To Nola, with love.
I’m not usually one to state strong opinions on social or economic issues because a) I never want to offend anyone b) I am aware that I don’t have complete authority to do so. But because this is my blog and my intentions are rooted from a good place, I’m going to proceed with my thoughts on what’s holding my beloved city, New Orleans, from thriving to its true potential.
New Orleans is going through an interesting transitional time. The nation is watching as top school leaders and charter schools aggressively reform its historically failing education system. Money is somewhat being used efficiently to rebuild our infrastructure and small businesses have the support to blossom and outlast the short-term. And of course, the Saints’ Superbowl win was like the cherry on top. All of these things are happening because people recognize the beauty and believe in the unique culture of the city. We are truly lucky to have so many people willing to come in after Hurricane Katrina to rebuild the city. However, there are new ‘systems’ in place that just don’t seem logical in the rebuilding efforts. Following Hurricane Katrina, the city began to overhaul low-income complexes to build beautiful green friendly housing that is meant to serve mixed-income families. What this basically means is that if one’s annual salary is below a certain amount, then that individual gets to pay half the amount of his neighbor who may earn over that amount. One reason for this was to rid the city of unsightly government housing (projects) that have notoriously lined the streets for many years.
A part of me was excited that the students and their families who I teach would be able to grow up in a great environment because their situation qualifies them to access to this type of government support. Another part of me, however, wonders if this undercover type of welfare is perpetuating a culture that has been accustomed to receiving hand-outs. To me, this system is sugar coating poverty under a flowerbed of renovated homes instead of working to eliminate poverty altogether. I come from a background of hard working parents so I’ve grown up with the core belief that an individual’s success is directly related to hard work and the occasional luck. While I know that New Orleanians have been given the short-end of the stick in terms of a corrupted political system, poor schools, crime, and a weak economy, I don’t think that the best resolve is to continue to give handouts.
The main problem with any kind of welfare is that people begin to feel entitled to it and aren’t pushed to get out of their unfortunate circumstance and do better for themselves. How can the city expect its community to rise above poverty if it continues to feed into the cycle?If the city wants to build upon its current momentum, I suggest funneling more energy into education – educating the youth and its adults on how to rebuild. Of course this won’t solve the whole situation but it will transfer responsibility to any person who wants to thrive here. We need strong leaders and to shift our mentality from a culture of taking hand outs into a culture of doing for ourselves. It isn’t until a community empowers itself to do better that it truly puts itself on a new trajectory.
