Coming to America - Reid Cater

Baseball+ gigantic hot dogs+fireworks+hot summer night = an idyllic American experience. On the night before the Fourth of July I felt like I was sitting right in the schmaltzy, cracker-jack filled heart of Americantown, USA. I could have been sitting in a hundred other American cities having the exact same blissful experience. Except this night the home team was not the Mobile Bay Bears or the Toledo Mudhens, but the New Orleans Zephyrs.

So far our posts (mine included) have focused how culture, climate, and Katrina make New Orleans radically different from our hometowns. Yet, going out to Metarie to see a minor league baseball game reminded me that New Orleans is after all just another American city.

The issue of Americaness for New Orleans and its residents is significant. In the wake of Katrina many of the cries for help focused on how the government could let something like this happen in America to Americans. Our country and our citizens often reach out to others in need around the world, but the priority has always been to help our own first and foremost. This is the reason that the aftermath of Katrina looms larger for most Americans than that of the tsunami which devastated South East Asia. It is also the reason that many were so outraged at the lack of a coordinated response to Katrina.

I do not seek to open the argument on whether Americans are more or less morally obligated to help other Americans in need but I do want to point out that while we all face challenges in relating to the survivors of Katrina, we also have many advantages. We are working with other Americans; people that share our national culture and values. I think that at times we give ourselves too little credit for what we do understand about the people that live here and concentrate too much on the differences. Even something minor like following the same sports is a significant cultural asset. While here I have had the opportunity open several conversations locals on the topic of SEC football. This would be possible were I working Indonesia.

The uniqueness of New Orleans can at times be enchanting, puzzling, depressing, or threatening (sometimes all at once) but I think that we should remember that the sameness of the Crescent City ties us more closely to its citizens than we realize.