Alternative Journalism Fall 2020: Racism Behind Tourism in New Orleans

Old black and white illustration of slavery in New Orleans.

If you take a walk through the French Quarter you will see a variety of tourist attractions such as Jazz bars, Voodoo Shops, restaurants serving traditional creole foods, gift shops, and bars serving colorful to-go alcoholic beverages. In 2019, New Orleans attracted 19.75 million visitors who spent a total of 10.05 billion dollars during their stays. These tourists come from all over the country with the majority visiting from Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, California, Florida, and New York. But with the aftermath of Katrina leaving the city in physical and economic ruin, the city put an even greater emphasis on bolstering the tourism industry as a way to bring more revenue back to the city. City plans like the Gulf Opportunity Zone program that served as a tax incentive to restore existing businesses and encourage new businesses, were great in helping to bring back the tourism industry. But what has come out of this push to regain a booming tourism industry has resulted in something problematic. Once again, looking at the French Quarter from a visitor’s perspective, all that comes to the eye is music, food, culture, drinking, and fun times. But what is important to remember is that the scenes on these streets many years ago were much more morbid. Visitors are presented with a lively, music-filled city without having to confront the dark history behind this culture that has made New Orleans what it is today. But this history is important, and without addressing it, no one can completely appreciate and understand the city.

Consider the famous Disney movie The Princess and the Frog. This movie was especially important during the time as it was the first Disney movie with Black, female lead characters. This movie, despite trying to send positive messages for young girls, works in the same way as the tourism industry in New Orleans. The movie is centered around the exoticism of Voodoo and Jazz culture in New Orleans, as a young black girl follows her dreams of opening a restaurant. Although the movie is set in the Reconstruction Era, the film still promotes racist ideas. One of the most popular parts of the movie is the Song of the South where the formerly-enslaved Uncle Remus tells his story for the benefit of white families. Despite Disney’s attempt to depict the main character as a strong-willed black girl, they instead promote the long-standing racism within the city of New Orleans in order to please their audience and gain revenue. Just as the French Quarter appears as a magical and fun place for tourists to enjoy, The Princess and the Frog displays New Orleans as a culture-filled city where young girls can fulfill their dreams.

  When looking at the popular tourist destinations within New Orleans, we can see many similarities to The Princess and The Frog. The streets of the French Quarter are lined with shops like Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo and the Voodoo Bone Lady Voodoo Shop that profit off of Voodoo culture and restaurants like Criollo and Jewel of the South serving various famous Creole foods. Similar to the Disney movie, the tourism industry has worked to turn these historical areas into magical places in order to create profit and attract tourists. Just like the movie, the exotification of these areas serves to benefit the majority-white individuals who come to experience the city. 

But taking a more historical look at these tourist-filled streets, one can uncover the horrible acts that took place years ago. What is important to remember is that New Orleans was one of the biggest hubs for the slave trade in the 19th century and thousands of human beings were bought and sold all over the city. Below is a list of just a fraction of the locations where these horrible crimes took place:

-Omni Orleans Hotel on Chartres and St. Louis

-residential home on Chartres and Esplanade Avenue

-Maspero’s Restaurant on Chartres 

-St. Louis Street between Royal Street and the levee

But with the slaves, came with their culture which has become embedded in the culture we see in New Orleans today. One of the most popular aspects of this culture that has been commodified in the French Quarter and in movies like The Princess and the Frog is Voodoo. Stepping into any of the Voodoo shops in the Quarter, you will see an abundance of skulls, Voodoo dolls, spells, candles, and charms. These stores have reduced this aspect of black culture to these trinkets in hopes of making money off of the exotic nature of Voodoo traditions. 

New Orleans does not have any museum recognizing and commemorating these people and their struggles who are still fighting for equal rights. Tourists are encouraged to visit the World War 2 Museum, the Arts and Jazz Museum, and the Superdome all of which play no role in educating people on the real history of New Orleans. The one museum that does exist, the African-American Museum in Tremé, has been struggling for many years and has been unable to reopen. Just as The Princess and the Frog glorifies post-slavery New Orleans without recognizing the struggles of the ancestors of the main characters, the city of New Orleans does the same for its tourists.  

So what is the next step in attempting to better the tourism industry in order to give a more accurate story of New Orleans that includes and addresses the dark history of slavery? Some have suggested placing plaques on buildings that were significant places during the slave trade. Of the 52 places where slaves were sold in New Orleans, only two of these locations have a plaque that addresses what happened in these places throughout history. The Omni hotel, for example, was previously the St. Louis hotel where thousands of slaves were bought and sold for many years. Yet, there is no plaque or anything that makes tourists aware of this important fact. Some believe that plaques like these would prompt people to think about the past when enjoying the city and give credit to those who suffered for our ultimate enjoyment. 

But at the end of the day, a plaque on a successful business such as the Omni hotel, really only serves to help the establishment release their guilt. It makes them ‘look good’ to the public eye even though this plaque is probably not really doing much. How many times have you stopped to read the small and dark lettering of a plaque on the side of a building? Probably not many times if ever. Therefore, the idea of putting plaques all over the city to help mollify this problem is insufficient. We must put this important history and information at the forefront of the tourism experience. 

We can use both the examples of lack of representation of the history of slavery around the city and The Princess and the Frog to move away from the pattern of hiding the negative history of the city. Although it is important to promote tourism in New Orleans and represent the city and its black inhabitants through films we need to shift the angle of these examples in order to include important historical aspects of the city. Perhaps, a remake of The Princess and the Frog could include a flashback that shows New Orleans during the slave trade that shows the struggles of the Africans who were bought and sold. And a scene that pays tribute to the slaves that suffered in order for us to have this beautiful city where Tiana is able to pursue her dream. It is important for the movie to address the hardships of Tiana’s ancestors in order for the audience to really understand both her struggle and her successes.  

https://www.istockphoto.com/vector/old-black-and-white-illustration-of-slavery-in-new-orleans-gm471386035-20059334?irgwc=1&esource=AFF_IS_IR_SP_FreeImages_246195_&asid=FreeImages&cid=IS&utm_medium=affiliate_SP&utm_source=FreeImages&utm_content=246195&clickid=01VTOnS%3ANxyOWKiwUx0Mo3bzUkE0KrVlw0IDTY0&utm_term=slavery%20new%20orlean