Showing the New York Times's reputation for knee-jerk liberalism has a long pedigree, veteran comic Mort Sahl had a joke about a hypothetical Times headline after nuclear Armageddon: "World Ends, Women & Minorities Hardest Hit."
Enter Tuesday’s off-lead headline, under a story by Sabrina Tavernise: “Recession Study Finds Hispanics Are Hit Hardest – Sharp Wealth Decline - Group’s Median Level Fell 66% in 4 Years – Blacks Hit, Too.”
Hispanic families accounted for the largest single decline in wealth of any ethnic and racial group in the country during the recession, according to a study published Tuesday by the Pew Foundation.
The study, which used data collected by the Census Bureau, found that the median wealth of Hispanic households fell by 66 percent from 2005 to 2009. By contrast, the median wealth of whites fell by just 16 percent over the same period. African Americans saw their wealth drop by 53 percent. Asians also saw a big decline, with household wealth dropping 54 percent.
So why were Asians left out of the headline? Their median wealth actually fell slightly further than did that of blacks.
This is far from the first time the paper has approached Sahl’s headline parody. Here’s a July 4, 2003 front-page headline stack: “U.S. Jobless Rate Increases To 6.4%, Highest in 9 Years -- 30,000 Jobs Lost In June -- Figures Defy Some Predictions of an Economic Revival -- Blacks Fare Worst.”
A May 13, 2009 headline: “Homeownership Losses Are Greatest Among Minorities, Report Finds.”
