Study finds racism in French Quarter bars

[Onlooker]

Not sure if this has been posted anywhere, but I think it underscores the need to confront the moral shortcomings of the South.

******

Head to Bourbon Street any hour of the night or day and you'll find music, booze, strippers and a party atmosphere. If you're black, you run a better than even chance of also finding discrimination, harassment and price gouging.

Those are the findings of a study done for the city in the wake of the death of a black Georgia Southern student who suffocated in a scuffle with white bouncers outside Razzoo Bar and Patio on the famous French Quarter street.

....

The study paired black and white men — dubbed mystery shoppers — of the same type, body style, dress and manner, and sent them into 28 Bourbon Street bars within minutes of each other to evaluate the treatment they received.

In 57 percent of the bars the blacks received less favorable treatment than their white counterparts. In 40 percent of the test blacks were charged more for drinks. In 10 percent they were told there was a drink minimum which they would have to buy, while the whites weren't told of any minimum. In 7 percent of the bars, blacks were told they would have to meet a dress code, while the whites, dressed in the same fashion, were not.


http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-15/1113462673243410.xml&storylist=louisiana

[Catherine Vincent]

1. Yep. Racism still exists.

[jdj]

2. in the deep south, no less. shocking.

[VPStoltz]

3. One would think...

that a party town like NOLA would appreciate money coming in in any form. Not so. I have a friend who lives there - right in the FQ - and is one of the most racist people I know (we no longer speak after her support of Shrub in the last election). The city is over 60% black with a crappy economy and true to form in a RED state, the minority population is blamed for every wrong.

[misanthrope]

6. So you're saying...

...that "caucasians" are blamed for everything?

[natrat]

10. you know what he meant

[misanthrope]

12. I do?...

I can only assume that he meant what he said.

[QC]

4. Are there moral shortcomings in other places we can confront?

Or does only the South have them?

[Swamp Rat]

5. Bull shit.

1. New Orleans is not the South. We are a Caribbean culture that suffers redneck drunks and tourists year round.
2. The French Quarter is THE MOST LIBERAL place in "the South."
3. Many if not most of the bartenders that work Bourbon St. ARE NOT FROM NEW ORLEANS!
4. Drink prices are posted in every place I've been to or worked.
5. Drive one hour out of New Orleans and you will find racism against blacks in the extreme. Why not go there? Why not drive 20 minutes away to Metairie where David Duke and his pals go for drinks regularly?
6. The Justice Department is after New Orleans no matter what. Remember Ashcroft?
7. While I am personally, 100% sure that racism still exists in New Oreleans, I do not trust this particular survey.

[amazona]

8. well I wouldn't entirely discount it

I've heard people in the area complain that blacks don't tip, so I wouldn't put it past those individuals to try to charge them a higher price for the drinks or service and then pocket the difference. When you hear people making up an excuse to justify themselves, it probably indicates they're up to something they feel guilty about?

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Swamp Rat]

9. That may be true, and I won't entirely discount the findings

because I'm sure it happens, but this kind of thing happens everywhere in the USA, especially outside of New Orleans.

[amazona]

11. agreed you are right NT

.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Carni]

13. I agree with you

Granted I don't live there and am basing this on a few visits but I found NOLA itself to be quite liberal and hence that would be the reason for such a studies "findings"

The reich wingers just loves to stir up racial tension in places where it really isn't that much of an issue (as compared to other places)

I am not saying there isn't racism in the big easy but I am suspicious of this studies findings.

[misanthrope]

14. I would beg to differ...

...on a point, or two.

I don't think New Orleans is merely a Carribbean culture. While at times it does seem to have more in common with the Carribbean than with the rest of the nation, that discounts its other elements of influence that make the Crescent City a unique place all unto itself, unlike any other on the planet.

And while the city certainly bears the vestiges of aristocratic systems and racial hierarchies, New Orleans has a long history with a widely polyglot population. NOLA set the early precedent for "cosmopolitan" in our nation.

