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Where’s the Line?
Posted by tgirsch

This weekend, I’ll be going down to New Orleans to visit a friend who lives there.  It will be my first trip down there post-Katrina.  One of the things my friend suggested we do is take a quick drive through some of the hardest-hit areas, so I can see it first-hand, understand it on a better level, get a better feel for the scale of the tragedy, and see just what has and has not been done in the fifteen months since.

My question for the peanut gallery is, at what point does this cross the line from education and understanding into exploitation and voyeurism?  What’s appropriate and what’s not?  Feel free to comment with your thoughts.

November 15th, 2006 Privacy, Education, Travel, Katrina | 5 comments

5 Comments »

  1. Fred writes:

    New Orleans needs your money. Go and enjoy.

    Comment 11/15/2006

  2. Brooklynite writes:

    I took a similar drive with a local friend when I was down in New Orleans a few weeks ago. I’ve written a bit about that trip (here, if anyone’s interested), but I haven’t blogged about the drive itself yet.

    I do intend to, though. I don’t think most folks have much of a sense of what New Orleans is like these days. I know I didn’t, before I went, and I’ve been paying attention over the last year. It’s important to know. It’s important to find out, and it’s important to share what you find out.

    Go. Learn. Report back. Be respectful, obviously, but you know what’s respectful and what’s not. Don’t worry too much about that.

    Comment 11/15/2006

  3. Bryan writes:

    It is important to see and report on it. People who only see on television don’t really understand because you need someone like a David Lean and 70mm or IMax to really understand what a hurricane and flood can do. People can understand the vastness of a desert from watching Lawrence of Arabia in a way the National Geographic specials could never portray.

    The more witnesses the better. See it and report what you see.

    Comment 11/15/2006

  4. Tim writes:

    Well, as somebody who is living here, let tell you my view.

    Absolutely, drive all around, see the destruction, take pictures, talk to people.

    But do NOT enter anyone’s property without permission–even though there are lots of houses sitting empty and open, it’s just not kosher. Do NOT ask to take pictures of owners posed by their destroyed homes and belongings. Ask folks how they’re doing and ask what their plans are, but do NOT offer inane curbside advice like, “Why don’t you just move to high ground?”

    And please blog about it all. Blog about the good, the bad, the stupid, the insane. We need to have a national dialogue about this. Have we done enough? How much more are we going to do? At what point do we say, “Okay New Orleanians, the rest is up to you.” Sadly it’s been more than a year and that conversation has not been completed. There are still a lot of folks here waiting for the promised help to come.

    Thanks for coming to visit and I hope you have fun, too. We’ve been through a lot and still have a lot of work to do, but we find ways to enjoy life throuh it all. I’m sure you will, too.

    Peace,

    Tim

    Comment 11/15/2006

  5. James writes:

    Its about your intentions.

    Obviously its a sensitive topic, I would go if I had the chance.

    Tim has a good post; I can only imagine how many people have offered “inane curbside advice” without thinking or trying to be funny.

    Comment 11/16/2006

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