Media Spotlight

Debate and discussion on racism and related issues

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DavidLeon
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Media Spotlight

Post #1

Post by DavidLeon »

The recent riots and protests around the country has sparked a considerable degree of debate concerning racism. That's a good thing. It's a problem that we need to address. While we do that I think it's important to realize the very real concern of the media's misrepresentation of the facts. Black people are disproportionately represented as both a criminal element and a victim of police brutality. This is a problem but rather than getting overly excited about it we need to carefully consider what is going on. And a big part of that is that the media attention is extremely misleading.

The fact is that you are more likely to be killed by police in America if you are white. That in no way means that the killing of black men by police isn't a problem. The killing of people in America by police is a problem we seriously need to stop. Getting emotional about it isn't going to solve the problem but is more likely to misguide us away from a practical and much needed solution.

Of 400,000 non-homicide violent black / white crimes, 85% are black perpetrators. Blacks kill more blacks (7000 in 2019) in a year than the KKK did in it's entire history. A young black man is seven times more likely to be murdered than a young white men, almost always by another young black man. Blacks kill two times as many whites (500) as whites kill blacks (250). Blacks, 13% of the population, commit 50% of the murders. Of the 50% of black homicides, they are mostly committed by young black men. This means roughly 3% of the population is responsible for 50% of the nation's homicides. In Chicago, murder capital of the country, 1/3 black; 1/3 white; 1/3 Hispanic; blacks account for 70% of the homicides. * (See video below; source isn't given)

The Distorting Role of Mass News Media Coverage of Urban Violence

As Surette (1998) suggests, what most Americans know about crime and justice comes from popular media’s portrayal of these subjects. Unfortunately, media outlets have an interest in presenting crime and justice issues in a way that captivates audiences and stimulates passions. Even though crime has steadily decreased over the last two decades, personal safety remains high on the list of public concerns, in part, because citizen perceptions are influenced by news media sources intentionally designed to make us feel passionately about the subject (Surette, 1998; Crayton and Glickman, 2007). (Source)

Here are some statistics:

In 2008, the homicide victimization rate for blacks (19.6 homicides per 100,000) was 6 times higher than the rate for whites (3.3 homicides per 100,000).

The victimization rate for blacks peaked in the early 1990s, reaching a high of 39.4 homicides per 100,000 in 1991.

After 1991, the victimization rate for blacks fell until 1999, when it stabilized near 20 homicides per 100,000.

In 2008, the offending rate for blacks (24.7 offenders per 100,000) was 7 times higher than the rate for whites (3.4 offenders per 100,000).

The offending rate for blacks showed a similar pattern to the victimization rate, peaking in the early 1990s at a high of 51.1 offenders per 100,000 in 1991.

After 1991, the offending rate for blacks declined until it reached 24 per 100,000 in 2004. The rate has since fluctuated, increasing to 28.4 offenders per 100,000 in 2006 before falling again to 24.7 offenders per 100,000 in 2008.
(Source: See p. 11)

Some videos:

* (video referenced above)


Study: Is There Evidence Of Racial Disparity In Police Use Of Deadly Force? (See video below)

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Re: Media Spotlight

Post #2

Post by Tcg »

DavidLeon wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2020 2:42 am
The fact is that you are more likely to be killed by police in America if you are white.
That bare statistic by itself provides no insight into racism in the U.S. One must also consider the proportion of whites in the population:
  • POLICE KILLING OF BLACKS: Do Black Lives Matter?

    Data collected by the Washington Post on the use of lethal force by police officers since 2015 indicate that, relative to the proportion of the population, Blacks are over-represented among all those killed by police. As is evident in the figure below, (looking at the top blue bar) according to the US Census estimates, Blacks made up 12% of the population. However, from 2015 – 2019 they accounted for 26.4% of those that were killed by police under all circumstances. In other words, Blacks were the victims of the lethal use of force by police at nearly twice their rate in the general population. Whites make up the majority of victims of police use of lethal force (50.3%) from 2015 – 2019, BUT they also currently make up the majority of the population (61%). Asians make up about 5% of the US population but just 2% of the victims of the lethal use of force by police. Hispanics make up 18% of the US population and just over 18% of the victims of the use of lethal force by police. Native Americans make up 1% of the US population and 1.7% of the victims of the use of lethal force by police.

    https://thesocietypages.org/toolbox/pol ... of-blacks/

    <bolding mine>
Image

Considering the proportion of ethnic groups within the population reveals a serious problem particularly amongst Blacks and Native Americans in light of the degree to which they suffer death at the hands of police.


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Re: Media Spotlight

Post #3

Post by DavidLeon »

Tcg wrote: Wed Jun 17, 2020 7:19 pmConsidering the proportion of ethnic groups within the population reveals a serious problem particularly amongst Blacks and Native Americans in light of the degree to which they suffer death at the hands of police.
Okay. Why? What percentage of crime is committed by each group. If you consider it seems the war on drugs is the primary focus what percentage of whites are getting away with drugs while blacks and Hispanics are disproportionately targeted? Are blacks and Hispanics asking for trouble if they break the same crimes as the whites get away with? If looting and rioting begin is it a war of which all is fair? Is there some concentrated effort, a conspiracy, if you will that would be replaced with some other tactic if the drug war was exposed for what it is? What is the solution?

