Stephanie Tubbs Jones: “while there has been much devastation brought upon the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina, I hope that apart from its…”

“while there has been much devastation brought upon the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina, I hope that apart from its devastation, we can say that Hurricane Katrina brought to light some of the atrocities that have been going on for years such as the poverty crisis in this country. For far too long, we as a nation have neglected the underprivileged of this country. We are quick to criticize other countries for not taking care of their own, however, we have all but forgotten the poor in our own country. A recent study by the Population Reference Bureau noted that Orleans Parish, Louisiana and Harrison County, Mississippi, the counties that are home to New Orleans and Biloxi respectively, had median household incomes of just $31,369, 44 percent below that of the national average of $44,684. Additionally, 23.2 percent of the people in Orleans Parish and 14.6 percent of the people of Harrison County are below the poverty rate. Disproportionate rates of those people are African American. A whopping 35 percent in Orleans Parish and 27.4 percent in Harrison County. High proportions of elderly residents of the Gulf Coast have disabilities as well. In New Orleans alone, 56.4 percent or 28,195 elderly resident have disabilities, compared to the national average of 39.6 percent. About 9 percent of households in New Orleans did not even have a vehicle available to escape the storm.…”