New Orleans Potential

by Erick Thomson

After spending a week in New Orleans, I’m still having a hard time digesting everything that I’ve experienced. Like the crawfish that filled my stomach and stuck to my ribs, the memories of tragedy and despair still fill my mind. I hope the following story will help others realize the true situation of the forgotten people in the city of New Orleans. As I ate my ahi tuna stuffed with crab at the Oceana restaurant with my friends Marisa and Autumn, we saw the almost-familiar face of Darius McCrary enter our very own dining space.

Darius McCrary was once a star. As the eldest brother, Eddie Winslow, on the hit TV show “Family Matters,” Darius was an inspiration to many. Cashing high paychecks, he was an integral part of Steve Urkel’s entourage on one of the longest running African-American sitcoms in television history. On the last episode of the show, Steve Urkel was sent into space with NASA astronauts. While he was in orbit, the series was cancelled, leaving Urkel stranded somewhere in the bleakness of zero gravity with no reunion show in sight to bring him home. Similar to his onstage co-star, Darius has also been stranded. After his show was cancelled, Darius did not immediately work on rebuilding his career. While he took an acting break, the buzz around him quieted and eventually died, making it impossible to reach the heights he had once known.

In today’s New Orleans, while many others are busy worrying about finding the finances to rebuild their homes or looking for an apartment in a city where the rental price has gone up more than 100 percent since the hurricane, Darius faces unique challenges. While tourists were busy eating $25 plates of ahi tuna stuffed with crab and washing it down with a local Abita brew, Darius is forced to live in a world completely new to him. As he walked into the restaurant, the staff did not immediately greet the actor. His new attire mirrored his new mood: morose, black, and gothic. Darius once heard fan echoes of the catchphrase “Did I Do That?” on a daily basis. He surrounded himself with pseudo-celebrities, like the guy who played a cop in “Turner & Hooch” and “Die Hard” before becoming the cop on “Family Matters.” On this day, he was not even recognized. He was ignored.

Finally deciding that he was famous enough to do what he wanted, Darius walked into the restaurant without a greeting at the doorway and strolled around, waiting for a response to his celebrity from the diners and practically begging the staff to comp him a meal. The staff allowed him to stroll through the tables, presumably because they were afraid of the large gothic man who was brazenly interrupting their business. After what must have been an arduous three minutes for Darius, I heard “It’s that guy from the Urkel show,” being murmured by the clientele. Finally, people looked at Darius with smiles. One person, deciding on the spot to become a fan, even went so far as to take his picture. No longer a has-been, Darius was, for the moment, a novelty.

While FEMA, the federal government, and the state of Louisiana are still failing to help the downtrodden, one man was able to rise above his personal tragedy and rebuild his career. Darius McCrary, recognized again, is acting in the upcoming “Steppin’: The Movie.” He has hopes to appear on a VH1 show soon. If only the future of the devastated New Orleans could be so bright. I plead to the city of New Orleans: Don’t allow the citizens to rebuild. Make them wait longer while people forget them and their former neighbors lose any reason to move home. Build high-rise hotels and casinos. Develop the Ninth Ward to your municipal liking and prohibit the residents there from recovering. I suggest a theme park.

Don’t put in the effort to rebuild your city as it once was. You have the ability to modify the flavored past and culture created by these people and use it as a money-making gimmick. With the help of private companies, this city could become the new travel destination in the American landscape, rivaling Las Vegas and Disneyland combined. The longer you wait to legitimately help your citizens, the greater chance you have to achieve this dream and realize the potential of your novelty. Helping the backbone of your society now only encourages them to stay to build the infrastructure that a living city so desperately needs. New Orleans, I plead that you see the hope in the story of Darius McCrary, continue to ignore the needs of your citizens, and embrace your potential to become the greatest tourist trap the world has ever seen.