black…MYstory

What would you call a place where 13,000,000 children went to bed hungry in 2004, where the infant mortality ranks 43rd in the world and where over 40% of certain ethnic children are “chronically hungry”? You would call it America.

As this article lays out, even in America, hunger and poverty are inextricably linked.

Hunger is one of the clearest expressions of poverty. A child is born into poverty every 17 minutes in New York City. Chronically hungry children suffer from malnutrition, which can have devastating effects on physical and mental development. Malnutrition results not only from undernourishment but also from the wrong kind of foods, particularly fried and fatty meals.

It is estimated that 30,000 children in the world die every day from diseases related to hunger. The infant mortality rate (IMR) in Washington is more than twice as high as Beijing’s. In 2002, the number of babies who died before their first birthday was 11.5 per thousand births in Washington versus 4.6 in Beijing.

In the U.S., hunger and race are linked; 41.9 percent of African American children and 40 percent of Latino children are chronically hungry, compared to 16.2 percent of white children. The United Nations Development Program reports that an African-American baby in Washington has less chance of surviving its first year than a baby born in urban areas of the Indian state of Kerala. America’s IMR ranks 43rd in the world.

According to recent information from the Food Bank for New York City and City Harvest, published in “Growing Up Hungry in New York City: An Analysis of Hunger Among Children,” hunger among children has reached critical levels in the city. Their research shows that almost one-third (29 percent) of New Yorkers who receive emergency food aid are children.

So, the next time sombody talks about how Blacks and Latinos are living high on the hog off welfare, ask them to actually look at the reality instead of repeating talking points.

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