Red meat today for angry blacks and guilty whites in Chi Trib’s hard copy p-1 headline story, “The transplant gap keeps more blacks waiting for kidneys,” by Deborah Shelton.
The story is another in a line of “makes me want to holler” items that regularly feed black resentment and white-liberal anguish, recounting in excruciating, montonous detail what’s wrong with organ transplantation in this country as regards racial disparity.
Read it and weep, whether from anger or guilt or ennui compounded with disgust at colorized journalism meant to feed the race-complaint machine — rather plant, like Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors” : “Feeeeeed me!”
At least in the Metro section’s page-one story about bicycle messengers with its bike-messenger viewpoint lede, we read also about drivers and pedestrians’ complaints about cyclist’s recklessness and flouting of traffic rules. In this kidney-transplant story, on the other hand, we get almost all quotes and notations in support of What a Damn Shame This Is.
African-Americans account for 37 percent of people receiving dialysis but make up only 19 percent of the transplant population, according to the United States Renal Data System, a government database.
This is news? Over– and under-representation of blacks in bad (as incarceration) and good (academic achievement) has been trumpeted with indignation, but never going beyond that and white American responsibility for it all. Or is it propaganda?
Responsibility, thy color is white, is the message. If you’re black, step back from responsibility, for this and a dozen other bad situations. A very bad message for all concerned.
Blithe Spirit 
I’ve been a bleeding heart liberal on race both personally and professionally…yet I have to agree with the facts stated here. Disparity issues like this one achieve a lot of heat and little light. But we’ve got a couple centuries of feelings at work and it’s hard (often seems impossible) to undo those repressed rages. That’s why I’m curious about this blog’s skepticism about Obama who — on the whole — could be the best oneto START “binding up the nation’s wounds” which have languished since Lincoln uttered the call. Reading his Philadelphia speech on race makes me think Obama has the right vision for BOTH blacks and whites. Whether the pols ever let him accomplish anything is of course problematic
By the way, re: the discussion about author Feith, I was intrigued by General Franks’ assessment: “the dumbest man in the universe.”
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As a matter of fact, I think O. would exacerbate relations, race or other, beginning with my own with everyone I meet.
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I won’t even bother to read the article and give that pathetic Pravda organ a hit. I have read, ad nauseam, about the disparity in transplant organs. Whose fault is that? Maybe not enough black gang bangers have signed their drivers’ licenses agreeing to be donors?
One reason so many blacks and Hispanics are on dialysis is due to uncontrolled diabetes and high blood pressue, kidney killers both. Both races account for higher rates than white or Asian races in obesity (have you ever seen an obese Asian besides Sumo wrestlers?).
Between the lack of compatible donors (black) and personal responsibility for maintaining one’s own health, there is a disparity for blacks. It’s not Whiteys’ fault.
No one bothers to mention the enormous cost to taxpayers to maintain these same people on dialysis — I guess we don’t count. We only have to earn the money that is taxed by working every day of the week!
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