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On the 18th of February, Attorney General Eric Holder called us all a "nation of cowards" when it came to discussing race.
I viewed this as a challenge, and so I compiled some statistics, facts, and even some allegations. Then, after some number crunching, I discovered some results that I didn't expect. This all required some thought and analysis, which I gave over a period of time, and now I present to you, and AG Holder, some "Black Facts":
According to an estimate made in 2007 by the US Census Bureau, there are 304,059,724 people living in America.
Of those people, only 12.2% categorized themselves as Black (alone, and without, I assume, major genetic deviance from the ancestral source [all future references will be to this group unless otherwise stated]). Their population estimate as of 2007 is 36,969,063.
People categorized as White (alone, same assumed circumstances) comprise 69.5% of the population at 211,460,626 people in a 2007 estimate.
Here is where you have to start paying attention as it gets confusing:
Of the total population (304,059,724), 11.15% are under the poverty line as defined by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Of that 11.15%, 25.3% are Black, and 10.5% are White.
The DHHS defines the Poverty line as:
$17,600 (family of 3-US average household size)
$10,400 (individual)
Take careful note that this is only referring to people who do not make enough money to sustain the basics of life.
In 1996, President Clinton signed into law the replacement for the 60 year old Aid to Families with Dependant Children (AFDC). It was called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). It is a program designed to "ween" individuals off the Welfare programs and get back "on their feet" in 5 years (the length of time one can spend on the program).
According to the DHHS, only 3,800,000 (close average) or 1.2% of the total population used TANF last year. Of all the states, it was interesting to note that only California topped over 1,000,000 consistently. Keep in mind, the site only gives these numbers as "individual recipients". Given that some people may use TANF for only themselves, while others indubitably have families that top the national average of 3 per household, I am going to use the national average as my conservative estimate for the close approximation of how many people depend on TANF.
This gives us a new percentage of people in the US who depend on TANF as 3.7%, or 11,400,000 individuals.
The following is unsited and outdated (as the program no longer exists) material and the closest that I could get to a figure. I would appreciate sited facts and corrections from any who should know.
As of 1996, the average racial breakdown of those on AFDC was as follows:
White 38.8%
Black 39.8%
Hispanic 15.7%
Asian 2.4%
Other 3.3%
On to Crime. The Department of Justice states:
"At yearend 2007, there were 3,138 black male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States, compared to 1,259 Hispanic male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 Hispanic males and 481 white male sentenced prisoners per 100,000 white males."
This breaks down to:
9,414,000 Black males in prison or,
3% of total population or,
25.5% of all Blacks (at least, not counting females) in prison.
1,443,000 White males in prison or,
.47% of total population or,
.68% of all Whites (at least, not counting females) in prison.
Well, that's all my numbers. On to the analysis, shall we?
The US Census Bureau's estimate is marginally smaller than the often repeated average when it comes to the percentage of Black Americans, but remember that the numbers reflect only those who categorize themselves as "Black Only" (as in without ancestral deviance). The true number reflective of all Black Americans may be more than 14% by now, the US Census of 2010 will decide.
One thing that struck my attention was that the number of people, even after my "inflation", was so surprisingly low. Only 3.7% of the total population is on the system commonly referred to as Welfare, while there are 11.15% of the people under the poverty line. I can only assume that there are other systems at work, such as SSI, Farmer Subsidies, etc. Still, the number is much lower than I thought.
How much money did Washington just throw into the system?
The Heritage Foundation says $800,000,000,000 USD over the next decade.
This breaks down to:
$21,052.63 per recipient per year
Rounding estimation to subtract for payments to and for administration, infrastructure, and DHHS employee wages, we have (roughly):
$20,000 per recipient per year (in addition to what is already received)
Of course, we can not forget that the dollar will be devalued due to the Stimulus Bill, so this is probably not a very large increase in adjusted amounts, but it sure looks great if you are on Welfare, or looking to be.
This will lead to a large number of people to jump on board the Welfare Gravy Train and ride it for the 5 years that TANF currently allows. That will bring some solidity to current Democrat votes (as it is all their "show") and bring some new ones in as well. Even if the recipients can only be on TANF for 5 years, that is still long enough to vote in the next Presidential election.
In short, I believe that they are selling the poor up the river for votes, and yes, they are actively recruiting (manufacturing) more.
Do not forget also, the backlash that Governor Jindal received when he stated his intention to decline the "benefits" of the Bill on the grounds that in three years, the Federal money would dry up, and leave the state to face the decision to either continue at its own expense, or to revert to the current amount of payout. The idea that he is "racist" or "hates Blacks" is ludicrous since the (alleged, yet seemingly correct) evidence states that Welfare goes to both Whites and Blacks in almost equal amounts, not to mention the other races involved.
The crime statistics that commonly lead to the old argument of a racist system are beginning to look more and more like the Black Community has some explaining to do.
Juries are decided by both sides. The Defense and the Prosecution both get to decide who stays and who goes. The concept of the "Racist Jury" is pure fiction.
In light of the fact that this country just voted in its first Black American President by a majority of 52%, these numbers demonstrate not some conspiracy against the Black Community, but rather a problem within the Black Community itself.
The "Staggering Disparity" between the numbers speaks to me of a lack of personal and communal responsibility. Incidentally, so do the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Bill Cosby, and even Barack Obama.
The claim that we are a "nation of cowards" when it comes to race is a brutal insult to every man, woman, and child who fought, bled, and even died so that one day you, the Attorney General of the United States of America, the highest ranked lawman in the land, could have your job.
In short Mr. Holder, I regret to inform you that your Race Card has been declined...
Special thanks to the US Census Bureau and the DHHS.
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