Katrina, Six Years Later and Still NOT Funny
by Nola
During today’s Saints/Bears game, Seymour D. Fair tweeted the following: “Katrina sign behind me. #saints #whodat” and linked to this pic:
And Saints fans far and wide came down like a ton of bricks about the insensitivity of Chicago Bears fans.
Until it was astutely pointed out that this sign is pro-Saints. Note the black and gold fleur de lis around the pathetic frowny-faced depicted Bears fan, and the sign-holder’s Saints shirt.
Apparently the sign was in response to this, a real sign from a real Bears fan in 2006:
What struck me today is how quick New Orleanians were to get our collective panties in a bunch all over again about a sign referencing Katrina. If there was any doubt of the trauma that Katrina inflicted upon New Orleanians, let this incident erase it.
There’s something fascinatingly psychological going on here. It wasn’t one or two New Orleanians that misread this sign. It was, well, every one of them that initially looked at it. It took someone NOT from the area to point it out. And then for us to look again. And SEE.
My personal reaction was immediate. I read that little Bears fan’s shirt and saw red. That was it. I didn’t look further to see the facial expression of that Bears fan, or the black and gold fleurs. My anger rose in me as quickly as if I’d been slapped on the face. Why? Why didn’t I take in the whole image?
The reason is, I believe, that Katrina is still an open wound. And one that is collectively personal to us on the Gulf Coast. We are defensive about it STILL—the devastation; the bad government response; the judgmental SOBs telling us we were stupid to rebuild.
Bottom line? How DARE anyone EVER tease New Orleanians about such a tragedy. Yes, we can laugh and live and move on. But we will NEVER forget. And we will NEVER allow others to belittle what Katrina means to this region.
So forgive me, and other New Orleanians, for misreading this sign. Proof again that we are all too human.
There are some tragedies, that no matter how much time as passed, should be off-limits. Katrina is definitely one of those events.
Now to see if the rumor that someone was wearing that phrase on a cape is true or not. If true, then I wouldn’t be surprised if he got beat up.
I noticed how raw the wounds still are during all that tweeting. It’s definitely something that decent people realize is off limits, and hopefully, very, very few people would use taunts like that. At least, I can hope.
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We were standing outside the WWII museum Saturday night when 2 Bears fans walked by. The Mayor of Westwego wished them a great stay and told them that he hopes they are enjoying the Southern hospitality. I simply muttered under my breath, “until tomorrow”. I had wondered why he would take the time. He reminded us of how they treated us shortly after Katerina and it all came back. I prayed hard that night that we would kick their ass. Just goes to show you the Saints are God’s team.
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