It's not a Black Thing
New Orleans City, according to the 2000 census, has a population of 484,674. Out of that number, 325,947 citizens are African American, which is about 67.25% of the population.
From what I can find, about 25,000 - 30,000 people sought shelter in the Superdome, and these are the people that you see on TV. Most media sources guess 100,000 people stayed in New Orleans to ride out the storm, with the highest estimate coming from UK's Independent, which pegs the number at 200,000.
Now think about it. We are hearing that this is a "Black" thing, that the only people suffering are African Americans. The innuendo behind these statements is an overall indictment of our system, and in many cases the statements have moved beyond implication to outright accusation.
Yet we are seeing only a small fraction of reality. Even if all 100,000 people remaining in the city are black, that means over 200,000 blacks were able to leave, which means it is absolutely inaccurate to assert blacks have it worse because they are black.
Many factors led the people who are now suffering to stay, but race is not one of them. In fact, from a purely statistical standpoint, being an African American in New Orleans gave you a pretty decent chance of getting out. If two-thirds of all blacks in New Orleans fled the storm, race will not tell you why some stayed behind.
From what I can find, about 25,000 - 30,000 people sought shelter in the Superdome, and these are the people that you see on TV. Most media sources guess 100,000 people stayed in New Orleans to ride out the storm, with the highest estimate coming from UK's Independent, which pegs the number at 200,000.
Now think about it. We are hearing that this is a "Black" thing, that the only people suffering are African Americans. The innuendo behind these statements is an overall indictment of our system, and in many cases the statements have moved beyond implication to outright accusation.
Yet we are seeing only a small fraction of reality. Even if all 100,000 people remaining in the city are black, that means over 200,000 blacks were able to leave, which means it is absolutely inaccurate to assert blacks have it worse because they are black.
Many factors led the people who are now suffering to stay, but race is not one of them. In fact, from a purely statistical standpoint, being an African American in New Orleans gave you a pretty decent chance of getting out. If two-thirds of all blacks in New Orleans fled the storm, race will not tell you why some stayed behind.
posted by John Aristides at 12:43 PM
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