Finding the Soul of New Orleans

Rebuilding the city of New Orleans is not the problem. I once heard a management consultant say that if money could fix a problem, it wasn't a problem. Money will pour into New Orleans. New houses, churches, and companies will be built. It will often be said that New Orleans will be better than ever. The problem is that the problem is not the problem. The problem is the soul of New Orleans.

What does it profit New Orleans if they rebuild the city, yet lose their own soul?

New Orleans is known as the home of one of the most significant American cultural identifiers -- jazz. Louis Armstrong, Fats Domino, and Harry Connick, Jr., are all children of New Orleans. Separating New Orleans from Jazz would be like separating Liverpool from the Beatles. Yet, even as profound as New Orleans Jazz is to the city, the soul of New Orleans is not found in their music. Madi Gras is not what brands the city. New Orleans has a constructed self. To rebuild New Orleans, it may take more than civil engineers, it is going to take architects of civility.

The first question that should be asked, "Where are the fathers of New Orleans?" Fatherless families and poverty, crime, out of wedlock births and many other plights go hand in hand. The research is overwhelming. Rebuilding New Orleans should begin with rebuilding families, which begins with getting fathers to be fathers.

Fathering programs such as the National Center for Fathering and the National Fatherhood Initiative should have major offices and be a part of the process of rebuilding. This could be a model for other cities in America to follow.