NationStates Jolt Archive

COMMENTARY: Contrary to the hysterical accusations bandied about during and after Katrina, race was apparently not a factor in what happened. Your thoughts on this?


Statistics Suggest
Race Not a Factor in Katrina Deaths (http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200512/NAT20051214b.html)


By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Correspondent
December 14, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans.

Liberals in the aftermath of the storm were quick to allege that the Bush administration delayed its response to the catastrophe because most of the victims were black.

Damu Smith, founder of the National Black Environmental Justice Network, in September said that the federal government "ignored us, they forgot about us ... because we look like we look."

Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan in October said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency wasn't fit to help the storm's victims because "there are not enough blacks high up in FEMA" and added that, "certainly the Red Cross is the same."

Rapper Kanye West used his time on NBC's telethon for the hurricane victims to charge that, "George Bush doesn't care about black people."

But the state's demographic information suggests that whites in New Orleans died at a higher rate than minorities. According to the 2000 census, whites make up 28 percent of the city's population, but the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals indicates that whites constitute 36.6 percent of the storm's fatalities in the city.

African-Americans make up 67.25 percent of the population and 59.1 percent of the deceased. Other minorities constitute approximately 5 percent of the population and represented 4.3 percent of the storm's fatalities.

Overall for the state, 658 bodies have been identified. Forty-seven percent were African-American and 42 percent were Caucasian. The remaining bodies were either non-black minorities or undetermined.

An additional 247 victims have not been identified, so their demographic information has not been released.

The data showed that the majority of Katrina's victims lived in the Orleans parish. The nearby St. Bernard and Jefferson parishes had 91 and 25 victims, respectively.

The storm also did not discriminate based on gender. Fifty percent of the victims were male and 49 percent were female, with 1 percent being undetermined.

Calls requesting comment from Damu Smith and the Nation of Islam were not returned Wednesday.

is that a trusted news source?

i was among the 1%unidentified sex

i was among the 1%unidentified sex
Doing what?

You sick necrophiliac.

Bush has many faults, but he's not racist.

helpin out in the recovery effort,

I think the writers of the articles are attacking a straw man by focusing strictly on deaths. Where's any discussion of the post-storm aid, or lack thereof? Why all the focus on "liberals" and on the nation of Islam--not possible that the CNS has an agenda, huh?:rolleyes:

Yes, the storm killed people of all ethnicities--no one ever claimed otherwise. It was the post-storm response that was pathetic, and since the majority of the people who lived in the affected area were poor and black, they were the most affected by the lack of response.

is that a trusted news source?
I saw the same story on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC this morning. One of those surely has to be a "trusted news source".

Bush has many faults, but he's not racist.
I'm sure he'll appreciate your having said that ... sorta ... maybe. :)

is that a trusted news source?

i was among the 1%unidentified sex
Wassamatta? Don't wanna believe it? :p

(CNSNews.com) - Statistics released by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals suggest that fewer than half of the victims of Hurricane Katrina were black, and that whites died at the highest rate of all races in New Orleans.

Ah, but if they were discriminating in favour of middle-class whites, then all that would be left would be poor whites and a cross-section of the black community. You'd then expect a higher death rate in the whites as all of the remaining whites would be poor while not all of the remaining blacks would be poor (poor people being the most likely to suffer in any emergency).

I saw the same story on CNN, Fox, and MSNBC this morning. One of those surely has to be a "trusted news source".
It depends upon whose myths are being dispelled. :)

I'm sure he'll appreciate your having said that ... sorta ... maybe. :)

Yeah, he goes to bed every night thinking "I may be the president, but what does a penniless Irish student think of me? He's not dissing me on the internet is he?"

Ah, but if they were discriminating in favour of middle-class whites, then all that would be left would be poor whites and a cross-section of the black community. You'd then expect a higher death rate in the whites as all of the remaining whites would be poor while not all of the remaining blacks would be poor (poor people being the most likely to suffer in any emergency).
Hmm. Rather convoluted reasoning, but I think I understand what you're driving at. Poor people are always most heavily affected in disasters, since there are more of them and they usually tend to be able to afford to live only in the more hazardous areas and/or in housing less able to withstand nature's fury. Ever watch the news about destructive tornadoes? Anyone living in a mobile home is doomed.

