pwaldo
07-01-2012, 09:35 PM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2166826/Its-addiction-Dallas-NAACP-wants-BAN-racist-state-lottery-drains-money-minorities-poor-people.html
The Dallas, Texas, branch of the NAACP has called for a ban on the state lottery, claiming that it is a drain on the finances of low-income people, and especially minorities, who can least afford games of chance.
Chapter President Juanita Wallace said many people have spent all their hard-earned money in hopes of striking it rich, but instead, the lottery has left their finances in shambles.
‘It’s an addiction,‘ she told CNN.
One of NAACP’s major concerns is that the lottery specifically targets African-Americans, as well as people who are poor and ‘uneducated.’
Overall, Texans have spent a whopping $3.3billion on lottery tickets so far this year, according to CBS DFW.
A spokeswoman with the Texas Lottery Commission rejected allegations of racism, saying the Texas lottery does not market any differently from one demographic to another.
Wallace said her NAACP chapter is already lobbying local lawmakers to put a stop to the lottery, along with organizations like the Baptist General Convention of Texas that has long opposed gambling.
In total, the lottery has contributed more than $14billion to the school fund -- nearly $1billion in fiscal 2011, according to commission records cited by the News & Observer.
But Wallace says the lottery has not done enough to provide local schools with adequate funding.
Sixty-three per cent of lottery proceeds go to prizes, 25 per cent to the school fund, 5 per cent to retailer commissions, 5 per cent to lottery administration and 2 per cent to other state programs, such as unclaimed prizes that go to programs approved by the Legislature, according to the commission.
The Dallas, Texas, branch of the NAACP has called for a ban on the state lottery, claiming that it is a drain on the finances of low-income people, and especially minorities, who can least afford games of chance.
Chapter President Juanita Wallace said many people have spent all their hard-earned money in hopes of striking it rich, but instead, the lottery has left their finances in shambles.
‘It’s an addiction,‘ she told CNN.
One of NAACP’s major concerns is that the lottery specifically targets African-Americans, as well as people who are poor and ‘uneducated.’
Overall, Texans have spent a whopping $3.3billion on lottery tickets so far this year, according to CBS DFW.
A spokeswoman with the Texas Lottery Commission rejected allegations of racism, saying the Texas lottery does not market any differently from one demographic to another.
Wallace said her NAACP chapter is already lobbying local lawmakers to put a stop to the lottery, along with organizations like the Baptist General Convention of Texas that has long opposed gambling.
In total, the lottery has contributed more than $14billion to the school fund -- nearly $1billion in fiscal 2011, according to commission records cited by the News & Observer.
But Wallace says the lottery has not done enough to provide local schools with adequate funding.
Sixty-three per cent of lottery proceeds go to prizes, 25 per cent to the school fund, 5 per cent to retailer commissions, 5 per cent to lottery administration and 2 per cent to other state programs, such as unclaimed prizes that go to programs approved by the Legislature, according to the commission.