Showtime Documentary On mounting racial tensions from the 1965 riots in Watts to the 92 riots in LA Language may be offensive to some: viewer discretion advised.
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koko

Re: Media Spotlight

Post #4

Post by koko »

race based disparate sentencing:

https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/file ... sion_0.pdf


racial profiling and selective enforcement of the law:

https://tinyurl.com/y9o425tn




Much of the "crimes" attributed to blacks would not be classified as a crime if it had been committed by whites. Here in St Paul, MN I have been on Robert Street where many motorists exceed the speed limit. When done by whites the cops ignore the drivers. When done by blacks or Latinos the cops routinely stop them and issue tickets for violations. Because of this blacks and Latinos are thought to be committing more crimes when, in fact, whites do these things more often than any other grouping. I have participated in concerned citizens groups that have addressed this matter. The mayor pledges to address and correct the matter only to be stifled by the police union and the other politicians. Nothing is ever done to correct this problem which exists in every city. That is why we have so many difficulties in this society.

The news media has addressed this problem very often over the years. Not surprisingly, the Fox network doesn't have much enthusiasm about reporting it. Same with the far right AM radio propagandists.

koko

Re: Media Spotlight

Post #5

Post by koko »

For years blacks and Latinos were targeted by corrupt white cops in Philadelphia:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busted_(book)

Busted: A Tale of Corruption and Betrayal in the City of Brotherly Love is a 2014 non-fiction book by Wendy Ruderman and Barbara Laker. The book details the true tale of how Ruderman and Laker, two reporters at the Philadelphia Daily News, led an investigation into police corruption in Philadelphia. This book shows the back story of the investigation which earned the women a Pulitzer Prize in 2010 for investigative reporting.



This criminal activity skewed crime statistics by making it appear as if minorities were committing these crimes when, in fact, they were being committed by white cops.

Now ask yourself, why isn't this truth on everybody's minds? Why do they continue to believe minorities commit the most crimes when they don't?

koko

Re: Media Spotlight

Post #6

Post by koko »

Corrupt white prosecutors wrongfully convict innocents:

https://www.innocenceproject.org/new-re ... attorneys/


Most of their victims were black. Again, this skews statistics which unfairly show blacks to be the biggest criminals in society. End the prosecutorial corruption and the numbers for black convictions would be considerably lower.

koko

Re: Media Spotlight

Post #7

Post by koko »

CALIFORNIA COURT DESTROYS FILES IN HISTORIC POLICE CORRUPTION CASE
Criminal case files from Oakland’s seminal Riders scandal were among documents shredded by the Alameda County Superior Court in 2015.



https://theappeal.org/california-court- ... ion-cases/


In 2015, the Superior Court in Alameda County, California, quietly destroyed the criminal case files for three former Oakland police officers, known as “the Riders,” who stood trial for beating, falsely arresting, and framing dozens of African American men in the late 1990s and early 2000s, The Appeal has learned.

The files—which consisted of thousands of pages of hearing transcripts, motions, and evidence—were the best public record of the longest criminal trial in Alameda County history. The destruction of the Riders files is also an erasure of an extraordinary case of corruption that ended with the Oakland Police Department placed under a federal judge’s oversight.

“Destroying files relating to police misconduct may damage the public’s knowledge of police corruption,” LaDoris Cordell, a retired Santa Clara County judge and former independent police auditor for San Jose, told The Appeal.





Again, these actions by the criminally corrupt police and the equally judges and prosecutors who defend them are what skew statistics and make it appear as if blacks are the biggest criminals in the USA.

So why isn't this on everyone's minds? Why doesn't the news media report this every day when we all know it is a daily occurrence?

koko

Re: Media Spotlight

Post #8

Post by koko »

NYC's infamous stop-and-frisk which skewed crime statistics ruled unconstitutional:


https://civilrights.org/edfund/resource ... itutional/


In a decision announced last week, a federal judge found the New York City Police Department’s “Stop-and-Frisk” policy unconstitutional.

The controversial policy allowed police officers to stop, interrogate and search New York City citizens on the sole basis of “reasonable suspicion.” Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled that NYPD’s stop-and-frisk tactics violate the U.S Constitution’s 4th Amendment prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures.

Overwhelming evidence suggests that the policy is used as a method of racially profiling and harassing Black and Latino citizens. Minorities and many civil rights organizations such as the Center for Constitutional Rights and the NAACP, have voiced strong opposition to the policy.

In 1999, Blacks and Latinos made up 50 percent of New York’s population, but accounted for 84 percent of the city’s stops. Those statistics have changed little in more than a decade. According to the court’s opinion, between 2004 and 2012, the New York Police Department made 4.4 million stops under the citywide policy. More than 80 percent of those stopped were Black and Latino people. The likelihood a stop of an African-American New Yorker yielded a weapon was half that of White New Yorkers stopped, and the likelihood of finding contraband on an African American who was stopped was one-third that of White New Yorkers stopped.





