Guest guest Posted September 11, 2005 Report Share Posted September 11, 2005 Re: New Orleans-don't make it an issue of race > The majority of New Orleans is black who are mostly very poor!! Had > the majority been elite white would the response time [have] been > the same? A very good question! Let me just ask a few questions that may shed a little light on the subject Why is there such a large number of poor African Americans in New Orleans? Why is there a high percentage of Blacks who are poor throughout the country? Infant mortality rates are one of the major measures of health for countries why those the U.S. rank 27th among industrialized nations. "Between 1998 and 1999, the mortality rate for white infants decreased 3 percent to 5.8 deaths per 1,000 live births, while the rate for black infants was 14.6, not statistically different from the 1998 rate. Although the trend in infant mortality rates among blacks and whites has been on a continual decline, the proportional discrepancy between the black and white rates has increased." "From 1980 to 1992, the African American incarceration rate increased by an average of 138.4 per 100,000 per year. Still, despite a more than doubling of the African American incarceration rate in the 12 years prior to President Clinton's term in office, the African American incarceration rate continued to increase by an average rate of 100.4 per 100,000 per year. In total, between 1980 and 1999, the incarceration rate for African Americans more than tripled from 1156 per 100,000 to 3,620 per 100,000." "12 percent of African-American men ages 20 to 34 are in jail or prison,as were 3.7 percent of Hispanic men and 1.6 percent of white men in that age group." http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0528-02.htm >Colin Powell > said, "I don't think it's racism, I think it's economic. Rasicm is empowered by economics. Inequities that occurr are largely due to the lack of economic power to defend oneself. Therefore, if racism were not a factor then you would not expect to see as many poor black people. In New orleans that would have meant that many more people would simply have had the means to evacuate to a safer place before the hurricane. If the poverty ratios had been similar across racial groups as well as infant mortality rates and other societal indicators like incarceration rates, I would be more inclined to say that race did not play a part in the federal response rate. But failing that type of supporting proof, I would be hard pressed to accept that it wasn't a factor, albeit, not neccessarily the only factor. Al - <valist> <valist> Sunday, September 11, 2005 11:23 AM Digest Number 2058 > There is 1 message in this issue. > > Topics in this digest: > > 1. Re: New Orleans-don't make it an issue of race > "Juliana Swanson" <omhamsa > > > ______________________ > ______________________ > > Message: 1 > Sun, 11 Sep 2005 11:21:42 -0000 > "Juliana Swanson" <omhamsa > Re: New Orleans-don't make it an issue of race > > valist, Goloka Books <goloka@t...> wrote: > The majority of New Orleans is black who are mostly very poor!! Had > the majority been elite white would the response time [have] been > the same? > > Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and himself a member of > the African-American community, believes that race was NOT a factor > in the slow response...according to Reuters, > <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L09651428.htm> Powell > said, "I don't think it's racism, I think it's economic. But poverty > disproportionately affects African-Americans in this country. And it > happened because they were poor." > > The failure of local, state and federal government to respond > adequately in the intial stages of the Hurricane Katrina disaster is > not due to racism, rather, such failure is a result of sclerotic > government bureaucracies that failed to respond to warnings ahead of > time and failed to coordinate the massive relief efforts in a timely > manner. However, the relief efforts in the Gulf Coast disaster are > probably among the best any country would be able to offer, given > the huge numbers of helpless people and the enormous mass of land > that was affected. > > Saturn's transit through the sign of Cancer, a constellation that > relates to charitable relief efforts and municipal government, > brings to our attention the archaic and inept systems that create > bureaucratic backlog. > > In addition, as Saturn is conjoining the US Kelleher chart's natal > Rahu, all these issues are being politicized. > > Ketu's transit through the US Kelleher chart's 10th house brings to > light the illusions, failures and disappointments related to big > government and authoritative agencies. > > Politicians from both parties are complaining bitterly because of > their respective political agendas. I find it ironic that we in > America complain about Big Brother holding all the cards, and we > wish Big Gov would stay out of our business, but at the same time, > we blame everything on the government. I do not think we can have it > both ways. > > Best regards to all, > Juliana > ______________________ > ______________________ > > > > > ------ > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.