Tuesday Teaser is a meme hosted by The Purple Booker, which I first saw on Brainfluff. Today I am taking my Tuesday Teaser from a book I am currently reading for my Third Tuesday book club which meets on the 27th if this month because of Thanksgiving holidays. It is a good thing I received an “extension” because I am only 1/3 of the way “in.”

Mitch Landrieu, the Mayor of New Orleans, has written In The Shadow of the Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History. This is a “hot-button” issue in the US right now, especially to those of us who were raised and educated in the Deep South. To defend/explain his feelings as he decided to remove statues venerating Confederate heroes, he explores “the broad legacies of slavery, race, and inequalities that still bedevil America.”  To do so, Landrieu gives extensive information on his own family and education.

“The big decision for me as high school drew to a close was where to apply for college. I really had no idea. My older siblings had gone to in-state universities. With four siblings behind me, I knew my parents would be pressed to provide tuitions and college-living expanses….” ” As his [current] job was ending… Dad had been offered a job with a downtown real estate developer and a corporate salary that would make a huge difference for the family–and college for me.” At that time, Landrieu wanted to be an actor, and in deciding which university to attend, he discovered that old adage, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”  His life’s journey is very interesting to follow and had a direct influence on his value that entered into his decision, making him a hero or a villain, depending on how one viewed the statues’ removals.

I am looking forward to time off next week, when I will certainly finish this thought-provoking book and decide for myself whether Landrieu made the right decision or not.