This is the first part of a series of excerpts from a PBS documentary, whose later segments will cover Hurricane Katrina. Faubourg Treme was, as we know, a barrio of free people of color. This video talks about how slavery in New Orleans (as in Latin America) was different from slavery in the English speaking world. While I am aware of regional variations I am never comfortable with speeches like this because they so often shade into justifications and then strategies of denial. Still, the video itself is interesting.
Axé.
coldhearted scientist وداد 
Whoa Mon, I am looking forward to getting to know this blog. Love the Mayan dog biscuits too.
Soooo, are you any relation to Commander Zero, Count Zero, Captain Nemo, Ensign Nil or Miss Nuttin’honey? Death the Existential Quantifier? Father Time???
(:>(:>(:>Yaaaaaaaaa…<:)<:)<:)
We hung your lede today and put you onto our Stitch’hikas list, but there’s also a Second Line on da’Ladda so watch out!
T’anks,
Editilla~New Orleans Ladder
Thanks for posting the video. I was taken aback that a contemporary documentary would come so close to a “good-to-the-slaves” rationalization, too. But I found it interesting, overall, and I’m reminded that there’s so much interesting N.O. history that I’m embarrassingly unaware of.
Did you hear that HBO is beginning a series called “Treme” next year?
Hi Ladder and good to meet you! I’m related to Commandant Zero, Delegate Zero, and Citizen Zero.
A.F., glad to know about the HBO series. A lot of Brazilian things I am reading also come close to a good to the slaves rationalization as well. I don’t believe it and I think the people shocked at seeing so many “negroes” walking around the streets just weren’t used to cities with that many persons of color in them. I am not sure how to prove my thesis that slavery was just as bad everywhere despite differences in ways of running it.