The state of Louisiana
What do you call Gumbo without seasoning?
My name is Darryl Ray Ware II and there is nothing more tasty than a good ol’ plate of southern Louisiana cuisine.
Every good pot of Gumbo requires the right recipe. I would send my kid to go make groceries if they were around. I would write the name of every single vegetable and piece of meat that we can possibly find and add it to the pot. My children would have to learn their ABCs first.
The National Assessment of National Progress (NAEP) assessed the 2020-2021 Louisiana school year and reported the results back to each department of education. The NAEP conducts national assessments of student achievement in each state. In Louisiana, only 20% of 4th-grade students are proficient at reading, while 45% are reading below basic. Math is also a challenge in the state. Only 25% of 4th-grade students are proficient at math, while 27% are below basic.
Louisiana is ranked 47th in high school graduation rates. According to the US Census 2020 ACS 5-Year Survey and the National Center for Education Statistics, Louisiana has a high school graduation rate of 85.9%. The average graduation rate in the United States is 88.5%.
Community College is often an option for students who graduate from K-12 public schools. Nearly 150,000 students choose to attend community college rather than a public or private 4-year university in Louisiana. The national community college graduation rate is almost 40%. In Louisiana, the overall graduation rate for community colleges in Louisiana was 26%. For bachelor’s degrees or higher, Louisiana has a graduation rate of 24.9%, making it #47 overall in the country. The national average is 32.9%. My children have to learn their ABCs before we can make Gumbo.
We pay high gas prices to get to the store. My car has over 100,000 miles on it; I feel every pothole on every drive. Someone has to do something about these streets so I can make my Gumbo.
The Louisiana Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) reviewed and provided a report on Louisiana’s infrastructure in 2017. ASCE gave a statewide average of D+ for overall infrastructure quality on Louisiana’s report card. There are more than 61,000 roadways in Louisiana with a reported backlog of 10.1 billion dollars. (ASCE) That leaves many Priority A and Priority B megaprojects in major cities incomplete for the citizens of Louisiana. Citizens rely on bridges to cross the many aquifers of the bayou. Louisiana ranks 4th in total bridge area with 16,387,706 square feet of bridge deck, however, Louisiana ranks 2nd in the nation in structurally deficient bridges. In addition to bridges coming down, Louisiana received a D- in drinking water.
The Louisiana Department of Health reported that nearly 58% of the water infrastructure was constructed before 1960. Over the years, aging lead and copper pipes have created a public health crisis in towns like St. Joseph, Louisiana. Over-pumping is an added water contamination hazard. 30% of all parishes in Louisiana are already susceptible to saltwater intrusion. Over-pumping, which leads to saltwater intrusion and groundwater completion, will only continue to exacerbate the many issues regarding the safety of public drinking water in the state. Louisiana’s infrastructure is ranked 49th in the United States. I need paved roads and clean water to make my Gumbo.
I cannot stand a thief. I cannot go to any store in Louisiana without thinking about the latest robbery. We all know a turn down the wrong street, at the wrong time, can get you hit with a stray projectile that you never even saw coming. I try not to let these onions spoil my Gumbo.
The FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program reported that Louisiana has a violent crime rate of 537.5 per 100,000 people. That is the highest violent crime rate in the nation. Louisiana trails only Mississippi for the highest homicide rate in the United States. (Southwest Journal) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that Louisiana has 19.9 homicides per 100,000 people. Louisiana also ranks the third highest in property crime with a rate of 2,917 per 100,000 inhabitants based on FBI crime tracker data. Correctional officers have their hands full as well. Louisiana has the highest incarceration rate in the world. 66% of the incarcerated men in Louisiana are African American. This is a call for restorative justice. Louisiana’s crime and corrections are ranked 50th in the United States of America. I need to feel safe to make my Gumbo.
Food costs money. My car costs money. My money costs money. I need my money to make my Gumbo.
