovedinto
urbanrenewal.FrankLazard,aformerresidentoftheThird
moresuburbanareas.7
Ward, a neighborhood demolished to make way for new
developmentsintheCentralBusinessDistrict,remembers,
SITUATINGDESIRE “Displacedpeople,theyhadnoplacetogoandsomeofthe
placesyourentedwasn’tdecenttoliveinandatthatpar-
ConstructingPublicHousing
ticular time you didn’t have no water, no electric in some
Theycalldownherethecountry.WhenyougoUptown,
places”(conversationwithauthors,October2002).Incon-
that’swhereitallgodown.
trast,Desireprovidedwelcomerelieffromthesehardships.
—Charlene Mathews, Lady Nine Times President “Oooh!Ihadfourbedroomsbecausemywifehadninechil-
(Jackson2005:76) dren.Weweredoingallrightthere”(conversationwithau-
In1956,theHANOopenedDesirePublicHousingDe- thors,October2002).Otherresidentsmovedinfromcoun-
velopment in the Ninth Ward as a segregated project for trytownsinLouisiana.Parker,asRaphaelisknowntomost
low-income black people. Built near the Industrial Canal, ofhisfriends,explainshisownfamily’smigrationfromTer-
the Florida Avenue drainage canal, the Agriculture Street reboneParish’ssugarcaneplantationstoDesire,
Landfill, and railroad tracks, the development had 1,840
unitsandover14,000residents,makingitthethirdlargest MymotherlivedonLouisaStreetwithmygrandmother.
TheymovedfromRaceland,Louisiana.Backinthedays,
housing development in the country. As one former resi-
most families were together as one, so they started
dentreflected,“Itwasacity.Acitywithinacity”(conver-
branchingout.Ithinkmymotherandhersisterwasthe
sationwithauthors,May2002).Likeotherpublichousing onlytwothatmovedintoDesireanditwasablessingto
developmentsinNewOrleans,Desire’stwo-andthree-story moveintherebecausewedidhaveourownspaceasa
brick buildings were designed around courtyards, which family.[conversationwithauthors,May2005]
were set off the city grid and celebrated for being a safer
At a time when almost half of the housing did not have
environmentforchildren.Thestructure,material,andlay-
indoor plumbing and electricity, public housing devel-
outemphasizedthedifferencebetweenpublichousingand
opments made these modern amenities available to low-
the surrounding neighborhoods. The city and HANO ad-
income residents. On warm nights, residents slept outside
dressed the ongoing affordable housing shortage but were
inthecourtyards.
not willing to acknowledge their own role in reinforcing
Desirewasanewplaceheavywithsymbolism,butwith-
andincreasingsegregation.The“checkerboard”residential
outtraditionsofitsown.AsMs.Coochietellsit:“Imoved
patterns were exchanged for “concentrated poverty.”8 On
intotheDesirewhenIwasfourteenyearsold.WhenIfirst
both a national and local level, the creation of segregated
moveddownthere,Ididn’tlikeit.Theydidn’treallyhave
public housing has been condemned as a step backwards
nothing for young children to do but get in trouble” (con-
insocialpolicy—oftendenouncedasproducingsituations
versationwithJacksonandBreunlin,October2002).Many
akintoapartheidtownshipsinSouthAfrica(Hirsch2000).
residents continued to travel to other parts of the city to
Atthesametime,advocatesforreforminhousingpol-
participate in the second lines that were so important to
icyandcivilrightsactivistscontinuedtorefertoDesireas
thesubalternmainstream.Reflectingontheimportanceof
the prototypical case of structural violence and racism. As
the parades, Parker says, “That’s something you begin to
poetandessayistKalamuyaSalaamputsit:
lovebecausethat’srealNewOrleans.Thatisthecultureof
ThisisaprimeexampleofAmerica’bestfootupourass, NewOrleans”(conversationwithauthors,November2005).
