Baltimore: The Next Ferguson? (1 Viewer)

[Smack Tripper]

I've never worked in law enforcement so it's difficult to say. But I feel confident that I would not make it regular practice to beat up innocent people without justification. I would not have beaten the #### out of an 87 year old grandmother and told her "#####, you aint no better than any of the other old black #####es I have locked up." I would not have slammed an innocent pregnant woman to the ground. I would not have taken down a 4'11, 107 pound innocent grandmother and ground her face into the concrete. And I would not have cost the city millions of dollars and fueling completely justified distrust and anger for law enforcement in the process. And yes, I don't think I would forcefully shove an innocent man with his hands up to the ground, or thrown rocks at protestors, or arrested journalists for doing their (very important) job.

But sure, let's absolve the police of these many, many horrific acts and ignore the justifiable resentment they cause in the community because their jobs are hard.

$5.7MM over 4 years in a city with well over 500,000 people doesn't sound like a huge chunk to me, do you want robots to enforce the law?... The problems here go well beyond those who are hired to enforce the law... To endlessly point your finger at law enforcement is foolish... This behavior yesterday is unacceptable and I'd be happy if the penalties for inciting riots like this were increased 10 fold.

I don't know the solution here, but neither do you, nor does the African American Mayor, or the African American Police Commissioner.

This is a ridiculous straw man argument. I never said the problem is limited to law enforcement. I didn't endlessly point my finger at law enforcement. I have condemned rioting repeatedly in the Ferguson thread and now this one too. I never said I had the solution.

All I did was ridicule your preposterous knee-jerk defense of clearly improper police behavior because "their jobs are hard." Ignoring the sins of law enforcement here is a huge mistake, because that's obviously a source of a lot of the frustration in the community. And for that matter, why is there so much more outrage about people looting a CVS than there is about police beating up innocent grandmothers and pregnant women and many many other innocent people? Would anyone here even know about those incidents without the Gray death and the protests? Hell I bet the majority of the posters here condemning the looting still haven't read that Baltimore Sun investigation even though I've now posted it twice.

Prob bc it was burned and destroyed. But that is just a building owned by a corporation so who gives a ####? I can take a guess...

Prob grandma and grandpa who rely on the largest pharmaceutical carrier in their neighborhood. They might have difficulty conveniently obtaining life saving or altering medication for the next few months as this store is rebuilt (or if it is rebuilt). They might care and this might cause some outrage.

Cvs will have a couple of triage trailers and generate huge pub for rebuilding. It's a marketing opportunity.I am more concerned about bobs pharmacy than cvs

I think they're going to take a strong look at their P/L from this store before any of this.

To add, I think a lot of people who depend on meds, might be highly highly inconvenienced for quite some time. A lot of these people are in bad shape and inconveniencing them is dangerous to their health.

It doesn't matter, in this very specific case at least. It's symbolic now. They will get far more out of that store in flames on the news than they ever would have staying in fact.

 

[TobiasFunke]

I've never worked in law enforcement so it's difficult to say. But I feel confident that I would not make it regular practice to beat up innocent people without justification. I would not have beaten the #### out of an 87 year old grandmother and told her "“#####, you ain’t no better than any of the other old black #####es I have locked up." I would not have slammed an innocent pregnant woman to the ground. I would not have taken down a 4'11, 107 pound innocent grandmother and ground her face into the concrete. And I would not have cost the city millions of dollars and fueling completely justified distrust and anger for law enforcement in the process. And yes, I don't think I would forcefully shove an innocent man with his hands up to the ground, or thrown rocks at protestors, or arrested journalists for doing their (very important) job.

But sure, let's absolve the police of these many, many horrific acts and ignore the justifiable resentment they cause in the community because their jobs are hard.

$5.7MM over 4 years in a city with well over 500,000 people doesn't sound like a huge chunk to me, do you want robots to enforce the law?... The problems here go well beyond those who are hired to enforce the law... To endlessly point your finger at law enforcement is foolish... This behavior yesterday is unacceptable and I'd be happy if the penalties for inciting riots like this were increased 10 fold.

I don't know the solution here, but neither do you, nor does the African American Mayor, or the African American Police Commissioner.

