{"id":80096,"date":"2025-02-10T15:40:07","date_gmt":"2025-02-10T15:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/american-history\/americanstudies-february-10-2025-love-letters-to-the-big-easy-new-orleans-and-america\/"},"modified":"2025-02-10T15:40:07","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T15:40:07","slug":"americanstudies-february-10-2025-love-letters-to-the-big-easy-new-orleans-and-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096","title":{"rendered":"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

[Last
\nmonth I got to return to my
\nfavorite American city<\/a> for the 2025 MLA Convention<\/a>.
\nSo for this year\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day series I\u2019ll be offering some love letters to
\nwhat makes New Orleans so unique, leading up to a special tribute post this
\nweekend!]<\/p>\n

On how New
\nOrleans helps us better engage America\u2019s defining creolizations.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve
\nwritten a good bit about New Orleans in this space: from <\/span>this early
\ncity-centric post<\/span><\/a> inspired by Mardi Gras and my first visit to
\nthe city; to this <\/span>one from
\nthe same blog era<\/span><\/a> on one of my favorite American novels and a
\nbook that\u2019s as much about New Orleans as it is about its huge,
\nmulti-generational cast of characters, George Washington Cable\u2019s <\/span>The Grandissimes<\/span><\/i><\/a> (1881).
\nThose posts illustrate a few of the many reasons why I believe New Orleans is
\nso distinctly and powerfully American, as I hope will this week\u2019s subsequent posts
\nin their own complementary ways. And as I\u2019ll highlight a bit more in tomorrow\u2019s
\npost, the responses to and aftermaths of Hurricane Katrina likewise reveal some
\nof the worst as well as the best of American <\/span>history,
\nsociety, culture, and art<\/span><\/a>; on that final note, I should highlight another
\ntext I could definitely have featured in this week\u2019s series and one of my
\nfavorite 21st<\/sup> century American novels, Jesmyn Ward\u2019s <\/span>Salvage the Bones<\/span><\/i><\/a> <\/span><\/i>(2011). <\/span><\/p>\n

To say
\nmuch more eloquently than I ever could a bit more about why I\u2019d define New
\nOrleans as so deeply American, here\u2019s one of the central characters from Treme<\/i> that I didn\u2019t get to analyze in <\/span>this post<\/span><\/a>, Steve
\nZahn\u2019s <\/span>DJ Davis
\nMcAlary<\/span><\/a>. As a radio DJ, and a highly opinionated person to boot, Davis is
\noften ranting, much of it about the best and worst of his beloved New Orleans
\n(and all of it a combination of communal and self-aggrandizing, convincing and
\nfrustrating). But my favorite Davis monologue, in the opening scene of the
\nSeason 4 episode \u201cDippermouth Blues,\u201d is far quieter and more thoughtful.
\nComing out of playing a hugely cross-cultural song, Davis calls it, \u201cA stellar
\nexample of McAlary\u2019s theory of <\/span>creolization<\/span><\/a>. Tin Pan
\nAlley, Broadway, the Great American Songbook meet African American musical
\ngenius. And that\u2019s what America\u2019s all about\u2026\u2018Basin Street, is the street, where
\nall the dark and light folks meet.\u2019 That\u2019s how culture gets made in this
\ncountry. That\u2019s how we do. We\u2019re a Creole nation, whether you like it or not.
\nAnd in three weeks, America inaugurates its first Creole president. Get used to
\nit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Those of
\nus <\/span>who loved<\/span><\/a> that
\naspect of Obama and <\/span>even
\ncalled him<\/span><\/a> \u201cthe first American president\u201d as a result didn\u2019t have to \u201cget
\nused to\u201d anything, of course. And as for those whom Davis is addressing more
\ndirectly in those closing lines, well to say that they <\/span>seem not
\nto have gotten used to it<\/span><\/a> is to significantly understate the case
\n(which of course David Simon and his co-creators knew all too well, as that
\nfinal-season episode of Treme<\/i> may
\nhave been set around New Year\u2019s 2008 but was made and aired in late 2013).
\nIndeed, when I was asked by audiences during my book talks for <\/span>We the People<\/span><\/i><\/a> about why
\nwe\u2019ve seen such an upsurge in exclusionary rhetoric and violence over the last
\ndecade and a half, I\u2019ve frequently argued that <\/span>backlash to Obama<\/span><\/a>\u2014as a
\nrepresentation of so many perceived national \u201cchanges\u201d\u2014has been a central
\ncause. Which is to say, it\u2019s not just that we need to \u201cget over\u201d the reality of
\nour creolized history, culture, and identity\u2014first the we who love those
\nelements need to do a better job making the case for them, both as valuable and
\nas foundationally American. There\u2019s no place and no community through which we
\ncan do so more potently than New Orleans. <\/span><\/p>\n

Next love
\nletter tomorrow,<\/span><\/p>\n

Ben<\/span><\/p>\n

PS. What
\ndo you think? Cities you\u2019d love on? <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Last month I got to return to my favorite American city for the 2025 MLA Convention. So for this year\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day series I\u2019ll be offering some love letters to what makes New Orleans so unique, leading up to a special tribute post this weekend!] On how New Orleans helps us better engage America\u2019s defining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12032],"tags":[2708,13299,1022,281,3843,9436,465,19048],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-80096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-american-history","tag-america","tag-americanstudies","tag-big","tag-easy","tag-february","tag-letters","tag-love","tag-orleans"],"yoast_head":"\nAmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[Last month I got to return to my favorite American city for the 2025 MLA Convention. So for this year\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day series I\u2019ll be offering some love letters to what makes New Orleans so unique, leading up to a special tribute post this weekend!] On how New Orleans helps us better engage America\u2019s defining […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-10T15:40:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-10T15:40:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096\"},\"wordCount\":685,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"America\",\"AmericanStudies\",\"Big\",\"EASY\",\"February\",\"Letters\",\"LOVE\",\"Orleans\"],\"articleSection\":[\"American History\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096\",\"name\":\"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-10T15:40:07+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America - Som2ny Network","og_description":"[Last month I got to return to my favorite American city for the 2025 MLA Convention. So for this year\u2019s Valentine\u2019s Day series I\u2019ll be offering some love letters to what makes New Orleans so unique, leading up to a special tribute post this weekend!] On how New Orleans helps us better engage America\u2019s defining […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-02-10T15:40:07+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America","datePublished":"2025-02-10T15:40:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096"},"wordCount":685,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"keywords":["America","AmericanStudies","Big","EASY","February","Letters","LOVE","Orleans"],"articleSection":["American History"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096","name":"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-02-10T15:40:07+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=80096#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"AmericanStudies: February 10, 2025: Love Letters to the Big Easy: New Orleans and America"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80096\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80096"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=80096"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=80096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}