Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : A Neutral Corner -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (1735)	12/22/2005 10:42:57 AM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2253

It's hard to explain the poverty in places like New Orleans, but the simple explanation is a high population percentage of African-Americans. It's just a simple fact that there is a high poverty rate in the African-American population all over the country, which is worse in urban areas, and worse in the South. Many many reasons, multifactorial. History, racism, terrible schools, dysfunctional families, dysfunctional communities, lead paint. Also, you don't need as much money to live well in warmer climates, as compared to colder climates. In colder climates, you need a stronger better insulated house, and more coats, and shoes, and gloves and hats, and a furnace, and so forth. In New Orleans you could wear t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops 9 or 10 months out of the year. These people, the poorest people, were either living in government subsidized housing, or else little apartments that rented for maybe $200 a month, probably infested with rats and cockroaches, but that's what they were used to. Completely different world from where people like C2 live. Of course there are a lot of people in the middle, working class black people who finished high school and had decent jobs and had nicer houses -- but not much in the bank and living paycheck to paycheck. Now they're totally wiped out, too. The sad thing is that all these years after the end of segregation, there remained this population that had not benefited from social changes. I guess change is hard when nobody is doing the hard work of teaching new ways. The nuns from the Catholic Church used to do wonderful work with poor children, helping them learn better ways.