This is a ridiculous straw man argument. I never said the problem is limited to law enforcement. I didn't endlessly point my finger at law enforcement. I have condemned rioting repeatedly in the Ferguson thread and now this one too. I never said I had the solution.

All I did was ridicule your preposterous knee-jerk defense of clearly improper police behavior because "their jobs are hard." Ignoring the sins of law enforcement here is a huge mistake, because that's obviously a source of a lot of the frustration in the community. And for that matter, why is there so much more outrage about people looting a CVS than there is about police beating up innocent grandmothers and pregnant women and many many other innocent people? Would anyone here even know about those incidents without the Gray death and the protests? Hell I bet the majority of the posters here condemning the looting still haven't read that Baltimore Sun investigation even though I've now posted it twice.

Prob bc it was burned and destroyed. But that is just a building owned by a corporation so who gives a ####? I can take a guess...

Prob grandma and grandpa who rely on the largest pharmaceutical carrier in their neighborhood. They might have difficulty conveniently obtaining life saving or altering medication for the next few months as this store is rebuilt (or if it is rebuilt). They might care and this might cause some outrage.

I didn't ask why they were concerned or outraged about it. I have no problem with people being concerned or outraged about it.

I have a problem with people seeming to be FAR MORE concerned or outraged about the looting of the CVS than about this. Read through this thread or facebook or watch the news channel coverage and that seems to be pretty clearly the case, wouldn't you agree? Why is that the case? Why is the looting of a CVS so much more worthy of our time and attention than an innocent woman whose forehead was ground into the pavement by the policee until it looked like this?

 

[jonessed]

Just heard a stat that 50% of black adult males are unemployed in Baltimore.

I need a link for a stat like this... This is almost unbelievable.

Why is it so unbelievable to you?The unemployment rate for all blacks in this country is around 17%, 10 points higher than for everyone else. The poverty rate in all of our inner cities approaches 40%.

Current unemployment is 5.5%... To say that black men in this city are 900% above the national average is something I would like proof on

Heard it on Morning Joe this morning. Here's link to the segment.

on.msnbc.com/1EMz2TB

Guy says it around the 5:50 mark. He actually says OVER half are unemployed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htmAfrican American Unemployment rate for March 2015...10.1%

That's not all black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

 

[Gawain]

Why do bad things happen to good drugstores?

Why couldn't this have been a Walgreens in Kankakee for instance?

 

[Smack Tripper]

I've never worked in law enforcement so it's difficult to say. But I feel confident that I would not make it regular practice to beat up innocent people without justification. I would not have beaten the #### out of an 87 year old grandmother and told her "#####, you aint no better than any of the other old black #####es I have locked up." I would not have slammed an innocent pregnant woman to the ground. I would not have taken down a 4'11, 107 pound innocent grandmother and ground her face into the concrete. And I would not have cost the city millions of dollars and fueling completely justified distrust and anger for law enforcement in the process. And yes, I don't think I would forcefully shove an innocent man with his hands up to the ground, or thrown rocks at protestors, or arrested journalists for doing their (very important) job.

But sure, let's absolve the police of these many, many horrific acts and ignore the justifiable resentment they cause in the community because their jobs are hard.

$5.7MM over 4 years in a city with well over 500,000 people doesn't sound like a huge chunk to me, do you want robots to enforce the law?... The problems here go well beyond those who are hired to enforce the law... To endlessly point your finger at law enforcement is foolish... This behavior yesterday is unacceptable and I'd be happy if the penalties for inciting riots like this were increased 10 fold.

I don't know the solution here, but neither do you, nor does the African American Mayor, or the African American Police Commissioner.

This is a ridiculous straw man argument. I never said the problem is limited to law enforcement. I didn't endlessly point my finger at law enforcement. I have condemned rioting repeatedly in the Ferguson thread and now this one too. I never said I had the solution.

All I did was ridicule your preposterous knee-jerk defense of clearly improper police behavior because "their jobs are hard." Ignoring the sins of law enforcement here is a huge mistake, because that's obviously a source of a lot of the frustration in the community. And for that matter, why is there so much more outrage about people looting a CVS than there is about police beating up innocent grandmothers and pregnant women and many many other innocent people? Would anyone here even know about those incidents without the Gray death and the protests? Hell I bet the majority of the posters here condemning the looting still haven't read that Baltimore Sun investigation even though I've now posted it twice.

