This movie was released last year but can now be streamed online. It's one of the best summaries of a growing problem we have in this country that is totally solvable.
Showing posts with label poverty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poverty. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Statistics Slap Gingrich in the Face Over Labeling Blacks as Food Stamp Users
Newt Gingrich appeared in Laconia, New Hampshire and generalized African-Americans as a community needing lecturing about the importance of having a job rather than using food stamps.
(Before we get to the race angle, we should point out to Newt that seeking the two are not mutually exclusive. Wages are so low for millions of employed Americans that they must use food stamps to keep up their food intake. We would like Newt and other politicians, Republican and Democratic, to seek living wage legislation across the nation.)
Multiple times last year former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich labeled Barack Obama as the "food stamps president". But truthfully, since we are speaking about the races and food stamps, we should note that it was Obama's white mother that briefly was impoverished to the point that she used food stamps.
From Daily Kos, here is Gingrich's stereotype-laden quote:
But as Joy-Ann Reid in the blog, the Grio today (January 5, 2012) reported in "Newt Gingrich: 'I will tell black people to demand paychecks instead of food stamps'",
(Before we get to the race angle, we should point out to Newt that seeking the two are not mutually exclusive. Wages are so low for millions of employed Americans that they must use food stamps to keep up their food intake. We would like Newt and other politicians, Republican and Democratic, to seek living wage legislation across the nation.)
Multiple times last year former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich labeled Barack Obama as the "food stamps president". But truthfully, since we are speaking about the races and food stamps, we should note that it was Obama's white mother that briefly was impoverished to the point that she used food stamps.
From Daily Kos, here is Gingrich's stereotype-laden quote:
“I will go to the NAACP convention, and explain to the African-American community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps."
But as Joy-Ann Reid in the blog, the Grio today (January 5, 2012) reported in "Newt Gingrich: 'I will tell black people to demand paychecks instead of food stamps'",
A 2009 study found that 1 in 8 Americans, and 1 in 4 children -- of all races -- received food assistance, in the wake of the 2007 recession. The study found that 28 percent of blacks, 15 percent of Hispanics, and 8 percent of whites, received food assistance that year.
When it comes to total welfare receipts, Whites receive 34 percent of federal food assistance benefits, African-Americans 22 percent, and Hispanics 17 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Researchers Link Deaths to Social Ills
The New York Times reported this summer,
social ills, such as poverty and discrimination can be as dangerous to a person's health as smoking and obesity.
Read on, the Times story by Nicholas Bakalar, from July 4, 2011
He cites an article from The American Journal of Public Health.
social ills, such as poverty and discrimination can be as dangerous to a person's health as smoking and obesity.
Read on, the Times story by Nicholas Bakalar, from July 4, 2011
He cites an article from The American Journal of Public Health.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
UN: Inequality in NYC, other US cities threatens social instabilty
UN report classifies New York City, Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington, and Miami as having a high level of social inequality, on the level of cities, such as Nairobi, Kenya and Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in Third World, developing countries.
The study of 120 cities places New York City as being the ninth most unequal.
* * *
See the list of countries, by Gini coefficient, and see where the US ranks in wealth distribution. Data were from the United Nations and the US Central Intelligence Agency.
The study of 120 cities places New York City as being the ninth most unequal.
"High levels of inequality can lead to negative social, economic and political consequences that have a destabilising effect on societies," said the report. "(They) create social and political fractures that can develop into social unrest and insecurity."--from "Wealth gap creating a social time bomb," referencing the UN report, in "Guardian" of the UK, Oct. 23, 2008.
According to the annual State of the World's cities report from UN-Habitat, race is one of the most important factors determining levels of inequality in the US and Canada.
. . . .
Disparities of wealth were measured on the "Gini co-efficient", an internationally recognised measure usually only applied to the wealth of countries. The higher the level, the more wealth is concentrated in the hands of fewer people.
* * *
See the list of countries, by Gini coefficient, and see where the US ranks in wealth distribution. Data were from the United Nations and the US Central Intelligence Agency.
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