Where Are The Black Charities?
There are so many ways to help Katrina victims, and so many who need the help. I'm sure you've noticed what is so noticeable and so un-said: That from the images we see, most of those who are most desperately in need of help are black.
New Orleans and the coastal Mississippi counties have large black populations -- New Orleans' is 67% -- but that doesn't explain it, because nearly all the faces on TV are black, and cerainly 1/3 aren't white.
Many of these folks probably just didn't have the money to get away. Others stayed to protect what they have because they're uninsured and were worried about replacing it. And some might even have stayed because they simply didn't trust the white man's news media and the white man's emergency broadcasts. (Slate has an ideologically charged but informative piece along these lines.)
These reasons why they stayed are all the more reason for us to help them. I recommend giving to Feed the Children, because it can be counted on to deal with this situation swiftly, without politics and without preference.
Unfortunately, it appears that the black charities and organizations are doing little to organize to help Katrina victims. NAACP.org does not have a Katrina link on its home page, nor does Associated Black Charities, Black Women In Sisterhood for Action, the African Self-Help Foundation, or the National Center for Black Philanthropy. This is sad and shocking. They've had several days to organize their help campaigns, and there just isn't evidence that they are doing so.
New Orleans and the coastal Mississippi counties have large black populations -- New Orleans' is 67% -- but that doesn't explain it, because nearly all the faces on TV are black, and cerainly 1/3 aren't white.
Many of these folks probably just didn't have the money to get away. Others stayed to protect what they have because they're uninsured and were worried about replacing it. And some might even have stayed because they simply didn't trust the white man's news media and the white man's emergency broadcasts. (Slate has an ideologically charged but informative piece along these lines.)
These reasons why they stayed are all the more reason for us to help them. I recommend giving to Feed the Children, because it can be counted on to deal with this situation swiftly, without politics and without preference.
Unfortunately, it appears that the black charities and organizations are doing little to organize to help Katrina victims. NAACP.org does not have a Katrina link on its home page, nor does Associated Black Charities, Black Women In Sisterhood for Action, the African Self-Help Foundation, or the National Center for Black Philanthropy. This is sad and shocking. They've had several days to organize their help campaigns, and there just isn't evidence that they are doing so.
posted by Laer at 7:46 AM
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