As many of you have heard, the mayor and city council of New Orleans have decided to remove three post-Civil War monuments in our city, in hopes of making it a better, more comfortable place for all Americans to live and visit.
The reaction, by actual residents of our parish, has been mixed, though generally positive. Some (myself included) thought it might be best to leave the monuments in place with new plaques, providing greater context to viewers on the time they were erected. Others felt their removal was the optimal solution. A very few felt they should remain in place as they are.
Many, many others, not residents who have to pay taxes for the monuments’ upkeep or deal with the understandable resentment of neighbors descended from people literally owned by the persons depicted in those monuments, have decided to make this issue a rallying cry for their ugly, hateful cause.
Tomorrow, they are coming to my neighborhood. Armed. Vowing to cause violence.
These self-proclaimed “patriots” will be rallying a few blocks from my house at the statue of Jefferson Davis. Many of them have called for armed resistance to the “Marxist scum” protesting the monuments, rallying an army of “stick men” wielding batons and shields, though there have already been confrontations with more seriously kitted “patriots” carrying semi-automatic assault rifles in violation of guns-near-schools laws.
Many of these agitators have vowed to “shut down” our neighborhood Irish bar which sits across from the Davis statue because they were told the bar owners would not let the pro-Confederate protesters use their restrooms without purchasing anything (guess they’ve never been here for Mardi Gras...).
These people really are coming. A friend coming back to town was surrounded by ten of them on the plane today. They are coming and they are spoiling for a fight.
Sadly, some misguided locals are playing into their hand, calling for counter-protests and resistance. While I am tempted to head down and support the bar in the most direct and thirst-quenching action, I’ve no interest in getting thwacked by a bunch of beefos from Birmingham (or wherever).
And that, more than their muddle-headed “cause” or traitorous “heritage” is what really gets me about these bearded goombahs: they don’t live here. They don’t support our city. Hell, they won’t even buy a beer to use the head like normal people.
When have we ever brought violent gangs to Hattiesburg to demand they erect statues of Charles Deslondes? When have we called out My Little Militias to get their town to change Robert E. Lee Way to Nat Turner Boulevard?
What the fuck business of theirs is it what we call the streets we pay to pave and the public art alongside them?
I really don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow. I may or may not show up to document events. I will most assuredly not be among the Bloc-heads taunting our cheapskate “patriot” visitors.
But I will offer these brave “warriors” one bit of wisdom they would do well to consider: we care a damn sight more about the “heritage” of our libations than some oversized action figures of dead dudes.
Stroke your starred and barred peepees all you want, boys. But you really don’t want to fuck with a bar full drunken Irish Orleanians.
Mildly amusing update:
David Duke tweeted, “Be there or be a CUCK!”
Washington Post reports: "Duke, who lives outside New Orleans, said he had no plans to meet statue foes himself on Sunday, when he thinks they plan to march on the Lee statue."
Neighborhood update:
The Brave Bearded Ones appear to have given up on the Jeff Davis statue and are concentrating their “patriotic” efforts on Lee Circle where, as one of them announced when I passed by, “It’s going down.”
It certainly isn’t in my hood, for which I’m grateful. Maybe two dozen max, flying their colors and singing “Dixie” (yes, really).
The bar is quiet, whether due to protest fears or the Jazz Fest, which was fine with us. Dropped in, knocked back a couple of pints, tipped heavily.
For those interested in what will apparently be the Big Show, my pal Della at the Advocate is covering it via Twitter:
twitter.com/...
Last update:
Other than a bunch of shouting, it was pretty much nothing. Three members of Take ‘Em Down NOLA were apparently arrested before their second line reached Lee Circle.