Prob bc it was burned and destroyed. But that is just a building owned by a corporation so who gives a ####? I can take a guess...

Prob grandma and grandpa who rely on the largest pharmaceutical carrier in their neighborhood. They might have difficulty conveniently obtaining life saving or altering medication for the next few months as this store is rebuilt (or if it is rebuilt). They might care and this might cause some outrage.

Cvs will have a couple of triage trailers and generate huge pub for rebuilding. It's a marketing opportunity.I am more concerned about bobs pharmacy than cvs

You monster!

Matt worked at that CVS.

Who is Matt? Was he on tv or elsewhere in the thread?

 

[General Tso]

Some historical context

Interesting. The '67 riots destroyed my city, it was before I was born but my grandparents lived on the edge of where the riots ended up. Detroit never recovered, anyone with the ability to move out did over the next 20 years and you see where it is today. The interstate system displaced many of the poorest residents in many urban areas, and then the Fair Housing Act of 1966 brought drastic changes to very segregated areas. Then the riots came, and then everyone with means left. Rinse and repeat in St Louis, Newark, Cleveland, Chicago, Baltimore and many more cities across the country. Long story short since I don't want to get to deep into this, we really haven't learned from what happened almost 50 years ago and we've repeated some of the mistakes that made many urban areas in this country nearly unlivable. Runaway crime, drugs, poverty, and a mentality of the populace of nothing to lose. Part of it is a policing problem but it is a societal problem and we love to just ignore our problems hoping they will dissolve on their own. Well they don't, and the destitute will have their say here and in many places all over the world. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The question is why are they destitute and do the comfortable really truly care?The answer to the second part is clearly "no".

The answer to the first part is much more difficult and goes to much deeper issues than most are willing to acknowledge IMO.

But instead of solely the history of segregation and income inequality, one might also consider political corruption, one-party systemic rule, unsustainable public services, unsustainable union practices, and a breakdown of basic familial and social norms -- it seems like another place to start.

If we are going here shouldn't you start with the war on drugs? Has any single policy wrecked more havoc on our urban centers the past 45 years?

Don't leave out Easy access to drugs and a culture which glorifies their usage, the decline of the social structures such as family, church, schools...

I hate this line of reasoning. Garbage.

Huh? One of the strongest correlations/predictors for future poverty and criminal conduct is being raised by a single parent. Anyone who has been raised by a single parent knows how difficult it is for both the parent and child. To ignore that factor is foolishness.

My issue is that people cite the decline of social structures as the CAUSE of issues. It's not, it's a consequence. Did the people in our urban communities simply one day wholesale choose to start dropping out of school, having kids out of wedlock and slinging dope in the streets?

The answer is Yes. It started around 1965, AFTER the war on poverty and passage of civil rights legislation. Look it up. The numbers are staggering.

Yea...i'm amazed how some of them waltzed right into white neighborhoods and were greeted with open arms. 1965 was a memorable year!

Get a clue.

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

 

[[icon]]

People in this thread blaming cops for not stopping the rioters from burning the CVS are likely the same guys who would be blaming the cops for excessive force if they had... because I'm pretty sure head-pats and "move along fella's" would have stopped anyone.

Cops were in a no win situation and I would say they did handle this(unlike with the death)the best way possible.The Mayor though had me scratching my head.Even if that was how you felt why would you say that publicly,it was almost like handing the keys to the city over and do with it what you will to get your anger out.Really stupid move IMO.

And then double down by saying she didn't say that and we're twisting her words.

That's some impressive politicking.

It's generally a pretty bad idea to aggressively deny doing/saying anything you voluntarily did/said on video the day before.

It might be even worse to try to turn it around as something like "twisting of words" either. There's not much "twisting" required there... surely her handlers could have come up with a more effective spin than that.

 

[TheIronSheik]

Any truth to the rumor that these riots started over an angry PM?

 

[Charlie Steiner]

As an aside, regarding cops living in the neighborhoods they police, I have a quick story...

I'll skip the details of how and why I was in this situation, but what happened was I was in a group being addressed by a county police officer, regarding joining up, and I asked the officer about being assinged a beat in/near my neighborhood. His answer was "you don't want to ##### where you eat".

