Thursday, August 28, 2014

From PunditFact: Fact-checking claims about race after Ferguson shooting

The shooting of Michael Brown has also led to questions about race relations and whether that has created the tension which exploded in the community following the shooting. Various claims have been made about the current state of it, and not all are accurate.

- Click here for PunditFact's analysis of some of them.

Their conclusions:

1 - It is true that murder is the leading cause of death for African American males between 15 and 34.
2 - It is not true that an unarmed black person is shot by a cop every 28 hours.
3 - It is half true that more whites are victims of police shootings. It's half true because there are more white people than black people. As a percentage, more blacks than whites are killed.
4 - It is false that the president is behind the disparity in unemployment between whites and blacks.

Provocative stuff - worth a look in class.

My quibble: What about factors that influence other minority groups?