This week, we begin a Carnival season in the wake of a horrible tragedy. It has happened before; then Carnival was tested as part of the recovery.
Such an incident was on Jan. 7, 1973 when a sniper perched himself on the top of what was then the Howard Johnson Hotel building on Loyola Avenue. Over a week of stalking the area, he killed nine people including five New Orleans police officers.
It was an event that drew global media attention back when mass shootings were less common.
Because there were shots coming from different directions, it was assumed that there were several shooters. The state’s then Attorney General, William Guste, announced that he was calling for a national investigation because the carnage seemed like part of a national conspiracy.
Last week’s violence on Bourbon Street brings that tragedy to mind. Ultimately, it was learned that, like the Howard Johnson shootings, there was only one person doing the firing. At Howard Johnson what was perceived to be bullets from other shooters was ricochets off of nearby buildings.
There were some similarities between the two incidents. In both cases the shooters had been in the military. They were both lone wolves. There was no conspiracy. The violence ended abruptly when the attackers were shot by law enforcement; one, was gunned down by New Orleans police officers; the other was the target of a Marine sniper circling the Howard Johnson roof in a helicopter.
Since both incidents happened at the beginning of the Carnival season there were questions about whether Carnival parades should be cancelled.
Mardi Gras Day 1973 was March 6, two months away.
In the years to follow there would be four other times when Carnival’s appropriateness would be tested by events: In 1979, when all parades in Orleans Parish were cancelled because of a strike by local police; in 2006, as the city tried to recover from Hurricane Katrina; and in 2021, when there were no parades because of the COVID-19 outbreak – and now this year.
Carnival ’73 had set the templet. In contrast to the World War years, this would be the first time that the enemy had been domestic. Yet the parades rolled and New Orleans was given a chance to prove itself. Other cities in a similar situation would not have a reason for its people to gather on the streets and sidewalks, especially in the middle of winter. But, because of Carnival, there was life in the neighborhoods. Residents saw each other again. The city still worked.
In ’79 there were no parades but there was still the calendar day of Mardi Gras to be celebrated. Without the police, National Guard troops provided the protection in the French Quarter. They stood guard over what became a daylong love in. Some of the young guardsmen saw things on the Quarter’s balconies that basic training had not prepared them for.
in 2006, while recovering from Katrina, several krewes combined. Rex still reigned, even though some of the wooden wagon wheels on it floats had to be fixed by a blacksmith, once one could be located.
During COVID, the parade routes were empty but there was a burst of creativity throughout the neighborhoods with brilliant house decorations. The homes were the floats that year.
We expect the same spirit this year.
Whenever there is a civic tragedy, we have heard talk about the community’s “resilience.” That’s true, and we have plenty of that. Unfortunately, resilience is honed by bad experiences. We have had plenty of that, too.
Fortunately, celebrating in the streets can be an effective tonic.
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BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS: Errol’s Laborde’s new book, “When Rex Met Zulu: And Other Chronicles of the New Orleans Experience,” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2024) is now available at local bookstores and websites.
Laborde’s other recent publications: “New Orleans: The First 300 Years” and “Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival” (Pelican Publishing Company, 2017 and 2013), are available at the same locations.
WATCH INFORMED SOURCES, FRIDAYS AT 7 P.M., REPEATED AT 9:30 A.M. Sundays. WYES-TV, CH. 12.
