Statistics suck

After reading the article I linked to in the post about black doctors I wanted to throw around some of the statistics that were listed. Statistics can be a nice way to determine a baseline or pattern but instead are often used to manipulate figures toward some predetermined goal these days. That said, let's look at the numbers:

9% = the percent of Knox county that is black
19= number of Knox county doctors that are black
1.2%= the percent of doctors in Knox county that are black

So should 9% of the doctors be black in Knox county or how do you determine the correct level? Which statistic do you use?

Some interesting quotes from the same article:

"When you think about Tennessee, it does not sound like it’s a happenin’ state," Davidson, 45, said. "You need social or cultural things that are appealing to African-American physicians that you would typically have found in a larger city, that we don’t have here in Knoxville."

Should Knoxville concentrate on becoming a booming diverse metropolis, even though that is not the city's history?

That’s unfortunate, he said, because young black professionals need a strong support base and want a diverse social outlet that often is lacking in Knoxville.

Could we have some examples please?

"That’s not only true for medical doctors but with other professionals as well. Knoxville is not a good place to be. That has been articulated to me," Rollins said.

What was articulated, and by whom? Who is telling anyone of any race not to move here?

Waters admits he doesn’t have any answers. But people should be concerned, he said, because a lot of blacks don’t want to locate here, and "that’s a big problem."

Should we drive to Atlanta, and move black doctors here against their will? I recall something like this happening a few hundred years ago with Africa and ships; no one seemed to care for that idea.

The black doctors in town, he said, are a "very eclectic group. Everyone does their own thing."

"I don’t speak on a regular basis with other black physicians," Foster said. "I don’t know why. I go to church with Evelyne Davidson but probably hadn’t spoken a word to her in three years."

Well crap, if the doctors in town don't even speak to each other how can we get them to bring in people who don't live here?