I think we can all agree that 2020 has not been a very good year. But it’s been a really bad year for the Mystic Krewe of Nyx. (And in what other city do people get to write a sentence like that?)
First, a woman was killed when crossing in front of one of their floats last Mardi Gras. Now, the krewe is engaged in nothing short of an existential crisis.
In case you haven’t heard, Nyx is the subject of all out chaos, implosion and revolt. The reason? I’ll keep this short. #AllLivesMatter.
That was the tag put on a Facebook post by krewe captain Julie Lea this past weekend. And while we can all agree that is factually correct, we can probably also agree that it’s more than a bit tone deaf in this, our summer of discontent.
Nyx krewe members protested Lea’s poor hashtag choice, demanding her resignation by Monday. That didn’t happen. In fact, rather than settle the matter peacefully and bow to the wishes of her loyal subjects – and save the krewe from a whole lot more embarrassment – Lea dug in and hired a lawyer, Ronald Morrison, Jr.
And he wrote to the aggrieved krewe members: “If you’re unhappy with the Mystic Krewe of Nyx, please resign from your membership. Mrs. Lea wishes you the best in your future endeavors.”
And when a lawyer says he wishes you the best, you know he wishes that you would take a long walk off a short roof and rot in hell for the rest of days.
Bad taste? Perhaps. But who can resist a good lawyer joke in the middle of a pandemic.
Remember that pandemic thing? How quaint and long ago it all seems now.
“I cannot help but pointing out that the outrage you are displaying is greatly disproportionate to the facts and events that have transpired,” Morrison continued.
And when a lawyer writes “I cannot help but pointing out that the outrage you are displaying is greatly disproportionate to the facts and events that have transpired,” then you can be pretty sure that the outrage being displayed is exactly proportionate to the facts and events that have transpired.
Thus, taking Mr. Morrison’s advice to heart, it appears that thousands of krewe members have indeed, resigned this week. It’s a sad spectacle all around. And the situation does bring new light to what is a strange and possibly anachronistic lifestyle choice of so many New Orleanians – to spend thousand of dollars every winter to shower plastic baubles, aluminum coins, Moon Pies and rubber dog poops haphazardly unto throngs of citizens clamoring for more.
Any rational thought rendered unto the entire process of Mardi Gras can certainly leave a viewer from a safe and emotional remove a bit baffled, to say the least.
I mean, did you ever try to describe Mardi Gras to someone who’s never been here? It’s impossible. If someone asks me: What’s Mardi Gras like, I have a pat answer.
I tell them that it’s like the Grand Canyon or Graceland. Words fall short. You simply have to see it to understand it.
Who would have thought the first casualty in our season of protest would be a parade organization? The last such organization to go down in racial flames was Comus.
Remember those guys? When ordered by the city to allow black folks into their ranks, they chose to disband themselves instead. How 20th century that all seems now. And proves the point that the more things change…
Right, you know the rest of that one.
The other case in point: It turns out that not all krewes matter.
