Is it just me or are most of the displaced people from ' Katrina' black?

[Tony_FLADEM]

I know Louisiana Mississippi and Alabama have big African-American populations - it just seems to me 95% of the people who have lost everything are black and I think this is a little weird.

Am I being paranoid?

[BlueEyedSon]

1. The whites have more money to travel and pay for lodging, if necessary

[Lochloosa]

2. And NO is predominately black.

[mattclearing]

3. No, just observant. n/t

[spooked911]

4. No, you're not, and this is a horrible catastrophe for these people

this is just too horrible for words

[skooooo]

5. I dunno, I thought only rich white people had problems! nt

[Jacobin]

6. Orleans Parish is like 65% black

Most are in poverty from a monetary standpoint, although I hasten to add not from a spiritual (not christo-nazi), cultural, and human standpoint.

They are what MAKES New Orleans great. I love that city and have spent a lot of time there over the years.

It breaks my heart to see the citizens suffering so.

[On the Road]

7. Remember the Flooding is Downtown

more whites live on higher ground and in the suburbs. And more have cars and the financial means to relocate for a few days.

Even considering all those, however, it does seem disproportionate. The refugees certainly doesn't represent the population. In east-coast hurricanes, a lot of the people who stay behind are simply long-term residents who are wiling to take a chance.

[1932]

8. Two things to say about that.

- If poverty correlates with race in N.O. (as I suspect it does) these are the people who couldn't afford to evacuate before the storm even if they wanted to.

- On NPR I heard a woman say that she didn't evacuate because the media always says the storms are going to be the worst ever, and this time they weren't lying and she made the wrong choice. The media should learn a lesson about crying wolf for ratings. That doesn't have to do with race, but Ii thought I'd mention it. People who are cynical about news coverage might have ignored evacuation orders regardless of their class or race.

[kitkat65]

9. As far as New Orleans is concerned, yes almost all are black.

The reporting I've seen in places like Biloxi shows predominantly whites

[SujiwanKenobee]

10. Inner cities vs outer burbs and colonial settlement patterns

Seems to me that many of this nation's cities have become predominately black/minority ever since white flight to the suburbs. Other than certain regentrification areas, I think that is the norm although certain suburbs are now seeing more influx by new immigrant groups and wealthier blacks.

Historically, the deep south has had a very large black population versus non-black, so the "count" situation in NO is not at all surprising-- ethnically speaking.