Flashback to Katrina

Randy Newman is coming to Lafayette to perform and he was interviewed in the local arts newspaper, "Living Ind". He's what he had to say:
What's your connection to New Orleans?
My mother is from there and her family is still there. They lived on Jefferson for a long time and they lived on a street called Delord Street, a street that hardly anybody's ever heard of it. So it's that area.
In going back to New Orleans, what's your assessment of the city? How do you feel it's recovering? You know, I don't feel qualified to say. I know that for some people everything's fine. But I think morale is down. You don't see it in the Quarter, but you never saw it there. All I've seen is family and the Quarter for years now. So I don't know a hell of a lot.
There were less children it looked like and sound like. My cousin told me there are fewer doctors, which her husband was. It's a different town and it's shameful. I didn't get to the 9th Ward. I didn't see it unfortunately. I badly wanted to. I know what it looks like and it's unbelievable that there hasn't been more help for the town. I mean, for Mississippi to be back on their feet, who got slammed head on.... When I was kid, it was the other way around - New Orleans was the progressive place and Mississippi was truly backwards. Now Mississippi is the home of progress.

… You know, New Orleans is not great at fixing itself. It’s not exactly what they’re really good at and they shouldn’t have to. They should have been down there with trucks, the federal government. And all the talk about “Oh, it’s the mayor’s fault,” or “Oh, it’s the governor’s fault”. It’s part of the United States, even though, thank God, they don’t act like they are.


My tour guide, Gail, was spot-on with her sense of situation.