Louisiana Progress

View Original

Progress Picayune

Merrilee Montgomery

A History of Violence

Ever since the terrorist attack in New Orleans in the early hours of New Year’s Day, people have analyzed the event to assess blame and, hopefully–in the weeks, months, and years to come–learn lessons about how to avoid this type of tragedy in the future. As an isolated event, the attack feels unimaginable and nearly impossible to process. However, in the larger scheme of things, we have to admit that it is actually closer to being business-as-usual in 21st Century America.

As Professor Ali Bustamante, director of the University of New Orleans’s Division of Business and Economic Research, noted in a recent Louisiana Illuminator article on the attack’s potential economic impact on the city: “When we think about just, the prevalence of mass killing events in the U.S, sadly, they’re not isolated in one place. There’s really not going to be a profound effect on New Orleans, per se, just because I think people kind of bake in already the possibility and risk of events happening throughout the country.”

Professor Bustamante is right. Most, if not all, of us bake the possibility of being the victim of a mass killing event into our lives to some degree. Whether we’re buying tickets to a concert or sporting event, making travel plans, dropping our kids off at school, or going to the movie theater, somewhere in our minds we have to weigh the possibility that we or someone we know could very well be the victim of a person who decides to rin mass death and destruction down on a public space.

If you live in a high-crime neighborhood, the “baking in” is even more visceral. It’s part of your daily existence. It’s a calculation you make when you go to the grocery store or, even, when you take the garbage can to the curb.

We live in a profoundly violent time in America. The New Orleans attack, instead of being an aberration, was yet another in an unending string of mass violence. And most people have become inured to it. We expect it at this point. And, worse than expecting it, we accept it.

How did it come to this? Why did it come to this? Not that long ago, we didn’t live with this type of violence. At least, we didn’t live with the regular mass killing events like the one that took place in New Orleans.

There is, of course, no simple answer to the questions posed in the previous paragraph. Trying to answer them would take far more time and space than we have here, and there are others who are better equipped to make that effort. But an important aspect of this analysis that can’t go missing, though it often does, is putting an era of this violent nature into historical perspective. 

Historically, eras of extreme violence have been harbingers of momentous societal and even civilizational transitions and, in some cases, societal and civilizational collapse. During these times of uncertainty, when people trust each other less and fear each other more, they tend to behave more aggressively. Spikes in violence, especially mass violence, have often been a product of a profound fraying, if not outright disintegration, of the ties that bind us together as neighbors, communities, and societies. 

The same general idea can also be applied to the rise of authoritarianism, which is historically more likely to occur when people feel that the foundations of their culture and society are crumbling and require a strongman to hold them together.

The point of this is not to say that we’re on the brink of some sort of civilizational collapse . It’s that the types of mass violence we see so regularly now in America and, in this case, right in our backyard, that we have become, as a culture, largely indifferent toward, aren’t random, isolated incidents. They are loud, blaring warnings telling us of deep fractures in our society. If we don’t deal with the fraying of our bonds as individuals and communities, we are likely doomed to continue down this path of regular mass violence, and probably see it get worse.

Falling Down

Also in New Orleans, a former art gallery on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, a historic building in the Central Business District, a former guitar shop on Magazine Street, and a house in the 7th ward all partially or fully collapsed in the last few months. While building collapses in New Orleans are not unheard of, with events such as the Hard Rock Hotel collapse and the fall of Perseverance Hall making national headlines, the increased frequency of these collapses is alarming.

All buildings in New Orleans regularly weather wind, flooding, and extreme heat that can weaken building materials over time, often leading to dilapidation and “blight.” The buildings that collapsed over the last few months were predominantly older, if not historical, buildings that have weathered these conditions for far longer. Historic buildings also pose unique challenges, as renovations must prioritize both fortification and stylistic preservation. Renovations also pose a financial challenge for families living in buildings that are not considered historic, but are still old, often passed down through generations. 

While climate has contributed to New Orleans’s blight issue, neglect also plays a role. The former art gallery on Oretha Castle Haley had a history of building code violations going back to 2009. The owner of the collapsed guitar shop on Magazine Street had been approved for a renovations permit, but was waiting for the permit to be issued. New Orleans’s new Code Enforcement office, which is responsible for dealing with blight, property neglect, and permits, became a standalone office 10 months ago and is still spread thin. In the wake of these building collapses, elected officials are pushing for stricter inspection requirements for vacant and historic buildings.

The legacy of ruinous building neglect extends beyond the bureaucracy of permits and violations. New Orleans privatized many public services in the 1990s and cut staffing for many of the city’s infrastructure and maintenance functions. (Allegedly, the city is down to a single pothole filling crew.) Lack of supporting infrastructure, such as electric services, passable roads and, especially, water drainage shortens the lifespan of a building, turning what could be a historic building into dilapidated ruins. 

All this contributes to New Orleans’s blight issue, which also plays a role in public safety. Our college fellow, Elai Levinson, wrote about the correlation between blight and crime–and what to do about it–in his blog post last March. In an article for Gambit, Tulane School of Social Work professor Reggie Parquet highlighted the mental health impacts of blight. Because blight and crime are associated, people who live near blight often have heightened anxiety. Blight lowers the perceived safety of an area.

In the previous article, we discussed how disintegration of social trust during times of uncertainty begets violence, which further erodes social trust, begetting more violence. But where does the original disintegration of social trust come from? The same place as dilapidation: systemic neglect of people, the environment they live in, and the institutions that are supposed to preserve it all. And how do we address systemic neglect? A) By strengthening our social ties and taking care of each other when institutions fail, and B) By holding institutions accountable. 

Civil society and strong institutions are the foundations of our society and they cannot be neglected, lest they crumble and fall, too.

ICYMI

Given our holiday break, today’s In Case You Missed It section is particularly long, and we tried to focus on stories that we didn’t discuss in the sections above. Here’s some of what we missed over the past few weeks.

Calendar & Notes

Upcoming Events

This Friday, January 17, the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center is hosting its annual Fit for a King Fair Housing Summit at the Ashé Cultural Arts Center’s Powerhouse Theater from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Admission and food are free.

At the summit, you can hear from housing advocates and join the conversation about housing in Louisiana, as well as network with housing advocates, community members, and local change-makers. Register here: Fit for a King Registration 2025.

Donate & Follow

If you’ve made it this far, please consider supporting our College Fellows program. Each College Fellows session is 12 weeks long and includes 4-6 undergraduate students from Louisiana colleges and universities. Our Fellows learn about researching and developing state and local policy, building communications strategies and campaigns, community organizing, and more.

We provide each Fellow with a stipend for their participation in the program. For $50, you can sponsor one Fellow for one week. For $600, you can sponsor one Fellow for an entire session. Please donate here to help us develop the next generation of Louisiana’s leaders.

If you’d like to learn more about us, check out our website. If you were forwarded this email and would like to subscribe to our list, you can do so here. You can also follow us on Twitter/X @LAProgressAct, Facebook at Louisiana Progress, and Instagram at LAProgressAction.