Louisiana’s gross state product is 228 billion U.S. dollars with a growth rate of - 0.5%. With a population of 4,607,442, Louisiana is seeing an annual decrease of 0.3% in population. (IBIS World) Louisiana lacks diversity in industry and revenue performance. Multibillion-dollar petroleum refineries, oil-drilling and gas extractions, and gasoline and petroleum bulk stations are the largest industries by annual revenue in the state. State and local governments are the largest employers of Louisiana residents which is not a sustainable revenue cycle for tax dollars. The median annual income in Louisiana is $27,139. The unemployment rate is approximately 4.0% statewide. Louisiana’s economy is ranked 50th in the nation. We all need more money to make our Gumbo.
I can’t make Gumbo if I can’t breathe.
Louisiana ranks 4th in the nation for industrial water pollution. In 2020, industrial plants released over 11 million pounds of harmful substances into Louisiana’s aquifers. (WWNO) The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality legally permitted every single pound. Over 90% of Louisiana’s water bodies failed to meet water quality standards for wildlife habitat and human recreation. The state also includes the largest expanse of polluted estuaries in the nation. According to a new analysis from the Environmental Integrity Project, the greatest threat to Louisiana’s waterways is land runoff from farms and home sewage systems. When inadequate home sewage systems allow raw sewage to leak into the soil, naturally, the leak flows into the water bodies that should be reserved for wildlife and human recreation. There is no regulation to prevent this issue from contaminating all water in the state of Louisiana.
According to published research by Tulane Law, exposure to high levels of toxic air pollution is estimated to cause 85 new cancer cases per year throughout Louisiana. The CDC reported Louisiana as the state with the second-highest rate of new cancer cases nationwide. There are 490 new cancer cases per 100,000 citizens in Louisiana. In neighborhoods with above-average poverty rates and higher levels of toxic air pollution, the average annual cancer rate was 502 cases per 100,000 people. (Tulane) This is a call to climate justice. Cancer Alley can be no more. Louisiana is ranked 50th in pollution. I shouldn’t have to say it, but I need clean air to make my Gumbo.
I like my Gumbo with seasoning. Give me all the spices and everything that makes my Gumbo muddy brown. Who will take care of me when I finish my bowl of Gumbo?
Louisiana has the highest rate of maternal mortality at 58.1 deaths per 100,000 live births. That is higher than the maternal mortality rate in the country of El Salvador, South America. (World Health Organization) Louisiana also has the second highest infant mortality in the country at a rate of 7.59 per 1,000 live births. (CDC) Save our children.
Louisiana ranks 5th in the nation in heart attacks. The CDC reported 12,255 deaths from heart disease per 100,000 people in Louisiana. Based on body mass index metrics, 47.9% of Louisiana residents are obese. We love to eat. Louisiana is ranked 45th in healthcare. Who will take care of me when I finish my bowl of Gumbo?
Education, Infrastructure, Economy, Climate Change, and Healthcare should all be addressed through the lens of equity. Louisiana has a history and pervasive political culture of inequity that leaves people of color and the working class most vulnerable to the ills of society. Education reform must instill confidence, historically accurate knowledge, and intellectual enrichment within every student of every economic background and skin color. Infrastructure investments must be divided fairly amongst all cities and towns within Louisiana and not just the cities that make the usual big-ticket items. Crime has always plagued Louisiana, but there has never been an effective long-term policy solution. Louisiana must embrace a culture of Restorative Justice that rehabilitates and turns formerly incarcerated men into the best of us in society. Economically, Louisiana belongs to Big Oil. It does not have to stay that way. Making the transition to Green Energy can bring stable good-paying middle-class jobs to Louisianians and help improve the infrastructure in the process. Climate Change is real. Climate change hits the working class people the hardest. We have to look no further than the results of Hurricane Katrina. Public Health is a non-negotiable for our people in the state of Louisiana. Our people deserve culturally competent healthcare that can meet them where they are to improve the overall health of our state. None of this is possible without Federal Funding. We need Federal Funding to make our Gumbo.
What do you call Gumbo without seasoning?
America without Louisiana.
Darryl R Ware II is the Founder & CEO of the publishing company Think Chief which provides stories of Truth, Faith, and Love for the people who care about the future of the United States of America.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: The state of Louisiana
