January 15, 2007
by David E. Crosby, Pastor, First Baptist New Orleans
“Are you back to normal in New Orleans?” many concerned friends ask me.
“Not in my lifetime,” I reply, deliberately.
“Oh. Well, I hadn’t heard what’s going on,” they respond.
Despite the worldwide news coverage of Hurricane Katrina, the breech of the levees, and the subsequent flooding of the City of New Orleans, people in the United States and abroad never learned—or have forgotten—the breadth and depth of our devastation. A friend conducted an informal, driving survey of one residential area in the flood zone last week. He examined 160 homes and concluded that 19 of them were occupied. This confirms what population statistics convey. After 16 months, more than 250,000 former residents of the city—half the former population--have not yet returned to their homes. Our congregation meets weekly now with 40 percent of our previous attendees absent.
We cannot go back. That is for certain. And really, we do not want to go back to the condition of our city pre-Katrina.
The goal now for our city and our own lives is to go “forward to normal.”
“Do you really want to be normal?” someone asked.
We want to be normal if “normal” means that these five things apply for our city:
1) We are safe in our homes and on our streets. One of the “norms” for all cultures is safety for the innocent. Crime in the New Orleans area has skyrocketed as thieves from all over America have identified our tens of thousands of vacant homes and businesses as easy targets. Gangs and drug dealers are fighting for turf. Our homicide rate is once again the highest in America. Each week more of our friends and family members become victims of crime—home invasions, thievery, car theft, construction fraud, etc. We must move forward to normal by securing the safety of our citizens. This requires the power of guns, courts, and jails. We depend upon our elected officials to achieve this for us.
2) All of our children have access to quality education. Primary and secondary schools are among the most important institutions in any community. Public schools in New Orleans were in terrible condition before the storm and are now largely out of operation. The current picture is piecemeal and complex with the responsibility for education divvied up among state, municipal, private, and charter schools. We move forward to normal as public and private entities form new partnerships with the common goal of delivering great schools for the current and future families of New Orleans.
3) Infrastructure needs are being addressed systematically and comprehensively. Individuals with initiative and desire can repair or rebuild after the devastating flood. But some aspects of recovery only government can do. Among these are the creation and/or repair of assets that we own together like streets, utility services, and levees. We do these things communally because they are too expansive and expensive for any individual to do alone. In our city, private owners are hard at work moving forward to normal. But government agencies at all levels are stalled and stalemated. Public entities must keep their pledges to repair and maintain their systems.
4) Citizens are living in permanent housing that is safe and secure. Many individuals are working hard to build or rebuild their homes. Many former citizens seeking to return to our city are not and do not wish to be homeowners. We move forward to normal as we assist all our citizens in the quest for housing that is adequate for their needs.
New Orleans has suffered devastating loss of the majority of its housing stock. The city moves forward to normal as we assist homeowners and those with rental properties in the long process of rebuilding. Efforts to increase housing are vital to every other area of recovery. Whether they are nurses, teachers, or law enforcement officials, people must have a place to live.
5) Healthcare is readily available for our citizens. Currently the healthcare puzzle is difficult for providers and consumers. Many of our medical facilities still lie in ruins from the flood. A majority of healthcare workers in New Orleans have left and are not returning. Emergency services as well as routine health needs are not always easy to come by. We move forward to normal as we recruit physicians, nurses, and other healthcare personnel to move back to our city and as we repair or rebuild the many damaged facilities.
Individual citizens as well as churches and other organizations can help our community move forward to normal by lending support to law enforcement agencies, encouraging community involvement, and confronting the forces of crime and chaos through prayer, good deeds, and moral instruction.
These are five essential dimensions of moving forward to normal in New Orleans. Many other components could be mentioned. For example, we are sorely missing the parks and other recreational facilities which we enjoyed as a community before the storm. These will be restored, I am convinced, as the five essentials for a truly normal community are effectively addressed.
What hope do we have that these five areas of our community will one day be “normal?” I am supremely optimistic. I have watched the New Orleans Saints fight their way to the NFC championship game, and I am confident the good citizens of New Orleans can win the battle for the future of our city.