 

[Gawain]

Just heard a stat that 50% of black adult males are unemployed in Baltimore.

I need a link for a stat like this... This is almost unbelievable.

Why is it so unbelievable to you?The unemployment rate for all blacks in this country is around 17%, 10 points higher than for everyone else. The poverty rate in all of our inner cities approaches 40%.

Current unemployment is 5.5%... To say that black men in this city are 900% above the national average is something I would like proof on

Heard it on Morning Joe this morning. Here's link to the segment.

on.msnbc.com/1EMz2TB

Guy says it around the 5:50 mark. He actually says OVER half are unemployed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htmAfrican American Unemployment rate for March 2015...10.1%

That's not black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.

It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

New to the world of charts?

Heading Black or African American, subheading Men, 20 years and over, row Unemployment rate.

Column, March 2015

Result...10.0%

Or are government unemployment statistics only accurate when you want them to be?

 

[[icon]]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

 

[fantasycurse42]

I've never worked in law enforcement so it's difficult to say. But I feel confident that I would not make it regular practice to beat up innocent people without justification. I would not have beaten the #### out of an 87 year old grandmother and told her "“#####, you ain’t no better than any of the other old black #####es I have locked up." I would not have slammed an innocent pregnant woman to the ground. I would not have taken down a 4'11, 107 pound innocent grandmother and ground her face into the concrete. And I would not have cost the city millions of dollars and fueling completely justified distrust and anger for law enforcement in the process. And yes, I don't think I would forcefully shove an innocent man with his hands up to the ground, or thrown rocks at protestors, or arrested journalists for doing their (very important) job.

But sure, let's absolve the police of these many, many horrific acts and ignore the justifiable resentment they cause in the community because their jobs are hard.

$5.7MM over 4 years in a city with well over 500,000 people doesn't sound like a huge chunk to me, do you want robots to enforce the law?... The problems here go well beyond those who are hired to enforce the law... To endlessly point your finger at law enforcement is foolish... This behavior yesterday is unacceptable and I'd be happy if the penalties for inciting riots like this were increased 10 fold.

I don't know the solution here, but neither do you, nor does the African American Mayor, or the African American Police Commissioner.

This is a ridiculous straw man argument. I never said the problem is limited to law enforcement. I didn't endlessly point my finger at law enforcement. I have condemned rioting repeatedly in the Ferguson thread and now this one too. I never said I had the solution.

All I did was ridicule your preposterous knee-jerk defense of clearly improper police behavior because "their jobs are hard." Ignoring the sins of law enforcement here is a huge mistake, because that's obviously a source of a lot of the frustration in the community. And for that matter, why is there so much more outrage about people looting a CVS than there is about police beating up innocent grandmothers and pregnant women and many many other innocent people? Would anyone here even know about those incidents without the Gray death and the protests? Hell I bet the majority of the posters here condemning the looting still haven't read that Baltimore Sun investigation even though I've now posted it twice.

Prob bc it was burned and destroyed. But that is just a building owned by a corporation so who gives a ####? I can take a guess...

Prob grandma and grandpa who rely on the largest pharmaceutical carrier in their neighborhood. They might have difficulty conveniently obtaining life saving or altering medication for the next few months as this store is rebuilt (or if it is rebuilt). They might care and this might cause some outrage.

I didn't ask why they were concerned or outraged about it. I have no problem with people being concerned or outraged about it.

I have a problem with people seeming to be FAR MORE concerned or outraged about the looting of the CVS than about this. Read through this thread or facebook or watch the news channel coverage and that seems to be pretty clearly the case, wouldn't you agree? Why is that the case? Why is the looting of a CVS so much more worthy of our time and attention than an innocent woman whose forehead was ground into the pavement by the policee until it looked like this?

I'm more concerned about the 100's of people who are now in dangerous situations than the one woman who is being compensated for the wrongs she suffered.

 

[jonessed]

People in this thread blaming cops for not stopping the rioters from burning the CVS are likely the same guys who would be blaming the cops for excessive force if they had... because I'm pretty sure head-pats and "move along fella's" would have stopped anyone.

