I thought y'all would find this interesting. Not many people know this little fact and even my NOLA peeps give me puzzled expressions when I explain that "Yes, I am going to Mardi Gras parades this weekend" and "No, I won't be at Endymion or Bacchus because I'm staying in Mobile until I'm ready to move." A lot of them *still* don't know that Mobile was the first capital of LA (Louisiana Purchase included much of Alabama) and I remember being
fascinated with this stuff when I first moved to 'Bama.
Mardi Gras was actually started by a bunch of rich, white young southern boys who didn't want to stop drinking and go the fuck to bed one night so they picked up rakes and cowbells and pots and pans and ran around town, hootin' and hollerin like a bunch of nuts, waking up the entire city. They were the original Discordians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mardi_Gras_in_MobileMardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama[pronounce] is the oldest annual Carnival celebration in America, having begun in 1703,[1][2][3] over 15 years before New Orleans was founded (1718).[3] From Mobile being the first capital of French Louisiana (1702), the festival began as a French Catholic tradition, celebrating until the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday, until midnight on Mardi Gras day (French for "Fat Tuesday" or Shrove Tuesday). However, Mardi Gras in Mobile now has evolved into a mainstream multi-week celebration across the spectrum of cultures in Mobile, becoming school holidays[
One of my favourite historical stories about Mobile Mardi Gras is the Joe Cain "Legend."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_CainJoseph Stillwell Cain, Jr. (Joe Cain) (October 10, 1832 – April 17, 1904)[1] [2] is largely credited with the rebirth of Mardi Gras celebrations in Mobile, Alabama, stopped due to the Civil War.[1] [3] In 1867, following the American Civil War and while Mobile was still under Union occupation, Joe Cain paraded through the streets of Mobile, dressed in improvised costume depicting a fictional Chickasaw chief named Slacabamorinico.[1][3] The choice was a backhanded insult to the Union forces in that the Chickasaw tribe had never been defeated in war. Joe was joined by six other Confederate veterans, parading in a decorated coal wagon, playing drums and horns, and the group became the "L. C. Minstrel Band", now commonly referred to as the "Lost Cause Minstrels" of Mobile.
In order to understand that part, you also kinda have to get into the history of how--despite racism, slavery, ignorance and all the other shit that the American South has a mixed-truth notoriety for--much of Gulf Coastal cities really just were nice, oblivious, working and middle class people who genuinely didn't want to be forced into the Union...much the same way the settlers no longer wanted to be forced to remain part of England. There actually
are really good people in this city...even some of the older families. While there were some definite dirty dealings (
Foster and Meaher families, I'm looking at you) that people try to (*ahem*) whitewash, A lot of the "rebellion" aspect genuinely was born of a desire to not have a tyrannical and hypocritical northern aristocrats force the South to pay for a government that didn't represent them. There are still families here today who insist that slavery is evil and was right to be abolished...even punished and are still adamant about the right of secession.
However, there
is a dark side to Mardi Gras. I highly, highly recommend the documentary movie
"Order Of Myths." It was done by a member of one of the oldest families in Mobile and while it's definitely slanted through the eyes of a well-heeled, rebellious "Old Springhill" rich girl, anxious to toss off her birthright and advantages in the name of trying to be just like "one of the little people" (when we damned well know, she's going to hit about 25, marry well, choose her ball theme, colors and train design and that will be the end of THAT), it does a fair job of exposing both the ugly side as well as the "Rome wasn't built in a day but at least they're trying" aspect of progress down here. It's streaming on Netflix right now but if you don't have a Netflix, I'm sure you can snag it somewhere.
I want to say this: there are a lot of fine, goodhearted, charitable people in these societies today. Many of them just plain old, upper-middle class people who spend a lot of the year holding fundraisers for their floats and events and for charity. I know these people. They're good folks who insist on doing good works in the community as a requisite to membership much the same way the Masons do. There are also a lot of exclusive, well-off puritans who would never, ever let a
nouveaux riche or a Yankee in their little clubs. Either way, these parades are something everyone looks forward to (from the profoundly poor to the very well-heeled), all year long. It is a part of their heritage now--white
and black.
Regardless of how you
feel about these people, it's
interesting and since people still seem to be enjoying Nigel's "race" thread, I thought this would be enjoyed and add some wonderful substance to the conversation here.
Enjoy.
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