This racist policy, again, skewed crime statistics to make it appear as if blacks were the biggest criminals around. On top of all that, these corrupt practices violated the Constitution! Where were all the anti government conservatives who claim to be CHAMPIONS of the Bill of Rights to rise to the defense of their fellow citizens? Outside of NYC the media remained silent on this matter. Why the silence?

koko

Re: Media Spotlight

Post #9

Post by koko »

Biscayne Park, Florida police corruption:

The chief wanted perfect stats, so cops were told to pin crimes on black people, probe found


https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/ ... 47764.html


The indictment was damning enough: A former police chief of Biscayne Park and two officers charged with falsely pinning four burglaries on a teenager just to impress village leaders with a perfect crime-solving record.

But the accusations revealed in federal court last month left out far uglier details of past policing practices in tranquil Biscayne Park, a leafy wedge of suburbia just north of Miami Shores.

Records obtained by the Miami Herald suggest that during the tenure of former chief Raimundo Atesiano, the command staff pressured some officers into targeting random black people to clear cases.




I can post about another 1,000 links like these to prove blacks are the victims of police, prosecutorial, and judicial CRIMES. These crimes, this corruption is a violation of constitutional rights. Now where are the statistics on this? Why don't the Christian professing, morally principled, pro Constitution Republicans become enraged over any of this? Why do they continue to defend the police rather than their victims? Where is the media to demand an end to police, judicial, and prosecutorial criminality???

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Re: Media Spotlight

Post #10

Post by DavidLeon »

koko wrote: Thu Jun 18, 2020 12:07 am Biscayne Park, Florida police corruption:

The chief wanted perfect stats, so cops were told to pin crimes on black people, probe found


https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/ ... 47764.html


The indictment was damning enough: A former police chief of Biscayne Park and two officers charged with falsely pinning four burglaries on a teenager just to impress village leaders with a perfect crime-solving record.

But the accusations revealed in federal court last month left out far uglier details of past policing practices in tranquil Biscayne Park, a leafy wedge of suburbia just north of Miami Shores.

Records obtained by the Miami Herald suggest that during the tenure of former chief Raimundo Atesiano, the command staff pressured some officers into targeting random black people to clear cases.




I can post about another 1,000 links like these to prove blacks are the victims of police, prosecutorial, and judicial CRIMES. These crimes, this corruption is a violation of constitutional rights. Now where are the statistics on this? Why don't the Christian professing, morally principled, pro Constitution Republicans become enraged over any of this? Why do they continue to defend the police rather than their victims? Where is the media to demand an end to police, judicial, and prosecutorial criminality???
Thanks, Koko, for all of that information. A couple things I would like to add. One is that with all of the numbers being thrown around, for someone who sucks at math like I do, whether those numbers are discouraging or encouraging (seldom the latter) they can be deceiving. The media will often use that to their advantage. For example, if there was one murder in my county one year and then two the following year the media will report that as a 100% increase in crime. I do know that one year recently I heard it was 50 unarmed black men killed by police in the USA and 50 unarmed white men.

Still I think that we do some sort of disservice to ourselves to focus on race. These are people. There's only one race. If the media only report on race, whether as committing crimes or as victims of police brutality it has two potentially harmful effects that I can see. One is that it distorts reality and another is that it creates an unnecessary division.

After the depression in the USA the media reported on government assistance by presenting poor, white, farmers and rural people in a sympathetic light. So people felt that government assistance was a good thing, helping hard working folks who were down on their luck. Just 30 years later, in the 1960's the media changed their presentation to that of black inner city people receiving government assistance and the public perception changed to an unfavorable one. Now it was perceived as a bad thing, supporting lazy black people in crime infested slums who just didn't want to work. So they started making cuts. The reality was that this hurt more white people than black and it either reflected or encouraged seeing black people as less than human. Not like us white folk.

More recently people like Candace Owens are vocal in expressing the negative effects of government assistance due to such a potential of abuse and dependency. How it encourages single parent mothers raising children without fathers. A breakdown of the family unit which is extremely detrimental to society. this is undoubtedly true, but it doesn't apply exclusively to blacks.

The other point is that if the police are so corrupt the judges would have to be corrupt in allowing it and the politicians would have to be corrupt in allowing that and this in turn indicates a serious problem with the citizens as well. Why elect corrupt leaders? Because that's the only option? Why tolerate that, especially when it's causing so much trouble? I guess if it doesn't effect them it doesn't matter. So they think black people commit all of the crime so black people do all the time or are more likely to be gunned down by police.

When a man who falls asleep at the wheel waiting in a fast food drive through and the place calls the police not knowing what else to do then the police get there and shoot the man in the back, killing him, for simply running away which causes rioters to burn the place to the ground it's past time to do something about it and make sure that something is the right thing.
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