Cops were in a no win situation and I would say they did handle this(unlike with the death)the best way possible.The Mayor though had me scratching my head.Even if that was how you felt why would you say that publicly,it was almost like handing the keys to the city over and do with it what you will to get your anger out.Really stupid move IMO.

And then double down by saying she didn't say that and we're twisting her words.That's some impressive politicking.

It's generally a pretty bad idea to aggressively deny doing/saying anything you voluntarily did/said on video the day before.

It might be even worse to try to turn it around as something like "twisting of words" either. There's not much "twisting" required there... surely her handlers could have come up with a more effective spin than that.

She should be focusing on moving forward and rebuilding. That city needs to find some way of turning the media circus into a marketing opportunity. That may seem shallow, but if there is any hope for recovery it's going to be in a message of hope and hard work. Once the circus leaves town that opportunity is greatly diminished.

 

[irish eyes]

People in this thread blaming cops for not stopping the rioters from burning the CVS are likely the same guys who would be blaming the cops for excessive force if they had... because I'm pretty sure head-pats and "move along fella's" would have stopped anyone.

Spot on, and all of this political BS everyone spewing in here is just more excuses as to why these uneducated lazy no working gutter rats are allowed to trash their city.

 

[matttyl]

Just heard a stat that 50% of black adult males are unemployed in Baltimore.

I need a link for a stat like this... This is almost unbelievable.

Why is it so unbelievable to you?The unemployment rate for all blacks in this country is around 17%, 10 points higher than for everyone else. The poverty rate in all of our inner cities approaches 40%.

Current unemployment is 5.5%... To say that black men in this city are 900% above the national average is something I would like proof on

Heard it on Morning Joe this morning. Here's link to the segment.

on.msnbc.com/1EMz2TB

Guy says it around the 5:50 mark. He actually says OVER half are unemployed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htmAfrican American Unemployment rate for March 2015...10.1%

That's not all black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

Just to add more numbers and likely confusion - here is Milwaukee in 2009. the number for black males in that city at that time out of work, 53.3%

 

[jonessed]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

We incent poor women to have children out of wedlock by capping benefits on a hard income level. This was brought up when the programs were set up by LBJ, but the administration felt the stigma of being an unwed mother would counteract it. They were wrong.

 

[fantasycurse42]

Just heard a stat that 50% of black adult males are unemployed in Baltimore.

I need a link for a stat like this... This is almost unbelievable.

Why is it so unbelievable to you?The unemployment rate for all blacks in this country is around 17%, 10 points higher than for everyone else. The poverty rate in all of our inner cities approaches 40%.

Current unemployment is 5.5%... To say that black men in this city are 900% above the national average is something I would like proof on

Heard it on Morning Joe this morning. Here's link to the segment.

on.msnbc.com/1EMz2TB

Guy says it around the 5:50 mark. He actually says OVER half are unemployed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htmAfrican American Unemployment rate for March 2015...10.1%

That's not all black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

Just to add more numbers and likely confusion - here is Milwaukee in 2009. the number for black males in that city at that time out of work, 53.3%

This was also the height of the recession.

 

[TobiasFunke]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

No, it really isn't. It ignores the fact that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed across all races and social classes. It operates on the obviously false assumption that "white racism and the vestiges of slavery" stopped after 1965. It ignores the fact that birthrates per 1000 unmarried black women have dropped quite a bit since 1969 (while rates for white unmarried women have grown, as it turns out). Birth rates for married couples have dropped off a cliff over that time frame, which obviously skews the numbers regarding % of births to unmarried women even if the birth rates are unchanged.

Basically, it's a single statistic pulled out of context, isolated and misused to give ammunition to conservatives who are more interested in blaming social programs and black people for everything than in doing any actual research.

 

[Gawain]

Just heard a stat that 50% of black adult males are unemployed in Baltimore.

I need a link for a stat like this... This is almost unbelievable.

Why is it so unbelievable to you?The unemployment rate for all blacks in this country is around 17%, 10 points higher than for everyone else. The poverty rate in all of our inner cities approaches 40%.

