New Facts about Katrina

[Tigger_Magic]

Since this has been largely ignored by the MSM:

Statistics Suggest Race Not a Factor in Katrina Deaths
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.

 

[ducklite]

Interesting and not surprising reading, thanks for sharing!

Anne

 

[vettechick99]

Very interesting!

 

[pattyT]

hhmmmm thank you for posting...

 

[marybet]

Maybe I am reading it wrong but if African-Americans make up 67.25 percent of the population and 59.1 percent of the deceased, how can they say more whites died? Theses numbers really don't add up. One place says "Forty-seven percent were African-American and 42 percent were Caucasian." , but more whites died? Even the percentage of population doesn't make much sense.

 

[Charade]

Maybe I am reading it wrong but if African-Americans make up 67.25 percent of the population and 59.1 percent of the deceased, how can they say more whites died? Theses numbers really don't add up. One place says "Forty-seven percent were African-American and 42 percent were Caucasian." , but more whites died? Even the percentage of population doesn't make much sense.

Not more in raw numbers but at a higher rate percentage wise based on the overall population.

Whites constituted 28 percent of the overall population but 33 percent of the dead.

Blacks constituted 67 percent of the overall population but only 59 percent of the dead.

 

[KathyFP]

Interesting facts

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Not really interesting at all.

The vast vast vast majority of New Orleans citizenry survived. Because they failed to die does not make them any less victims of the levee breaches.

All this shows is that statistically for an uncontrolled group that whites were more likely to die on a per capita basis than blacks in levee breach conditions in New Orleans.

Why this is true is anyone's guess. Maybe New Orleans blacks were more likely to keep axes in their attics, or maybe they are better climbers or maybe they are better at finding floatation devices or maybe more inclined to learn how to swim.

This does nothing to disprove the notion that racism might have been at the heart of the slow response time.

Caveat: I personally believe that government has become pitifully incompetent to respond to crises and that was the problem with the levee breach response time...not racism. But this article is misleading.

The expectation that the feds will come to the rescue doubletime is ridiculous. In the past local government responded first, then the state and then the fed. We would all be better served to embrace and prepare for that response order rather than rely on a federal response first. Our country is has a diverse ecosystem. Each state is better equipped to determine search and rescue responses than the monolithic fed. The fed is the sledgehammer in the tool box when maybe on a screwdriver is needed.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

This does nothing to disprove the notion that racism might have been at the heart of the slow response time.

All this shows is that when presented with reality some will continue to believe fantasy.

 

[marybet]

Not more in raw numbers but at a higher rate percentage wise based on the overall population.

Whites constituted 28 percent of the overall population but 33 percent of the dead.

Blacks constituted 67 percent of the overall population but only 59 percent of the dead.

The bottom line is still more blacks than whites are dead. It doesn't say what percentage left the city, to base it on the population from the last census doesn't really make much sense. We don't really know what the overall population was when the hurricane hit.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

All this shows is that when presented with reality some will continue to believe fantasy.

Really? Didn't exactly read my post in its entirety now did you?

 

[mickeyfan2]

Maybe I am reading it wrong but if African-Americans make up 67.25 percent of the population and 59.1 percent of the deceased, how can they say more whites died? Theses numbers really don't add up. One place says "Forty-seven percent were African-American and 42 percent were Caucasian." , but more whites died? Even the percentage of population doesn't make much sense.

Since the % of blacks who died was 8% less than the population in NOLA they died at a lower rate. Since the other minorites were less than thier population it leads to the conclusion that caucasians died as a higher % then they are in the general population.

 

[marybet]

Since the % of blacks who died was 8% less than the population in NOLA they died at a lower rate. Since the other minorites were less than thier population it leads to the conclusion that caucasians died as a higher % then they are in the general population.

I understand what they are saying in regards to % of population. What I am saying is that there are still more dead black people than whites.

