New Orleans’ Carnival celebration has always been an important part of the city’ culture, but always with a race and class divide. The celebration often relaxed social and racial divisions, but separate and unequal observances endure today.
Since the Civil War, most African-Americans celebrated Mardi Gras outside the heart of the city, the French Quarter[1], often, however, in close proximity to it.
During the antebellum period, many black Americans settled in Tremé, the nation’s oldest predominantly black neighborhood. It is divided by Claiborne Avenue, the city’s main artery. It was a vibrant community of free and “un-free” inhabitants located on the lake side of the Quarter. It early became the center for alternative black celebrations.
While many whites celebrated Mardi Gras in the French Quarter, or further upriver along St. Charles Avenue, thousands of black revelers crowded Claiborne Avenue, lined with make-shift stands which sold all sorts of food and drink, while itinerant musicians entertained. Impromptu parading by black “Indian” tribes who bore little resemblance to Native Americans could be found throughout. “Marching bands” of as few as two musicians could readily attract “second lines” of black maids and porters dressed as baby dolls or movie stars, while ordinary black longshoremen and other unskilled workers were often masked as cowboys or gangsters.
Prior to the Civil War, prominent whites had set the rules for polite social celebrations. The masses of blacks and whites could not afford these formalities, but celebrated spontaneously and individualistically. On the eve of the Civil War, prominent whites also organized the first parading club or “krewe,”[2] and established strict rules for public conduct. The “best” people rode on floats and threw favors to their “subjects,” who called out, “throw me something, mister!”[3]
After the war, more race/class-exclusive organizations emerged. The new parades further divided by race as the new krewes only utilized white marching bands. And except for black float drivers or flambeau carriers,[4] all of the parade participants were white. Most of the white elites employed black servants who tried to duplicate their employers’ formal tradition. Over a period of time, middle class black organizations began to mirror the exclusiveness of their white counterparts and developed their own formal gatherings patterned after the white middle class, which of course, excluded most of the working class.
However, there were no black Carnival parading clubs until the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club began parading during WWI. Its original working class members used more imagination than money to put on a “poor man’s” parade which spoofed whites. Make-shift floats paled in comparison to their white counterparts.
Probably, their shoddy appearance protected them from whites who would have resented any suggestion that they were social equals. King Zulu,[5] dressed in blackface, presented coconuts to his subjects. Rarely was Zulu on time and seldom did he follow his announced route. Eventually, the parade reached the heart of Tremé where eager throngs awaited them.[6] The Zulu parade did, however, provide some black marching bands an opportunity to parade on Mardi Gras.
Tremé remained the focal point of black Carnival until its own rupture after 1965. Construction of the interstate highway through its core forced many residents to relocate and as a result, Mardi Gras celebrations moved from Tremé to other parts of the city, including the Quarter.[7] Additionally, as a result of school desegregation, high school marching bands now included black members, who for the first time marched in the parades of white organizations.
Further, the election of black mayors who presided over Mardi Gras ceremonies attracted more African-American spectators to St. Charles Avenue, formally an all-white preserve. Moreover, during the post-civil war era, several new krewes opened their membership to African Americans.[8] Zulu, which earlier drew criticism for “Tomism” was taken over by middle class blacks, determined to “teach them how to put on a first class parade.”[9] It is now fully integrated by race and ethnicity and is readily accepted among the major clubs.
While Carnival celebrations are more racially integrated in New Orleans, there remains a class divide based more on education and income. The tradition remains viable and more inclusive, but ironically, many bemoan the changes that time has brought.
Dr. Raphael Cassimere Jr. is an historian and author who has written extensively on African Americans in Louisiana. He is a Professor-Emeritus at the University of New Orleans.
[1]Most New Orleanians referred to the French Quarter as “the Quarter,” or “the Quarters.”
[2]Marching organizations are called “krewes.”
[3]Most of the “misters” were white men. Many in the crowd begging for favors were blacks. This reinforced the legacy of separate and unequal.
[4]Flambeau torches were used to light parade routes before the onset of electric-powered lights. The carriers marched and danced and became attractions of themselves, sometimes long after the flames had extinguished.
[5]In 1949, Zulus gained unprecedented attention when Louis Armstrong reigned as king.
[6] Zulu continued down Orleans Avenue to Dooky Chase Restaurant, where owner Dooky Jr’s band serenaded the “dignitaries.”
[7] Most French Quarter establishments were forced to desegregate as a result of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a local ordinance passed by the city council in order to host the 1971 Super Bowl.
[8] The separate and unequal divide remained largely intact until 1992 when the city council passed an ordinance which forbade private organizations from discriminating on the basis of race, ethnicity, or religion. Initially, several clubs refused to comply and discontinued parading. However, all but one eventually complied.
[9] During the civil rights era many criticized Zulu for catering to whites and acting like “Uncle Toms.”