[a]replicationoftheplanneddestitutionofSouthAfrica’s Ms. Coochie, who grew up in the Seventh Ward, took her
apartheid-inspiredBantustans....Thepunitiveandpun- children to second lines, and her son Louis paraded with
ishingbrutalityofdaytodayexistenceinDesireandsim-
the Jolly Bunch and the Money Wasters Social Clubs as a
ilarly garrisoned housing projects is horrendous. ...We
boy. Other Nine Times members participated by joining
languishonthiskilling-roomfloorlikeout-takesfroma
slave/horrorsnuffflick;aroutinelyiced,enchainedcast the huge crowds that followed the parades. Corey Woods
ofthousands. explains that, “My daddy, my uncles, all of us—I grew up
BreunlinandRegis • PuttingtheNinthWardontheMap 751
inallofthis.Theyweren’tinnoclub,buttheyweresome worst and most dangerous black ghetto of New Orleans”
second-linepeople.Secondlinesareinmywholefamily,re- was crucial to their activism and figures prominently in
ally”(conversationwithauthors,May2005).Membersalso the theater’s own published account of its work. Being lo-
fondlyrememberanoldermannamedUnclePicwhogave catedinDesirevalidatesthetheater’sauthenticitybecause
them rides in his pick-up truck to other parts of the city it is a “real” ghetto. Thus, the “ghetto” and activist the-
where the music and parades were happening. Charlene aterweremutuallyconstitutedinapowerfulplace-making,
Mathews explains that, “On Sundays, he used to come in identity-making dynamic. As John Jackson (2001) has ar-
thebackofDesireandhewouldpullup.Everybodywould gued with respect to Harlem, Desire is materially and dis-
belike,‘Yougoingtothesecondline?Yougoingtothesec- cursivelyconstructedasapreeminentblackspace.“Harlem
ondline?’Itwasallages....Iusedtobelike,‘LookMom, was created through both race-specific actions (restricted
whatdoIgottacleanupanddo!”’(Jackson2005:75). covenants, white-flight, segregation) and class-inflected
Over time, Desire developed an identity of its own. interests (of realtors, of the black press, and of north-
Young people who grew up in the development and who ern blacks themselves) that constructed the black Harlem
placeditatthecenteroftheirexperiencesdonotremember we know today from the many Harlems of yesteryear”
the same sense of isolation that Ms. Coochie recalls when (Jackson2001:28).
shewasateenager.NineTimesmemberswalkedtotheLake- Roscoe Orman’s poem from The Free Southern The-
front to go swimming, participated in sporting events all atre’s oral history collection (Dent et al. 1969) illustrates
over the city, and took city buses to the Central Business thepulltothisplacethatwassetapartfromtheotherareas
DistrictandtheGentillyshoppingcenter.Afteryearsofliv- ofthecity:
inginAtlantaandotherpartsofNewOrleans,TroyMaterre
DrivingdownslinkyNewOrleans
considersthequestionofisolation:
Turnsmeon
Andmakesmesad
Cutofffromwhat?Wemayhavehadourownworld,but
OutinDesire
we weren’t cut off from the rest of the world. We were
WheretheJazzCityfunkfloats
freetoroam;itwasn’tlikewehadtogetpermissiontogo
Overthestreetholes...
outoftheproject.WeallhunginPressPark,byCarver,
Gentilly.WeallhungintheFlorida.Memyself,Ihung Allbeautyinchains
everywhere.IevenhungintheSt.Bernard,wentuptown. Rumblingdeepsomewhere-between-thestomach-
Maybetheywerecutoff—theycouldn’tgonowhere.But and-the-brain
ifyouhadyourparent’spermission,togetonthebusand Ohthedaywillcome
leavetheDesirewaslikealittletrip.Leavethisworldtogo OutinDesire
seesomewhereelse;I’llbeback.[conversationwithauthors, Thedaywillcome.
November2005]
Desire becomes a metaphor for the rise of black culture.
