New study shows Blacks talk, text more
Researchers don’t know why
According to a recent study by The Nielsen Company, which analyzes the cell phone bills of more than 60,000 people in the United States each month, African Americans talk and text significantly more than other races.
On average African Americans used more than 1,300 minutes of talk time per month. Hispanics were a not-so-close second with 826 minutes; Asians/Pacific Islanders were third with 692 minutes, and last were Whites with 647 minutes of talk time per month.
Text usage followed a similar pattern. African Americans came in first with 780 texts per month followed by Hispanics with 767, Whites with 566, and Asians/Pacific Islanders with 384.
Women were also on the list of top cell phone users; they talked 22 percent more and texted 34 percent more than men, and Southerners.
The reason behind the Southern states having such high numbers, is because they are usually heavily populated by the heaviest of cell phone users—Blacks and Hispanics.
The study by Neilsen did not explain why the discrepancies between races existed, but speculation is that African Americans use their cell phones more, because many of them do not have home phones. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 25 percent of African American adults only had cell phones last year.
A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project reported that African Americans are also more likely to use the Internet on their phones, which partially explains why they are also lagging in adoption of home broadband Internet in comparison to other races.
The introduction of this study has piqued questions as to what these results mean. Many worry that there may be a causal relationship between these results and the struggling socio-economic status that African Americans already face. It is expected that more research on this topic will be done in the near future.
Eric Banks, allegedly the only African American owner/operator of a RaceTrac gas station, is calling for a nation-wide boycott of the company and its parent corporation, Atlanta-based Raceway Petroleum, after he received a 90-day notice informing him that his station would be offered to a new owner, because he was “no longer the right fit.”
Banks believes the decision is nothing more than the newest chapter in Raceway’s racist treatment of its Black operators.
Nearly one-third of African American students (32.9 percent) and one-quarter of Hispanic pupils (23.8 percent) dropped out during the 2007-08 school year compared to 18.9 percent of youngsters overall in California.
That figure from the California Department of Education represents a four-year adjusted rate and also the first time officials say they have been able to determine a true drop-out rate.
The California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE) results for this year’s graduating class of 2010 show that 94.5 percent of students who were tested passed the test within a three-year period.
The CAHSEE is a statewide public high school graduation requirement that was implemented for the 2006 graduating class, which tests students on English and Mathematics.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A former Palmdale apartment manager who said he was punched, kicked and pepper-sprayed without provocation in a confrontation with sheriff’s deputies received an additional $6,000 in punitive damages in addition to $575,000 awarded two days earlier by the same jury.
The Los Angeles Superior Court panel deliberated for about one and half hours Friday before assessing the damages in favor of Noel Bender and against Deputy Scott Sorrow.
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission, which held meetings in Los Angeles City Hall last Thursday and in the Antelope Valley on Sunday, has a mandate is to redraw district lines, not to disrupt communities but to strengthen them. But how does the Commission accomplish its task when most community spokespersons appeared to be asking the body to maintain the status quo and keep their communities intact?
