That was a question asked of an acquaintance of mine by her daughter, a reasonable query for a toddler in the months after the flood of 2005. The child's innocence blunted the bigotry inherent in the question and made it a pretty funny story that got passed around friends.
But it was, in truth, a darned good question, worthy of a straight answer.
So, little girl, why do Mexicans live on the roof?
Short answer, so that we can live under one tomorrow.
First off, the people "living on the roof" were more likely to be Hondurans than Mexicans. New Orleans has deep, long-standing ties to Honduras, thanks to Sam "The Banana Man" Zemurray and the United Fruit Company. Even before the flood, the only city with a greater population of Hondurans was Tegucigalpa, the nation's capital.
As those citizens returned and saw the extent of devastation and the demand for skilled workers, they let their families and friends in Honduras know of the opportunities. And they (and Mexicans and Nicaraguans and Puerto Ricans and...) came.
And turned a cityscape of gaping holes to a sea of blue tarps and, eventually, miles of shockingly normal grey shingles. For which effort many never got paid.
They rebuilt our houses and opened businesses and bought and built homes of their own.
There are a great number of commemorations and observances this week, some right and proper, some perhaps ill-advised (the late night fireworks show in a city stretched thin from constant PTSD-triggering media overload might not have been the smartest move).
There is one in particular I applaud, Casa Borrega's street festival this afternoon and evening on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard,"Gracias Latinos," a celebration of all the fine men and women who came to our city to work, to build, to grow and prosper with us.
As neo-Know-Nothings poison our ears with cries of "Go home!" I can think of no better time to thank those thousands who came here to give us back ours.