CNN Poll Shows Racial Divide

[piasabird]

Here is the actual article.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/12/katrina.race.poll/index.html

My wife, who is Korean was telling me that where she works in St Louis, MO, some Black Ladies were exressing that they were ashamed of the black looters in New Orleans. Her friends at work seem to think the looter's actions make all Black people look bad. I think when the media focuses on this type of activity it does nothing but reinforce a typical Black Stereotype. This can not be good to show over and over again by the media. It will do nothing but strengthen the racial divide in the USA. I think that the Media is not interested in the welfare of the country or even getting to the real facts.

Another interesting fact is that it seems local churches with no giant governmental machine were able to do better at helping people than any government agency. I think perhaps churches are just better at stretching the dollars than the US Government ever will be. I think we need both to survive. If it was not for agencies like United Way, our government would have a really tough time dealing with this situation.

I dont think it is very wise to keep maintaining a city that is below sea level. Some of thes houses in low lying areas should just be knocked down. That land may be better suited for a landfill. After it is built up higher by filling in debri, then it might be high enough to make it usable as a residence or for some other purpose like industry.

 

[Genx87]

Polls can be manufactured to show a desired result. During Clintons term when certain polls came out his advisors told him to stay calm as their numbers were completely different and the question was put forth in a more fair light.

 

[imported_Condor]

Of course they are. When someone wants to justify a big budget, sale a product, or stir up controversy (sale a product), they engineer one of these things. I would have thought the last election would have taught people something? Besides that, some people (roughly 62%) are a pretty easy sale and have a very limited focus.

 

[imported_Condor]

Besides that, Democratic leadership pushing the race card down the throats of the people will produce a racial divide effect. Democratic leadership hardly has anything else to sale and it has kept them in power for how many years? Sort of like the RVW issue. They pretend to champion that issue and yet, with years of Democratic control in Congress and the Senate, they never made a single move to solidify a tenous judical decision with legislation. If they had done that, there would be nothing they could use to continue that voter base.

 

[irwincur]

Polls make news.

In the same way that keeping racial tensions high makes news.


Never forget that the business of those in the news is to report news - if they can make their own business, they are in a much better situation...

 

[piasabird]

What I like is how they asked who is responsible for the slow reaction or the response and they did not even mention the Governor of the State's Name. She is the one who was responsible for activating the national guard and she seems to have hesitated and done nothing.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Part of the problem is the Lamestream Media. I wonder how many blacks know about the predominately white areas surrounding New Orleans that were passed by so aid could be concentrated on those in NOLA? Looking at the poll results, I'd wager there's not many. I wonder how many people even realize that the devastation from this storm went far beyond NOLA? Mobile, Biloxi, and so many other areas have received little to no attention whatsoever from the media.

But leave it to the LSM to stoke the "race" fire to a hellishly high heat.

 

[ahurtt]

I find most polls are engineered to try and prove what we already know is true anyway.

 

[mect]

The problem is that most people in america don't understand polling. I'm almost to the point that I think a statistcis class should be a requirement for high school education. A statistics class would be of a lot more use to the average american than trig or calculus. It isn't that its really a hard subject (at least not until about 300(0) level in college), but just ignored. But as long as people know they can get others to believe what they say as long as a poll is included, unscientific polling attempting to push a point will continue. If Americans were more educated in this sense, they would have to be more honest. Even in the sciences theres a lack of statistical understanding often until you reach the graduate level.

 

[mikeford]

I agree, media get the poorest performance grade of any group envolved with Katrina.

 

[sygyzy]

Some of you are so tired of the race card, that you would never let it be played even when it is clearly a case. I am not saying Katrina and NOLA is such a case, but it's amazing how racsists can actually take an issue like race and turn it into a tool to be used AGAINST victims. I mean, I can understand it getting old, but it's there because it's part of reality. What WOULD you justify as racism or race-swayed?

 

[raildogg]

blacks are a lost cause for the republicans. if the republicans were smart they would stop wasting their time caring for black votes since they're not going to get any. oh wait, the republicans have not really shown that black votes matter much anyway.

democrats are responsible for brainwashing many blacks, along with these so called black leaders. republicans have showed in the past that they dont care for blacks. republicans, and rightfully so, are now simply going after hispanic votes. if blacks vote 90% democrat, why waste money on them?

as for this poll, meh.

the blacks i talk to love Kanye West, they agree with the things he says. many blacks feel the same way as Kanye West. they say republicans hate blacks, republicans hate the poor. as for democrats, they feel democrats are better although they dont voice their opinion on democrats. its sort of the same mentality we have on these forums:

democrats good

republicans bad

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: mikeford
I agree, media get the poorest performance grade of any group envolved with Katrina.

:thumbsup:

To be more specific, mainstream media, both print and radio / television. Which is why mainstream media is dying. Network news ratings have never been lower, radio is going Satellite (where the end user has CHOICE), and newspaper circulation figures are lower than ever before.

 

[Starbuck1975]

Some of you are so tired of the race card, that you would never let it be played even when it is clearly a case.

There is no doubt that a huge gap exists between how white Americans and black Americans view the same situation. The CNN poll clearly demonstrates the bias that exists within both racial groups.

That being said, the race card becomes a question of the boy who cried wolf. The media plays a role in this, as every time a black person, or black community, suffers an injustice in this society, it automatically becomes a racial issue.

White on black acts of violence fall under the umbrella of hate crimes, yet black on white violence, motivated by the same ignorance, is excused or even justified as the venting of racial frustrations.

There are a number of reports from New Orleans that many white residents stranded in the city, who went to the SuperDome and Convention Center, ultimately decided to leave those facilities because of a threats they either received or perceived from the increasingly frustrated number of black residents also stranded at those locations. Yet you don't see the media harping on or even suggesting that racism occurred in these instances.

There is a double standard in this country...some would justify it given the overt racism that blacks have faced even after the instution of slavery became a relic of the past. Similarly, racism continues to exist in this country, sometimes in the more dangerous form of attitude bias and persisting stereotypes.

As an educated white male, I cannot begin to comprehend what it is like to be black in this country, but behavior that either reinforces or otherwise plays into stereotypes does very little to erode my tolerance for even attempting to understand.