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February 25, 2006
Impact of Katrina on African-American Dentists
The following news article describes the impact, plans, and conditions of life for several of the New Orleans dentists who were leaders in the local African American community.
Cass, Julia. Notable Mardi Gras Abscences Reflect Loss of Black Middle Class (Saturday, 25 February 2006): http://www.amhersttimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=841&Itemid=27
EXCERPT:
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"The impression is that just poor people were displaced, but Katrina has had a devastating effect on the black middle class, too," said Willard Dumas, a dentist who serves as the Bunch Club's recording secretary and now lives in Baton Rouge. "You spend 45 years building a life and then it's gone. Your home was flooded; your business was flooded. And this happened not only to you but to practically everyone you know, so your patients or clients are gone, your friends are scattered, and your relatives are somewhere else." ... Those black professionals are scattered across the South, finding new jobs, establishing new medical and legal practices and businesses. The longer they are gone, the greater the worry that they will not come back -- leaving New Orleans, a majority-black city before Katrina, without a core of African American leadership.
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For more information on this topic, please see:
National Dental Association (NDA): Katrina State of Emergency : NDA Disaster Relief Efforts: http://www.ndaonline.org/katrinainfo.asp
Posted by pfa at February 25, 2006 01:16 PM