After a year-long revision to the Shreveport Normalization plan, the City is finally ready to enact its new innovative approach to community building. The idea was developed after researching gang culture in the local area. Gang members wear a specific color to identify their allegiance to a particular group. Color and clothing are used to create a specific identity and narrative for this culture, it’s individual self expression, but collectively connects the group creating “in-group” solidarity.
Last year, the Shreveport City Council organized a committee to create a cohesive identity for the city as a whole. Several unsuccessful marketing campaigns were launched, including “on Wednesday’s we wear sombreros” and “Taco pockets.” When questioned about the exorbitant amount of taxpayer dollars funneled into funding these projects, one council member remarked, “we are just attempting to give the people what they need, the problem is people don’t understand what they need.”
Taco pockets was a complete failure. While you may still see some people walking around with the red armbands that have an emoji taco symbol printed in the center, most Shreveporters have rejected this forced movement. In one instance, two residents were arrested after Taco pocket armbands were tied together, dipped in gasoline, hung from light posts on Jordan Street, and lit on fire by firing Roman candles at them. While maybe not the best approach, demonstrations like that are evidence that Shreveporters are strongly rejecting the seemingly useless attempts by the city council to unify the community here.
How will the un-aptly named “Gang Badge” program be different from the armbands and oversized Mexican party hats of the past? It appears this new normalization plan will mandate that downtown residents and workers wear bright blue “cool downtown” bandanas. The biggest difference with the new plan is that other neighborhoods will have different color bandanas and slogans: red “Awesome Allendale,” green “Highland Heros,” rainbow striped “Best in Broadmoor,” and more.
During the most recent city council meeting, a question was raised concerning the purpose of this plan to bring people together, but this new initiative seems to separate people into groups or gangs based on where they live. The council president responded that sometimes you have divide people to motivate them to come together. There have also been concerns that violence may follow if people begin to hyper-identify with their neighborhood color. It is also unclear if residents will be allowed to identify with a different neighborhood color in the future. Currently, the DDA has hired additional staff to, along with checking meters and writing parking tickets, stop people on the street to check drivers’ licenses in order to verify color correctness.
The downtown area is already inundated with blue bandanas, highland bandanas will come out later this week, and others to follow soon. Some controversy is already brewing over the specific colors selected to identify these neighborhoods, but the city council insists these decisions were backed by research studies, and the expert opinion of a psychic hired to “feel” each neighborhood.
Bandanas will arrive in your mailbox. Effective May 2, you will receive a $10 citation for not wearing your bandana. To learn more about this program, please visit the website for the City of Shreveport. If you’d like to contact your council representative with questions you can also find contact information on the website (link below).