Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Discrimination Olympics




Lately there seems to be bad blood between supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama.

In one corner you have – Senator Clinton has white women that will fight until the ends of the earth.

In the other corner you have – Senator Obama has everyone that HATES Hillary and Bill Clinton.

Her supporters (white women) have been complaining that Hillary has been attacked because of sexism. They claim that if she was a man or a black man, she wouldn’t be dealing with this abuse. They also claim that the media and Obama are the reasons for these attacks. I never thought I would see the day when a white woman thought being black would give them an advantage. Harriet Nelson must be rolling over in her grave right now.

I don’t know what Hillary or her supporters are smoking, but it must be some good stuff. Her stupid comments and poorly planned campaign might be the reasons she is talked about negatively. How can a woman that wins “white male” votes in Pennsylvania, Kentucky and West Virginia be suffering from sexism? Do white women really have it worse than black men?

Maybe Fox Television should turn this into a sporting competition? White Women vs. Black Men for the lowest common denominator. While Hillary and company are doing the puff, puff, pass lets look at the numbers.


Median family income for both black and white families has increased over the last 30 years, but income gaps still persist.
Between 1974 and 2004, white and black men in their 30s experienced a decline in income, with the largest decline among black men. However, median family incomes for both racial groups increased, because of large increases in women's incomes. Income growth was particularly high for white women.
The lack of income growth for black men combined with low marriage rates in the black population has had a negative impact on trends in family income for black families.
There was no progress in reducing the gap in family income between blacks and whites. In 2004, median family income of blacks ages 30 to 39 was only 58 percent that of white families in the same age group ($35,000 for blacks compared to $60,000 for whites).
Black children grow up in families with much lower income than white children.


White children are more likely to surpass parents' income than black children at a similar point in the income distribution.
Overall, approximately two out of three blacks (63 percent) exceed their parents' income after the data are adjusted for inflation, similar to the percentage for whites.
However, a majority of blacks born to middle-income parents grow up to have less income than their parents. Only 31 percent of black children born to parents in the middle of the income distribution have family income greater than their parents, compared to 68 percent of white children from the same income bracket. Odds of exceeding parental incomes are better for black children from other income groups, but are still substantially lower than those of white children in the same circumstances.


White children are more likely to move up the ladder while black children are more likely to fall down.
More than one third (37 percent) of white children born to parents in the middle income group move up to the fourth or fifth quintile, compared to only 17 percent of black children whose parents have approximately the same levels of income.
Startlingly, almost half (45 percent) of black children whose parents were solidly middle class end up falling to the bottom of the income distribution, compared to only 16 percent of white children. Achieving middle-income status does not appear to protect black children from future economic adversity the same way it protects white children.
Black children from poor families have poorer prospects than white children from such families. More than half (54 percent) of black children born to parents in the bottom quintile stay in the bottom, compared to 31 percent of white children.


The above report (dated 2007) was completed by Julia Isaacs of The Brookings Institution, using overall income trends based on Census Bureau data showing a direct match of the family income of parents in the late 1960s to their children's family income in the late 1990s to early 2000s.



Incarceration of Blacks
· In twelve states, between 10 and 15 percent of adult black men are incarcerated.
· In ten states, between 5 and 10 percent of black adults are incarcerated.
· In twelve states, black men are incarcerated at rates between twelve and sixteen times greater than those of white men.
· In fifteen states, black women are incarcerated at rates between ten and thirty-five times greater than those of white women.
· In six states, black youth under age eighteen are incarcerated in adult facilities at rates between twelve and twenty-five times greater than those of white youth.


The above statistics are from the Human Rights Watch (hrw.org)



Black Male Health Statistics:

Black men suffer far worse health than any other racial group in America. There are a number of reasons for this. They include racial discrimination, a lack of affordable health services, poor health education, cultural barriers, poverty, employment that does not carry health insurance, insufficient medical and social services catering for black men

Black men live 7.1 years less than other racial groupsThey have higher death rates than women for all leading causes of death. They experience disproportionately higher death rates in all the leading causes of death.

40% of black men die prematurely from cardiovascular disease as compared to 21% of white men.

Black men have a higher incidence and a higher rate of death from oral cancer.

Black men are 5 times more likely to die of HIV/AIDS.
44% of black men are considered overweight

24% are obese

Black men suffer more preventable oral diseases that are treatable

A higher incidence of diabetes and prostate cancer

A high suicide rate. It is the 3rd leading cause of death in 15 to 24 year olds


The above info is from About.com: Mens Health


Being a white woman never looked this good huh?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You are putting in some work!! I'm loving it!