Ask the Doctor, and Say Au Revoir
A young doctor, a native New Orleanian, published a letter in yesterday's Times Picayune making an urgent plea to our city leaders: "Give me a reason to stay here."
"Rational analysis of the pros and cons tells me we should leave New Orleans," he writes. "My heart tells me to stay.… I need leaders to give me good reasons why paying more and getting less is a worthwhile investment."
It was with a great sense of irony that I read this letter yesterday. I had just resigned from my job of 14 years at Tulane and, with a heavy heart, announced my own plans to leave this city that has owned my heart and soul for all these years.
By mid-August, I will be loving her from a distance. From the green and hilly surroundings of Auburn, Alabama, I will watch New Orleans with love, impatience and exasperation as she continues to struggle back to her feet. And I'll pray that enough people who are young enough, energetic enough and unencumbered enough will move here to take her into a new era that can appreciate her past while envisioning a prosperous future.
And if any of them wants to buy a nice little Victorian cottage uptown, just say the word.
I'll keep blogging through my move, and maybe afterward. I'll know when it's time to quit.
posted by Suzanne Johnson @ 11:58 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Suzique, I've been reading your blog for sometime now. Even though we don't know each other, I do feel that I know you somewhat and I'm saddened to hear your decision. I can't return for many of the same reasons that you must leave, I suspect. And in a strange way THE DECISION validates my reasons for not returning. I can tell you that loving her from afar is maddingly unsatisfying. There is no place like home. Love and best wishes, Janet
Oh wow!! I'm so sorry to hear that you're leaving!! I'm sure it's for the best, but I also know what it's like to leave the area where I lived for so long. 10 yrs ago I went from Massachusetts to North Carolina. While I still love MA, it was getting impossible to live there due to the expense. I don't regret moving and I hope you don't either!! And, you can always move back!! Good luck!!
PS, I'm also moving, but staying in the area....I hate moving!!
Oh, I am so sad for selfish reasons. I love reading your blog about my birthplace and favorite town. As for your Victorian, would you care to trade it for a tiny studio in Paris? Seriously, I would like to know more about it, can you tell me the realtor and I will try to find it on the internet. Alabama is beautiful too and I'm sure you will be happy there. I have fond memories of summer trips to Mobile.
Suzique,
I read your blog everyday. I was born and raised in New Orleans and have watched New Orleans deteriorate for almost 30 yrs. I’m in my fifties. Many of the things we all loved about New Orleans haven't been the same for a long time even before the storm. When I hear others talk about how unique and special we are I think they are trying in vain to convince themselves that things are still ok. The storm was a horrible thing but in magnified and exacerbated all the problems that had been plaguing our area for a long time. Everyone can recite the problems with our economy, schools, roads, and of course our politicians. However, I think all of these problems flow from one blatant main problem. New Orleans is a city divided by race and we have never been able to overcome that division and learn to work together. I don’t know if that will ever change and like a lot of white people I chose to move on the Northsore before the storm because as I got older I just couldn’t deal with the it any longer. So I don’t live in the city but it’s decline still affects me because it affects the whole area and the state. I am sad to hear that you are leaving but it is understandable. I always looked forward to your writing and wit. Good luck to you. Your leaving is another loss for us.
Thanks, everyone. I will be here for another month or so, but it will be a process of separation. Like my reader here on the Northshore, I agree that the decline has been in the making for a long time, that Katrina just brought all the problems to the surface, and that race--and the unwillingness or inability on both sides to put it aside and work together--is at the core of much of the problem. Actually, race hand-in-hand with poverty, distrust, and all the other things that go with it.
I dont think it is a matter of working together more of facing the truth of the situation. Everyone wants to shove the racial tensions and problems under the carpet. However, there is a big lump there and we cant just step around it anymore.
I will not leave, unless it becomes too unsafe for my children, instead I have chosen to stay and fight. We cant let a great city like New Orleans go without a good fight. I think the citizens need to stand up and fight against the "normal" politics of the area.
If you would like to know more, my husband is talking to everyone and anyone about Regionalism. He has a blog,http://www.rebuildinggreaterneworleans.blogspot.com/. He hasnt updated, but continues to talk to every politican that crosses his path while he works in the city.
It is time for the whole area to have a say in what goes on in New Orleans, because what happens there affects all of us, not just the ones that live directly in the city.
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