5 Wildly Destructive Myths About Crime and Race

A lot of stereotypes about African-Americans and crime are plain wrong -- and very harmful.

In the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death, we’ve seen a lot of discussion of the larger societal issues that play into how and when people are perceived as criminals. There were hoodies, there were marches, and there were frank talks from parent to child about how to minimize the danger of being a young person of color. On the other side, there were justifications of George Zimmerman’s actions: a smear campaign against Martin’s character, and plenty of writers explaining that statistically, blacks are simply more dangerous to be around.
That framing ignores the realities behind the numbers. Here are five myths about crime and people of color.

 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Such a shame that few people will read this but will watch sensationalist TV newscasts.