You know- I felt sorry for this guy, because the statistics on this kind of cut in his favor. What if you say something that is basically true, but looks bigoted? Look at these (terrible) numbers (I had no idea there was such a big difference):
"Blacks – the overall age-adjusted drowning rate for black children was 42.6% higher for blacks than for whites. Black children ages 5 through 19 years drowned at 2.5 times the rate of whites. "
"For drownings, black males had twice the death rate of white males, over seven times the rate of black females, and over eight times the rate of white females (Table 1). Blacks in the age groups 0-4 and 70+ years had lower rates than whites of the same age. In all other age groups, blacks had higher rates (Figure 3). For both races, the death rates peaked at ages 15-19 years and then declined with increasing age. By ages 70-74 years, the death rate among blacks fell to a level below that of whites. "
cdc.gov
There seems to be hard evidence here that there is a difference- and a big one- at least wrt drowning. So is it the way this guy phrased what he said? Should be have used rates of drowning, rather than linking his idea to swimming ability? (Though I have to say, I see a logical connection between the ability to swim and not drowning.) So- are you outraged by his remarks after looking at these numbers? Obviously he felt he has to apologize, but should he? I think he should probably have stuck to rates of drowning- rather than talking about swimming ability- but that's me. I'm not sure how badly he deserves to be beaten in the woodshed, though. Clearly all candidates should avoid saying things about race, if they want to be elected- that's a given- but if, on careful study, you find there are differences according to race, can you talk about them? This has implications for the gay issue as well- because if it's ok to address racial differences- that have a good statistical basis- than it's ok to address differences in the gay population versus the straight one, or differences in the special needs population versus the non-special needs population, or the differences between men and women. It's my opinion that we can't stop acknowledging meaningful statistics just because they might be less than what a PC minded person might want to see.
After all, if we acknowledge the numbers we might be able to FIX the problem. I would sure like to see black youngsters better protected from drowning- whatever the cause of their drowning happens to be.
relaxnswim.com
Candidate sorry for remark about blacks 16 minutes ago
SARASOTA, Fla. - A candidate running for the congressional seat of Rep. Katherine Harris (news, bio, voting record) apologized Thursday for comments he made about the swimming ability of blacks.
Republican Tramm Hudson, a banker, made the comments earlier this year at a Christian Coalition political forum. The remarks appeared on blogs Thursday.
"I said something stupid," Hudson said in a statement released by his campaign. "I apologize for it and would apologize in person to anyone hurt by my comments."
Hudson made the comments as he described efforts to rescue a black soldier who had fallen into a river while the Army Reserve company Hudson commanded was training in Panama 22 years ago.
"I grew up in Alabama and I understand and I know this from my own experiences that blacks aren't the best swimmers or may not even know how to swim," Hudson said, according to a transcript released by his campaign.
Other troops pulled the solider out of the river and gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Hudson continued. He then attributed the successful rescue to "divine intervention."
Hudson is one of five candidates seeking the GOP nomination to succeed Harris in Florida's 13th District. Harris is running for U.S. Senate. |
