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Daily Archives: September 5, 2010
Communities of color are ‘canaries in the coal mine’ of economic crisis
Foreclosures have drained $350 billion in assets from communities of color and Small Business Administration lending to minority-owned businesses has cratered, contributing to a growing racial wealth gap. For every dollar of wealth owned by a white family, an African American or Latino family owns just 16 cents.
After Katrina, New Orleans cops were told they could shoot looters
In the chaotic days after Hurricane Katrina, an order circulated among New Orleans police authorizing officers to shoot looters. “We have authority by martial law to shoot looters,” Capt. James Scott told a few dozen officers. Warren Riley, then the department’s second-in-command, said to “take the city back and shoot looters.”