Diversity in Race

The History of a Diverse City


Historically, New Orleans has been diverse since the 1800's. According to the article Life After New Orleans, "the city had a prosperous class of free black artisans, sculptors, businessmen, property owners, skilled laborers in all fields. Thousands of slaves lived on their own in the city, too, making a living at various jobs, and sending home a few dollars to their owners in the country at the end of the month. This is not to diminish the horror of the slave market in the middle of the famous St. Louis Hotel, or the injustice of the slave labor on plantations from one end of the state to the other. It is merely to say that it was never all "have or have not" in this strange and beautiful city.


Later in the 19th century, as the Irish immigrants poured in by the thousands and as the German and Italian immigrants soon followed, a vital and complex culture emerged. Huge churches went up to serve the great faith of the city's European-born Catholics; convents and schools and orphanages were built for the newly arrived and the struggling; the city expanded in all directions with new neighborhoods of large, graceful houses, or areas of more humble cottages, even the smallest of which, with their floor-length shutters and deep-pitched roofs, possessed an undeniable Caribbean charm.

Through this all, black culture never declined in Louisiana. In fact, New Orleans became home to blacks in a way, perhaps, that few other American cities have ever been. Once the battles of desegregation had been won, black New Orleanians entered all levels of life, building a visible middle class that is absent in far too many U.S. cities to this day."



Video: Colorism and the New Orleans Creole discusses the diversity of race.

Carnival at Mardi Gras: Racial Definitions

The crowds of people in costumes were once not just an excuse for a great party, but a definition of cultural homage. Carnival was a chance for people to define their racial subcultures through dress. To define the segment of the city as something more than just a combination of Black or White, French, Creole or Cajun. It was a beautiful opportunity to unite in each others differences. This history of Carnival at Mardi Gras lives on in the tradition of parades and costuming, but it has become less distinguished due to the tampering of tourism during Mardi Gras.

Roberts states " Multi-faceted and dynamic, despite its reliance on core traditions, Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a complex series of events that illuminates struggles over class, gender, and race... three Mardi Gras carnival organizations or krewes—including the most celebrated group. Rex; its tailcoats, the truck parades; and a relatively new women's krewe. Muses—this article focuses on the impact of gender in these primarily white organizations," (p. 303).

Video: Mardi Gras and Carnival and racial subcultures


2010 census for New Orleans


Rank: 343,829 (51)


Male: 166,248 (48.4%)


Female: 177,581 (51.6%)


White: 113,428 (33.0%)


Black: 206,871 (60.2%)


American Indian and Alaska Native: 1,047 (0.3%)


Asian: 9,970 (2.9%)


Other race: 6,459 (1.9%)


Two or more races: 5,920 (1.7%)


Hispanic/Latino: 18,051 (5.2%)

Link and Citation below : ) 

New Orleans City, New Orleans. (2015). Retrieved December 28, 2016, from United States Census Bureau website: http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/2255000


"Life after New Orleans." The Cascadia Advocate, 4 Sept. 2005, www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2005/09/ life-after-new-orleans.html. Accessed 28 Dec. 2016.
Roberts, Robin. "New Orleans Mardi Gras And Gender In Three Krewes: Rex, The Truck Parades, And Muses." Western Folklore 65.3 (2006): 303-328. Literary Reference Center. Web. 3 Jan. 2017.