TheFloridaandtheSt.Bernardareotherdowntownpublic Blackmusicmaynolongerfloat,interminglingwithdaily
housing developments, where many Desire residents had life, but converges into a catalyst for radical politics. Such
relativesandformerneighbors.TheotherplacesthatTroy musings haunt our conversations now, as planners, ar-
mentions are black communities in the Ninth Ward and chitects, army engineers, real estate developers, and envi-
other areas of the city. Although his trips were within the ronmental justice activists ponder the future of the city.
confinesofthesocialandphysicalsegregationofNewOr- “Howdowebuilditbetter,”asknumerouspundits,“with-
leans, his telling of them recenters the black experience— out building Las Vegas or Disney World? It must be real,
young people in Desire did not necessarily believe their authentic.”10 Must it then reproduce the residential segre-
lives were marginal. And contrary to dominant assump- gationandconcentratedpovertythatmadesuchneighbor-
tions, even young people without cars had considerable hoodsasDesirefamous?
mobilityinthecity.Troy’scomment—“maybetheywascut The Black Power movement continued to grow when
off”—challengesliberalnotionsthatblackpeoplearesome- theBlackPanthersestablishedabaseinDesirein1970with
how deficient if they are not among white people. In this theintentionofriddingthedevelopmentofpolicebrutal-
statement,Troyproposesarevisionistviewofsegregation: ity and promoting self-determination. As one resident re-
Through their own social practices and restricted spatial lates,“Therewaspolicebrutality.TheUrbanSquadusedto
mobility,whitepeopledeniedthemselvesaccesstoDesire. beat the hell out of us. They had the Urban Squad under
MoonLandrieu.Theyusedtocomebackhereandwhoop
BlackPower,BlackArts us.Throwusontheground,arrestus,throwusinjailforno
Desire’spositioninrelationtootherpartsofthecitymade reason”(conversationwithauthors,May2002).Deejay(DJ)
it an important place in the histories of black activism andBlackPantherdocumentarianBriceWhiteinterviewed
andblacktheaterintheUnitedStates.FreeSouthernThe- Black Panther Malik Rahim, who recounted how his orga-
ater, in the vanguard of the Black Arts Movement, set up nizationsurvivedaface-offwiththepolice:
its New Orleans headquarters there in 1965, occupying a
When we opened our second office in the Desire, 600
building that was flooded during Hurricane Betsy. Their policecamethesecondtime.600police,NationalGuard,
decision to locate in “what was generally considered the andStateTroopers.Andthenalmost5,000peoplecame
752 AmericanAnthropologist • Vol.108,No.4 • December2006
outoftheDesireprojectsandstoodbetweenthepolice stance abuse, nutrition, and teenage pregnancy) that did
andourofficeandrefusedtomove.Thatwasthereason notaddressthestructuralracismembeddedinunequalac-
wesurvivedthesecondshoot-out.[White2004]
cess to health care, day care, education, and well-paying
jobs(MarthaWard,personalcommunication,September5,
Desire was on the front pages of newspapers around the
2006; see also Ward 1986, 1995). Desire residents filed a
countryastensionbetweenactivists,residents,andthepo-
classactionsuitinfederalcourtagainstformerNewOrleans
licebuilttoabreakingpoint.EvenJaneFondamadeherway
mayorMoonLandrieu,whowasnowservingasHUDSecre-
intothefray,drivinglimousinesintothecitywithoffersto
tary,andHANO,allegingthatpartsofDesireare“unfitfor
rescuetheinsurgents.
humanhabitation”(Times-Picayune1979).Long-termresi-
Events of this period were the subject of sensational-
dent Ora Price, speaking with Rachel in 2002, when there
izingmediareportsandmisinformation.Butcounterhisto-
wereonlyafewbuildingsremaininginDesire,explained:
ries,retoldbyresidentsandactivists,rarelymaketheirway
intoprint.Ms.Coochieremembers,“Peoplereallythought
Theturnaroundwasinthe1980s.Thingsstartedgetting
the Black Panthers was a threat to the area, to the com-
badforus.Thegovernmentlettheinfrastructuregodown
munity,buttheywerenotathreat.Theywereinthecom- onpurposeandthentheyblamedusfortearingupthe
munitytohelppeople.They’dfeedthechildrenbreakfast, place.Butreally,theylettheplacegowithoutanysort
and after school they’d help them with their homework” ofrenovationforsolong—youknowanybody’shouseis
goingtogetdamagedfromweather:wind,rain,flood—
(Jackson2005:69).SeveralNineTimesmembersremember
we’vebeenthroughallofthisbackhere.