The French Quarter has a healthy share of liberals living there. But, a lot of those folks are the last ones you're going to find wading into the tourist morass.

I've known quite a few locals who have worked in the Quarter. Now, most of them weren't originally from New Orleans, if that's what you mean. Or are you talking about folks commuting in from Slidell and other outlying areas?

[Swamp Rat]

16. I see your "beg to differ" and raise you $100 bucks!"

Just kidding! :D

I agree with you that New Orleans is not "merely" a Caribbean culture, for it is many things. In fact, I could spend hours talking about the many facets of our culture, from an aboriginal as well as academic perspective. ;)

Last night after playing two gigs, I went to Snug Harbor to see a Brazilian jazz cat. Near the end of his last set he spoke to the audience, "I feel as if New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro are like the same... we are brother or sister cities... we have the same blood in our veins..." I said to him after the show, "eh cara, eu sou Carioca também, mas sou Carioca da aqui." He laughed and we became friends.

Yes, we are definitely a Caribbean culture... just one out of many facets on this gem of a city. After living here for decades, living in Brazil (and elsewhere in the Caribbean and Central America), and spending years of academic research on this subject, I fully embrace our Carribbeaness... as if Oshun herself is in my arms. :hug:

Way'at? :D

[Les BOOGIE]

20. check out this book

Mythic Galveston
Reinventing America's Third Coast
Susan Wiley Haedwick
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2002

In chapter 1, I argued that the significance of a geographic analysis of Galveston was to provide grist for defining a new culture region rimming North America's Third Coast. My findings lend support to Jordan's contention that a unique region exists, located on the extreme edge of the continent. According to Jordan, this region may extend from Chesapeake Bay to the Texas Gulf Coastal Bend. I have expanded the argument to apply to urban areas within this <new> region.

Jordan has called this place the "Creole Coast." Set apart from the mainland physically, culturally, and economically, this Tidewater region "is more closely linked to the adjacent West Indian island world than to the rest of the United States."

[Swamp Rat]

22. Thank you for the reference

VERY much! :)

[misanthrope]

27. Well, I'll be damned...

...I've been using this phrase for the last few years; glad to see someone else has caught on. Granted there are a variety of definitions for the word "Creole," but I've been using it chiefly for the area that received influence from both French and Spanish cultures, which would be from Mobile AL to near the TX-LA state line.

While I would agree that the coastal areas differ from their upland neighbors, I would hesitate to put the Gulf Coast in the same cultural pot with the southern Atlantic Coast. They are of British/Anglican background while the Gulf Coast is French/Spanish/Catholic. Lots of difference there.

[Catherine Vincent]

15. Hi there, Swamp!

:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

17. Way'at cat_girl25!

:hi:

:D

[Les BOOGIE]

7. Counterpoint

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3135611

[petronius]

18. When I was at LSU

one of the student-oriented bars in Tigerland had a dress code that specifically banned FUBU clothing (only because it wasn't dressy enough, of course ;))

[Al-CIAda]

19. LSU (in Baton Rouge) no surprise there.

[Al-CIAda]

21. Only in New Orleans can you

get your fortune read by Tarot cards outside St. Louis Cathedral (oldest in North America btw). The gay thing is big there too. No, New Orleans is a very liberal city, but some of the outlying areas are racist. still. They can be liberal though still, it depends. Many of those have turned repugnant though. case in point Billy Tauzin.

In any event, these findings are much different than I would expect. The city is run ,and has been run, mostly from top to bottom by members of the MAJORITY (65% black population). I think Nagan is a good mayor, Morial was a CROOK.

[Behind the Aegis]

23. Only been twice

I have only been to NOLA twice, but I loved it both times. There were parts that were scary and I wouldn't recommend anyone who bleeds red blood to go there! Although gay bars are not often known for racial diversity, for the most part, I found that was not the case in NOLA. It was very racially diverse, including the strippers...which were NUDE! :) However, I did notice that the "nicer" parts were not as racially diverse, but just a block outside of the Quarter, you can see just about any type of person! IT was also nice to be able to walk down the streets (except with the str8 bars) and hold hands with my partner and no one batted an eye! For anyone that has never been....GO!!!!!! The city is BEAUTIFUL! And, there is so much to do and the zoo is AWESOME!!!!

