In preparation for Super Bowl LIX, Louisiana state police and other law enforcement agencies evicted all residents of several of New Orleans’ largest homeless encampments with the threat of arrest. Unhoused people were forced to watch while police ripped apart tents with a front-end loader, and over 100 people were put on buses and sent to a warehouse over a mile from the nearest bus stop, which officials are calling a “transitional center.” Some residents of the encampments refused to go to the transitional center, with one man saying that it reminded him of the period he spent in jail. Another asked, “we’re going to a warehouse? I’m not a UPS package or anything like that, I’m a human.” Choosing not to go to the transitional center meant leaving behind any possessions that could not be carried.
When people arrived at the warehouse, it didn’t have enough beds and lacked insulation to protect them from the unusually cold winter that New Orleans is currently experiencing. A city official said that the site was “not safe or healthy for human habitation.” Even after two weeks in the center, many residents have still not had their belongings returned, including IDs, medication and clothes which were confiscated during the original sweep. The raids of major encampments have also forced other unhoused people across the city into hiding, fearful that they may also be bussed to the transitional center.
Obviously, the governments of Louisiana and New Orleans are not warehousing unhoused people in a genuine effort to “transition” them towards stable housing. In fact, 12 local aid organizations and nonprofits sent a letter to the governor expressing “serious reservations about the effectiveness, cost-efficiency and long-term impact of this approach.” The real reason that unhoused people are being rounded up is that Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry thinks it will reflect poorly on the city of New Orleans if tourists see homeless people near the Superdome stadium and the French Quarter entertainment district.
Landry’s concern is not simply about the judgements of some NFL fans. Louisiana officials and business leaders are using Super Bowl events to showcase New Orleans as fit for investment from major companies. As part of the weekend’s festivities, the governor is planning to host lavish parties for the top executives of Meta, Tesla, Google, Amazon, along with several steel and energy companies. Louisiana politicians are eager to do whatever they can to get big corporations to do business in their state. This was also made clear last year when state officials provided fine steak dinners, newly rewritten laws, and enormous tax breaks to Meta executives, successfully convincing them to build a giant $10 billion data center in the state.
Anyone can see that the wealthy and powerful, the bosses and the politicians, are in an alliance to accrue as much profit as possible at the expense of ordinary people and those who have the least. They will gladly exploit the nationally beloved Super Bowl for their own gain, even if it means wreaking violent havoc on the lives of hundreds of homeless people across New Orleans. It doesn’t have to be this way. We deserve to enjoy parties and sporting events like Super Bowl Sunday, eating and drinking with our friends and family, without being exploited in the process.
