State Rep. LaBruzzo Condemns Day of the Dead

GRETNA, Louisiana — The local Mexican-American population of Jefferson Parish will have something to raise Hell about this Halloween.

State Representative John LaBruzzo (R-Metairie), who most recently proposed paying poor women to have their fallopian tubes tied, is now calling for the post-Katrina Mexican population of New Orleans to give up their traditional November 2nd holiday, Dios des los Meurtos, or Day of the Dead.

Day of the Dead falls on All Souls Day — Nov. 2 — and is celebrated with particular gusto in Mexico, where families visit cemeteries to offer food and flowers for their lost relatives, whose portraits are placed on altars at home.

Day of the Dead has centuries of tradition, combining All Souls Day with two pre-Hispanic holidays in honor of the dead. It is a festive rather than sad occasion, and with support from local Roman Catholic Churches, the tradition runs strong.

But LaBruzzo wonders if this post-Halloween tradition is good for New Orleans.

“New Orleans is a wholesome, family-oriented city, and our citizens have no use for this sense of the macabre,” he said.

“In Mexico, there’s a long tradition of vampires in literature and TV; they give names like “Voodoo” to their football teams and festivals; and they ride buses called ‘Cemetaries.’ They even use convicts to scare kids in haunted houses.”

“These are not the type of things that would be acceptable to the good people of our town,” he added.

When reached for comment, local Mexican-American community leaders said: “Chupa me, puto.”