The Bourdain Affect

Michigan football head coach Jim Harbaugh took his team to Western Europe - specifically France to take in the history of Normandy Beach. The travels were to take the players out of their comfort zone to learn cultures and history while strengthening team comradery. Former Michigan basketball player Jalen Rose and former LSU football player Ryan Clark were on ESPN commenting about the trip. During Rose's Fab 5 tenure at Michigan, the basketball team also traveled to Europe. Rose admitted that he was negative and cancerous throughout the trip. He did not want to be there on his time off from school and basketball. The simple reason for his behavior was, "I rather have been in Detroit" (His hometown).

I couldn't wrap my brain around his comment. When I was in my teens and 20's, I loved to travel. Rose further admitted that he was a cancer but expressed it was great to see the current Michigan football team taking advantage of their opportunity. Keeping in line with Rose's final thoughts on the trip, I expected Ryan Clark to co-sign on the great opportunity of traveling to another country. But - Clark admitted he probably would have been negative had LSU's football team had taken a similar trip. Clark said he was a spoiled, pampered athlete who would have pouted throughout the trip. Those who knew Clark when he attended Shaw high school and LSU wouldn't be surprised by his comments but to a national audience, the comments may have been surprising that these former student-athletes were completely ungrateful. Traveling to another country is a chance of a lifetime for many but for Rose and Clark, they would have rather been home.

Black people - we rep our hometowns. I love New Orleans. I don't believe there's a better city in the world but the grip NOLA has on me doesn't preclude me from exploring and traveling. In high school, we didn't just go to spring break, we did spring break. The Gulf Coast of Florida was a religion. In college, I went to Atlanta. I went to Galveston. I went to Daytona. I went to Houston. I went to Lafayette to party or Lake Charles, LA just to hang with my friends' family. Often times, I didn't have much money, but I went. Those travels are why my college days were the most fun times of my life. 

In New Orleans, we rep our areas to the point of being caged by them. Uptown kids know nothing about Downtown and vice versa. Neither know anything about the Westbank and vice versa. Going across the river to the Westbank was like going to another country. When public housing landscaped inner city New Orleans, Magnolia project residents stayed away from St Thomas project residents. St Bernard projects were perceived as a living hell while the Fischer projects were alien. No one outside of the 9th Ward went there. Many of us Black people in New Orleans don't travel anywhere and have no interest in going anywhere else. As a youngster, Jalen Rose felt the same about Detroit. On a trip with his teammates that would have costs his mom thousands of dollars, he wanted to be home. The psychology of his decision, I don't know but I believe there is a root cause.

I'm a proud passport holder. Any chance I get to use it, I'm ecstatic. My parents instilled in me the enthusiasm to travel. I expose my daughters to travel. Traveling is the best education. Seeing something different... eating something different... meeting someone different educates and it makes different cultures accessible. The accessibility can translate to tolerance of others. Ignorance diminishes. Curiosity increases. Talk to the elders in your family. Talk to your neighbors. The seeds of hate and bigotry could possibly be sparsely planted. In a cultivated place, those seeds aren't planted at all.

"Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life — and travel — leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks — on your body or on your heart — are beautiful. Often though, they hurt.

If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I urge you to travel — as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from them — wherever you go.

If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can, as much as you can. Across the ocean, or simply across the river. The extent to which you can walk in someone else’s shoes or at least eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up off the couch. Move."

- Anthony Bourdain