Typically, on Mardi Gras, I post a bunch of Cajun and Creole music, being a firm believer in the attitude laissez les Bon temps rouler . This Mardi Gras, I just want to note that the holiday is a perfect occasion to celebrate the strain of multiculturalism that has characterized this nation since its inception. The culture of New Orleans is a melange of French, African, Spanish, Native American, Anglo-American, and Italian influences. This admixture of various cultures has resulted in a vibrant culture that has not only thrived, but holds a considerable appeal for open-minded outsiders. This year, vive la Resistance is an appropriate counterpoint to laissez les Bon Temps rouler. America is a better and more interesting place because we are a glorious patchwork of cultures.
Excuse me now, I'm going out for some Bon Temps, mes Amis. Bon soir
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2 comments:
I love New Orleans, and I'm close enough to it to be able to get there every few years.
In a nation of immigrants, it shouldn't have to be considered "open-minded" to take in different cultures.
I don't know what our problem is here. Brazil had slavery, didn't it? Yet they don't seem to have the race problems we've had here. Maybe it's because the population has intermarried a lot more - or vice versa.
Are we just more fearful than other countries?
It's a puzzler- people in the Latin world on the whole seem to be less racist. I know that Latino intellectuals in the 20th Century talked about being the 'raza cosmica', because many of them traced their ancestry back to Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans.
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