Louisiana ranks lowest in child well-being and nearly all life quality issues

Portland, Oregon captures the Taste of Louisiana food yet ranks much higher than Louisiana in quality of life

Several years ago news reports observed Louisiana as 49th in child well-being and ranking low on virtually all scales involving quality of life, while at the same time high in crime.  Are these statistics true these days and how has the cost of gas figured into the rise and fall of Louisiana funds?

While state government politicians and big oil money folks talk about the need for money, where does it go if the quality of life is impaired and there has been so much money produced from oil and gas.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation was the one that ranked Louisiana 49th among states in overall child well-being.  It looks at a number of factors that include children's health, economic status, family structure and education. and the.

At the time Judy Watts, President/CEO of Agenda for children said, “It is truly disheartening to see Louisiana ranked 49th in the KIDS COUNT Data Book for the ninth straight year,” “For far too long, Louisiana’s high poverty rate has been the root cause of Louisiana’s poor rankings on many of these indicators. With many Louisiana families suffering from the effects of the recession and the recent oil spill, it is more important than ever that families have the opportunities they need to become self-sufficient.”

Historically Louisiana has always ranked low in the areas of health,education, child welfare and status of the elderly.  Its infrastructure has been found in serious disrepair statewide.  The areas where it ranks high are in crime rate and its elements of fun from Mardi Gras to festivals to drinking, smoking and drugs.  

In October 2014 Louisiana ranked again among the top ten lowest on all factors of quality of life.

24/7 Wall Street made the observations, summarizing the findings with this:

"A typical Louisiana resident is expected to live less than 76 years, a lower life expectancy than in all but three other states. Many Louisiana communities are also quite dangerous. There were nearly 11 murders per 100,000 people in the state in 2013, the highest homicide rate nationwide and in the worst 10% of all OECD regions. Nearly 20% of the population lived in poverty in 2013, more than in all but two other states. Louisiana boasts a highly productive natural gas industry, with more than 3,000 trillion BTUs produced in 2012, more than any other state except for Texas. However, this also exposes the state's economy to fluctuations in energy prices."

Yet this is a state that has hydraulic fracturing as well as oil and gas exploration in the coastal waters of the Gulf region.  In spite of the income, the state languishes in areas that count when it comes to citizen well-being.

Many of Louisiana's legislative members are members of ALEC, a conservative organization.  Overall the State votes red on almost everything, identifying itself with conservative legislation, like much of the rest of the South.

Yet the politics of conservatism do not appear to have served the population well, given quality of life issues, as experts observe.

And the central force behind the economy of oil and gas companies support many of the key lawmakers as well.  So oil and gas and politics remain big players in Louisiana.

But while the politicians play in the oil fields, the people of Louisiana have little extra money with which to play at all.

Black-white mix-ups in Louisiana small-town palette

[caption id="attachment_6653" align="alignleft" width="180" caption="Marvin Blake"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff - While New Orleans sets itself apart as a city on the move, it is only recently breaking away from black, white politics, a change that could also come in the rest of the state if African Americans attain leadership in the small towns of Louisiana.  For if they do, they can eliminate some of the fear that continues to be the great divide.

In Natchitoches, Louisiana, a town of about 16,000,  African Americans are becoming more and more a new and advancing force in politics.  That newness has come from the fact that the numbers of African Americans have grown in this town,  where the races are virtually even  in terms of absolute numbers, with a slight lead occurring in the area of the African American population.

The talk is now whether it’s time for the town to have an African American mayor and whether that would change how people are treated in the community based on racial factors.  While people deny the influence of race on politics, the back story of most elections has been the buying of canvassers by politicians from both parties, a way to garner loyalty in the African American community for special candidates.  It is a long-standing tradition that some people are targeting and saying must end.   White influence on black voting may end up being part of history’s dump as opposed to a future direction, as it has impacted politics from New Orleans to Shreveport and the backwater towns of the state.

Marvin Blake, a realtor­-businessman is a good old boy of the South in the sense his ancestors were early residents of the state.  His father was the first African American police officer in Natchitoches in 1967.  The senior Blake had a supportive chief who often said, “If you don’t respect the color, you will respect the badge.”

Blake has grown up with that sense of self respect, beginning at an early age.  He attended the lab school at the age of 9, as one of only three African American children among 30 attending the school at the time.    He has continued the pattern of striving to do well by becoming a businessman in real estate.  Now at the age of 51, he has three sons, a wife who is a teacher and a marriage of 31 years.  And Blake maintains color is not the topic when it comes to politicis.

“I’m my own man,” he tells us.  “I don’t see criticism of Obama on race, but I would like to see him channel money through businesses.  I see the need to help small business succeed.  It’s in that direction African Americans can be brought to parity with everyone else.

Some people think in black and white, but I don’t,” Blake explains.  “We do, however, have to increase opportunities in the business sector in order to spur economic development.  We need to teach people to fish."

Blake sees the solution to the problems between African Americans and whites in the area as bringing people together to develop businesses.  He said, “We need a solid African American business class.  If I become Mayor I would meet with banks and find ways to create small businesses and use HUD loans for communities to jump start loans.

The goal is to put people to work.  Loans aren’t a “black” loan either, because there are plenty of people who are marginalized.  We need to increase opportunities for everyone.”

The future is also the children, as Blake reminds those he hopes might elect him Mayor.  “We need to work on the infrastructure of this town,” he says.  “A child stepped in a ditch and tore his foot in half.  That’s a terrible thing, because we have places that are dangerous with deep ditches and lack of proper sidewalks.  We have to do things to improve child safety and respect for our neighborhoods.”

Black and white issues remain a problem in Natchitoches, that folks like Blake hope they might be able to overcome.  But the talk remains about whether the whole town is ready for an African American mayor and whether the African American community will support a non white candidate and not be “bought” this time.

The mix-up in black and white is a heavy burden for Natchitoches, the town of the Steel Magnolias, that advertises its sunny place as great for retirees.  Resolving the issue of color is the battle good folks believe can one day be won in a balanced way  for serious progress and stability of the town.  That type of example would be a good one for the nation, as people continuing to grow in ethnic appreciation and diversity everywhere.