Metairie is not a city in the strictest terms. It’s a developed unincorporated area of Jefferson Parish that’s inextricably linked to the Metro New Orleans Area. Metaire (“Old” Metairie) is the home of to some of the areas wealthiest residents as well as a large, diverse and thriving middle class. It’s unfair and inaccurate (or to put in the local vernacular “BS”) to single out racism as a characteristic particular to Metairie. While it’s true that David Duke did have a few pockets of support in an election that happened almost 25 year ago and was eventually defeated, it’s more illustrative of Metairie and Jefferson Parish at large to point out that one of the parish’s most beloved heroes was and still is the late Sheriff Harry Lee who, in addition to being Chinese American, is widely credited for maintaining safety and quality of life in the Parish as it suffered and dropped to intolerable levels in neighboring Orleans Parish. He served as Jefferson Parish’s Sheriff from 1980 until succumbing to cancer in 2007. Jefferson Parish and Metairie in particular also elected Bobby Jindal, the first Indian American to serve in Congress and these area were key to his election to his current position of Governor. A large part of Jefferson Parish was responsible for sending Joseph Cao to congress. In addition to being supremely qualified and a great change from the entrenched corruption of “Dollar Bill’ Jefferson that filled that seat for the previous decade, he is the first Vietnamese American to serve in Congress. Yes it’s true that we don’t have much time or tolerance for the crime or the other problems that plague Orleans Parish and other major cities but no decent, considerate, hardworking person of any color has or will ever be unwelcome or disrespected in Metairie or Jefferson Parish. We have a good quality of life a halfway decent parish government and a robust police presence in the form of the JPSO – and we like it that way. No apologies.
Joshua | Metairie, LA | Report Abuse