I guess I didn't explain my thoughts very well. It is easy to use the numbers to say a higher % of whites died without really giving any real data. Where did they die? How old were they? Did the whites die in nursing homes because there was no where for them to go? Did the blacks die because they were trapped in their houses and had no way to leave the city? This report doesn't answer any questions, it contradicts itself, in the first paragraph it says fewer than half the dead were black but later states that 59.1% of the deceased were black. And what about the 247 victims that haven't been identified. Plus this is for the whole state not just NO.

And as doubletrouble_vb points out it has nothing to do with the response time of the govt. I guess what I was trying to say is that this report is useless. Just as polls can be manipulated by the way the questions are asked, percentages can be manipulated by the way they are presented.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

Really? Didn't exactly read my post in its entirety now did you?

I read your entire post, but I found the quoted line particularly interesting.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

And as doubletrouble_vb points out it has nothing to do with the response time of the govt. I guess what I was trying to say is that this report is useless. Just as polls can be manipulated by the way the questions are asked, percentages can be manipulated by the way they are presented.

JMO, but this poll is probably considered "useless" by some because it fails to support the contention that the current administration is racist. There's nothing manipulative about statistics. This report simply balances out the MSM presentation. Since it doesn't tow the line, it is ignored.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I understand what they are saying in regards to % of population. What I am saying is that there are still more dead black people than whites.

This is a simplistic example that shows a point that just losing the most is not necessarily the worse for the group as a whole.

In our example there are three different races X, Y and Z. The total population is 100 and 30 will die.

Original populaion:
X - 70
Y - 30
Z - 20

Dead:
X - 15
Y - 8
Z - 7


So X lost the mose people. Now lets look at % of dead for each race.

X - 50%
Y - 27%
Z - 23%

So clearly X is the worst of. Or are they?!? Now lets see how many are actually left alive and what % of the original population they represent.


Alive:
X - 55 (79%)
Y - 22 (73%)
Z - 13 (65%)

Looking at is this way, clearly Z is the worst off for the area we are discussing.


This is what I took from the article.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

JMO, but this poll is probably considered "useless" by some because it fails to support the contention that the current administration is racist. There's nothing manipulative about statistics. This report simply balances out the MSM presentation. Since it doesn't tow the line, it is ignored.

You seem to have an agenda.

Let me be a bit clearer. Statistics are routinely used for manipulative purposes. Cite one set of numbers and be silent on another yields an apparent "fact" that wouldn't be supported by an unbiased reporting of a more comprehensive grouping of numbers.

In this instance you are attempting to apply numbers that address the very small population of people admitted by the state of Louisiana to have died as a result of Katrina/levee breach to the much larger population of those who survived but were trapped in the city. These numbers leave out those who were injured but did not die and those who may have died due to Katrina related stresses or injuries later on but for whom their deaths were not reported as being Katrina related.

Let me further say in big print. THE RACISIM ASSERTION IS RIDICULOUS but just because its a ridiculous viewpoint doesn't make this article viable proof of the ridiculousness of the assertion. Find articles that talk about the living and their property and you'll probably find your proof. This article is just kind of stupid. Which is where I'll leave this thread.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

You seem to have an agenda.

Wouldn't be the first time and probably won't be the last either. And I seriously doubt that I am alone either.

Let me be a bit clearer. Statistics are routinely used for manipulative purposes. Cite one set of numbers and be silent on another yields an apparent "fact" that wouldn't be supported by an unbiased reporting of a more comprehensive grouping of numbers.

In this instance you are attempting to apply numbers that address the very small population of people admitted by the state of Louisiana to have died as a result of Katrina/levee breach to the much larger population of those who survived but were trapped in the city. These numbers leave out those who were injured but did not die and those who may have died due to Katrina related stresses or injuries later on but for whom their deaths were not reported as being Katrina related.

Let me further say in big print. THE RACISIM ASSERTION IS RIDICULOUS but just because its a ridiculous viewpoint doesn't make this article viable proof of the ridiculousness of the assertion. Find articles that talk about the living and their property and you'll probably find your proof. This article is just kind of stupid. Which is where I'll leave this thread.

I am not attempting to apply anything by this article, because I am not the author of the article. I simply posted it as I found it quite interesting that these statistics were released and subsequently ignored by the MSM.

Buh-bye.