Guest guest Posted September 13, 2005 Report Share Posted September 13, 2005 Hello Al, Thank you for posting your statistics & thoughts. I appreciate it that you also posted the link for the webpage. I did read the article. When I read the statistics on women, I was reminded again of a woman that I met on one of my many trips to the Criminal Justice Center that had just been released from jail. I asked her what she had been in jail for, she told me that her child had missed one too many days during the school year. She also told me that she was fined $100.00 & also had to comply with a mandatory drug test. As fate would have it, last year I also received a similar letter from the District Attorney's Office stating that if my child was absent one more time, that I would also find myself in front of a judge for his *unexcused* absences. My child had a root canal performed & was completely excused from 2 days of school by a liscensed dentist. Proof of his visits were provided to the school. I hand-delivered it myself to the school's attendance office. Yet, the school never recorded the absences as being excused. I wonder how many of those that have been incarcerated truly deserve to be there & how many were innocent people that just simply lacked the ability to argue against one law enforcement officer's word?? How many other's time do they waste, beside my own...trying to prove that someone is guilty of a crime that they just didn't commit? Robin... valist, "aaapers" <aaapers@e...> wrote: > 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 > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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