Yeah, he goes to bed every night thinking "I may be the president, but what does a penniless Irish student think of me? He's not dissing me on the internet is he?"
ROFL! Exactly! :D

Yeah, he goes to bed every night thinking "I may be the president, but what does a penniless Irish student think of me? He's not dissing me on the internet is he?"
lol :D

Hmm. Rather convoluted reasoning, but I think I understand what you're driving at. Poor people are always most heavily affected in disasters, since there are more of them and they usually tend to be able to afford to live only in the more hazardous areas and/or in housing less able to withstand nature's fury. Ever watch the news about destructive tornadoes? Anyone living in a mobile home is doomed.
And that part of Louisiana is disproportionately poor--all parts of it, from the coast up to New Orleans and north of there. Again, that's why I said that the source you quoted is beating a straw man by focusing only on deaths--there's more to it than that. If someone wants to make a claim that race wasn't a factor, then they need to look at the financial damage suffered on a per capita basis based on race.

Frankly, after seeing the way FEMA responded to Wilma down here, I'll also say that I don't think it's race so much as it's economic class that affects the way the government responds. Rich people get help first, and poor people get fucked.

A recent article in the Sun-Sentinel noted that a ton of money for reimbursements for chainsaws and generators was given out to people in Palm Beach county, to zip codes where the median income was in the six-figure range, and far more was given out there than in Broward county. Why? Because wealthy people can afford to front the money for a generator and then get reimbursed, while poor people can't afford to front it.

The same thing was the case for aid like ice, water, emergency food supplies and electricity restoration--the wealthy areas got help first, and the poor areas got the leftovers. I live on the edge of a wealthy neighborhood, so I got the benefits of living there--people in the ghettos not far from where I live got ignored.

And that part of Louisiana is disproportionately poor--all parts of it, from the coast up to New Orleans and north of there. Again, that's why I said that the source you quoted is beating a straw man by focusing only on deaths--there's more to it than that. If someone wants to make a claim that race wasn't a factor, then they need to look at the financial damage suffered on a per capita basis based on race.

Frankly, after seeing the way FEMA responded to Wilma down here, I'll also say that I don't think it's race so much as it's economic class that affects the way the government responds. Rich people get help first, and poor people get fucked.

A recent article in the Sun-Sentinel noted that a ton of money for reimbursements for chainsaws and generators was given out to people in Palm Beach county, to zip codes where the median income was in the six-figure range, and far more was given out there than in Broward county. Why? Because wealthy people can afford to front the money for a generator and then get reimbursed, while poor people can't afford to front it.

The same thing was the case for aid like ice, water, emergency food supplies and electricity restoration--the wealthy areas got help first, and the poor areas got the leftovers. I live on the edge of a wealthy neighborhood, so I got the benefits of living there--people in the ghettos not far from where I live got ignored.
All true. It's a sad facet of our capitalist culture that "him who has, gets." I've seen this repeatedly on a personal basis. Once, just to see what would happen, I let my beard grow for a couple of days, put on some work-clothes and visited an upscale department store. I was totally ignored, if not exactly frowned upon. I went back to the same store in my best business suit and a ( for me, at least ) rather expensive pair of shoes. They virtually fawned on me!

I wish I had had the presence of mind when I was younger to do the same thing when trying to pick up women in upscale or at least average bars. I'm pretty sure that the task would have been much, much easier when dressed to the nines. Which brings up an interesting point ... why are women so fixated on the trappings of wealth? Hmmm.

I let my beard grow for a couple of days, put on some work-clothes and visited an upscale department store. I was totally ignored, if not exactly frowned upon.

...And now you know what being black in the south is. A valuable learning experience indeed.

The statistics only show that African Americans had more sense than whites and got the hell out of Dodge. Statistics about deaths really have no bearing on the evacuation of the living.

The statistics only show that African Americans had more sense than whites and got the hell out of Dodge. Statistics about deaths really have no bearing on the evacuation of the living.

I remember it being the other way round.

I let my beard grow for a couple of days, put on some work-clothes and visited an upscale department store. I was totally ignored, if not exactly frowned upon. I went back to the same store in my best business suit and a ( for me, at least ) rather expensive pair of shoes. They virtually fawned on me!
Well, the entire point of a shop is to seperate you from as much money as possible. If you have little money, they have little motivation to coax it out of you. If you're rich, there's lots for them to get.
Most people don't go out of their way to look poor, like you did. (Possibly this is a chicken-and-egg situation?)
Therefore, it's most efficient for their staff to spend time on those customers who appear rich.