[Hardrada]

24. Up Canal Street at night

I felt out of place, being white! But no sense of tension anywhere in NOLA I noticed. I've been there various times. So Morial isn't mayor anymore?

[Swamp Rat]

25. Canal and Basin/Rampart?

;)

Hopefully Morial will STAY GONE FOREVER!!!

[Hardrada]

26. Not that far up.

About three blocks up from the Sheraton where I was staying. I also used to get a late night frostie at the Wendy's across the street. Hot nights always when I'm there and the New Orleanians always drink up all the lemonade at the little stores and I have to drink fruit punch. (I should not drink anything stronger and I don't so I am maybe missing some of the NOLA experience).

[Swamp Rat]

28. Yes you are!

There are great cafes all over the city - Uptown, the Quarter, the Marigny. Next time you visit, take the streetcar all the way Uptown and check out Maple Street. ;)

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

29. We're rednecks...

We're rednecks.
We don't know our ass from a hole in the ground...

[markus]

30. I was astounded at the continued reaction to the Essence people

I have managed to be back home late in June/early in July two years running. The reaction of a lot of the quarter businesses to the Essence visitors just blew my mind.

Those people (especially the women) were toting around shopping bags from the better stores at Canal Place, etc. These folks have money. And still a lot of quarter establishments were closing.

There was once a map in the back of Harpers showing a point-plot of every reported lynching in the South in the 20th century. I used to love to tell about that map, because the one city you couldn't identify by the clusters was New Orleans.

Hell, we were the one city in the 60s that didn't have riots (which probably disappointed Giarruso ]sp?-been a long time since I've had to type the chief's name], as he never got to use his tank).

I know the attitudes lots of people still carry around. But acting out on them like this is just wrong. Why the hell can't N'wawlins get its act togther.

I partially think its the high degree of segregation that remains. I always thought of the city as segregated but civilized. Clearly there are not enough people who've been the white minority in their neighborhood, and still sat out on their stoup and handed out halloween candy and walked in the corner store. People are just too damned seperated.

There, asked and answered. I just needed to vent.

As long as the Old Absinthe House, Moynahan's and most of Marigny aren't on the list, hell, maybe folks will riot and burn out most of the daquari bars and tee shirt shops. It would improve the quarter immensely.

[Bridget Burke]

32. Houston didn't have riots in the 60's, either.

The city was integrated by stealth.

We are also part of the Coastal region--with a better mix than the inbred communities of the heartland.

[Les BOOGIE]

34. Yes we did, Texas Southern University 1967 N/T

[Hardrada]

33. I was there a year or so ago with my wife

at the NEA convention at exactly the same time as Essence fest and did notice some folks were on vacation then. The Napoleon House closed rather quickly after we got there for instance. But most places were running wide open and since I am a book dealer, all of the bookstores were open only at their usual irregular times.

[Bridget Burke]

31. In order to truly judge the moral shortcomings of the South....

Similar studies must be carried out in other cities. I'm sure all the bars in Boston, for example, will welcome blacks as warmly as whites.

How have the immoral Southerners responded to this study?

"This is 2005, not 1964, and this will not be tolerated," said Larry Bagneris, executive director of the New Orleans Human Relations Commission.

Names of the bars in the study were not released. They will be notified of the findings, however, and invited to workshops in May that will stress not only the laws but sensitivity.

Mystery shoppers will continue to check the bars for compliance and if they are found to discriminate after the workshops their names will be made public and litigation will follow, Bagneris said.

"We have to make it clear that in New Orleans we do not tolerate discrimination against anyone in any form," said Mayor Ray Nagin.

Workshops? Sensitivity? Litigation? How....Liberal.