eatingbreakfastbeforegoingtoelementaryschool.Parker
recalled for us his youth organization’s marches on City Alldayandallnight,they’drunthosedrugsoutofthe
Hall: hallway.Iusedtotakehotsoapywaterandthrowitdown
thestairs.Theygotsousedtomerunningthemoutof
IremembertheBlackPanthers:theblacksuits,theblack thefronthallway,they’dgoaroundtheback.Andwhen
hats. But actually they were some good people, to tell they’d come around the back, I’d be at the back door.
youthetruth.Oneofmymentorswhoraisedme,Alvin [conversationwithauthor,May2002]
Kennedy,wasaBlackPantherhimself.Hewasamentor
for the whole Desire from the sixties up until 2000—a Thus, disinvestment in the physical infrastructure coin-
new century. He had a club called The Young Men of cided with the intensification of drug economies, uneven
Desire,whichIwasa memberof.WemarchedonCity policing of street dealers, and the concentration of street-
Hall’sfrontlawn.Iwasoneofthosekids[onthenightly
leveldealersintopublichousingareas.
news].[conversationwithauthors,November2005]
ForNineTimesmembers,navigatingthroughthecom-
AlthoughthemediafocusedontheBlackPanthers’national plicatedterrainofDesirerequiredacombinationofparental
profile,itwasthelocalmemberswhocontinuedtomakean support and street smarts. Although some parents tried to
impact in the housing development. Like the second-line protecttheirchildrenfromthedrugdealinginthedevelop-
parades, the political activism connected young people to mentbykeepingthem“inside,”NineTimesmembersargue
otherpartsofthecityandhelpedthemgainrecognitionfor thatbeinggivenenoughfreedomtounderstandthesocial
theirowncommunity.Aswithsocialandpleasureclubs,it geography of the area was actually important in avoiding
is not just the high-profile events that the Young Men of trouble.Parkerusestheexampleof“storeruns”toillustrate
Desire staged that resonate years later but the care-taking howsmallexcursionsthroughthedevelopmenttoacorner
ethicthatcontinuedonaday-to-daybasis.“BrotherTwin,” store can help teach children how to avoid the “left hand
as Alvin Kennedy was affectionately known, was a father stuff”:
figure to many “young gentlemen,” and it is the “plenty
of cheese sandwiches on Saturday mornings” that made a When you’re going to the store, you’re seeing things,
you’relearningthings.Someparentsdon’tlettheirkids
lastingdifferencetothecommunity.
go to the store—they’ll make them stay inside and go
themselves.Nowtheydon’tknowtheshortcutstothe
store. Don’t know how to get around things and go
DJs
straightintoproblems.Theygotdarkspotswherethey
Onetimewehadaculturethatwassorich...sodeep.At knock the lights out, places you know you’re not sup-
night we’d go out in the street and dance with speakers posed to be in. You got to know all that. That’s not a
andabigoldlightshiningfromsomebody’swindow. goodareainthedaytime.Yougottobeoutsidetoknow.
[conversationwithauthors,November2005]
—formerDesireresident,conversationwithauthors,
May2002 Members argue that this kind of local knowledge—what
JamesScottcallsa“specialgeographicaldialect”(1998:54,
Inthe1980s,thefederalgovernment’scommitmentto 313)—was only possible to attain through participating
safe and affordable housing was beginning to wane. HUD in the social life of the community. In doing so, young
funds for public housing were cut by more than 80 per- people develop practical skills to respond to a changing
cent,causingbuildingsinDesiretodeteriorate.Atthesame environment.
time,nationalpoliciesdismantledWaronPovertyprograms Inthe1980s,whenthedevelopmentwasgainingacity-
to focus attention on individual “pathologies” (i.e., sub- wide reputation for violence and crime, music became a