Current unemployment is 5.5%... To say that black men in this city are 900% above the national average is something I would like proof on

Heard it on Morning Joe this morning. Here's link to the segment.

on.msnbc.com/1EMz2TB

Guy says it around the 5:50 mark. He actually says OVER half are unemployed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htmAfrican American Unemployment rate for March 2015...10.1%

That's not all black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

Just to add more numbers and likely confusion - here is Milwaukee in 2009. the number for black males in that city at that time out of work, 53.3%

2009/2010 isn't relevant to the discussion at hand. All unemployment has dropped precipitously since then.

This study also seems to incorporate institutionalized persons into the unemployment rate.

 

[matttyl]

That's not all black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

Just to add more numbers and likely confusion - here is Milwaukee in 2009. the number for black males in that city at that time out of work, 53.3%

2009/2010 isn't relevant to the discussion at hand. All unemployment has dropped precipitously since then.

This study also seems to incorporate institutionalized persons into the unemployment rate.

Like I said, just to add more confusion and numbers to the discussion. You can find them all over the place to show just about anything.

Edit to add - This is likely the original number, which has been mangled to now apply to all of the city.

"Freddie Gray grew up in a neighborhood particularly plagued by the problems that have long faced the city of Baltimore. In Sandtown-Winchester, more than half of the people between the ages of 16 and 64 are out of work"

They are talking about Sandtown-Winchester/Harlem Park (which is 97% black). The median household income is 24,000. Half of high school students are "chronically absent", only 40% of the age 25+ population has a high school diploma, the mortality rate is 19 per thousand in the 15-24 age range (roughly 6x the national average), and a life expectancy of less than 69 years.

 

[General Tso]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

It is, isn't it. This is the 50th anniversary of the Moynihan's famous report in 1965 - The Negro Family: The Case For National Action. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moynihan_ReportThe report was panned by Liberals at the time, including Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as stereotyping the black family. How does it look 50 years later when, despite Liberals doling out tons of money and aid, the problem has tripled? Think old racist Patty Boy may have been on to something?

 

[Gawain]

That's not all black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

Just to add more numbers and likely confusion - here is Milwaukee in 2009. the number for black males in that city at that time out of work, 53.3%

2009/2010 isn't relevant to the discussion at hand. All unemployment has dropped precipitously since then.

This study also seems to incorporate institutionalized persons into the unemployment rate.

Like I said, just to add more confusion and numbers to the discussion. You can find them all over the place to show just about anything.

What's interesting is everyone is trying to have their cake and eat it too on the unemployment numbers. Folks who are inclined to take the Gov't unemployment numbers at face value now want to include labor participation to illustrate the plight of the disadvantaged, while those who howl that the Gov't unemployment figures don't represent the true state of the economy are more inclined to accept the seasonally adjusted rate at face value.

 

[CGRdrJoe]

can we get confirmation that a Raptor was driven into the fire by a lion and did not burn?

 

[TobiasFunke]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

It is, isn't it. This is the 50th anniversary of the Moynihan's famous report in 1965 - The Negro Family: The Case For National Action. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moynihan_ReportThe report was panned by Liberals at the time, including Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as stereotyping the black family. How does it look 50 years later when, despite Liberals doling out tons of money and aid, the problem has tripled? Think old racist Patty Boy may have been on to something?

Recommended reading

 

[Rove!]

Do we even have any speculations yet on what happened to this guy?

Did they do one of those rides where they cuff him, toss him in the van and then drive over every speed bump and pothole?

I haven't heard anything on how he got injured yet.

Sounds like it was a "rough ride" thing where they made sure to drive like idiots in order to send a message to him. The cops involved should no doubt be punished. I believe they were already suspended last week or so.

punished? They should be prosecuted for manslaughter...

 

[comfortably numb]

I've never worked in law enforcement so it's difficult to say. But I feel confident that I would not make it regular practice to beat up innocent people without justification. I would not have beaten the #### out of an 87 year old grandmother and told her "#####, you aint no better than any of the other old black #####es I have locked up." I would not have slammed an innocent pregnant woman to the ground. I would not have taken down a 4'11, 107 pound innocent grandmother and ground her face into the concrete. And I would not have cost the city millions of dollars and fueling completely justified distrust and anger for law enforcement in the process. And yes, I don't think I would forcefully shove an innocent man with his hands up to the ground, or thrown rocks at protestors, or arrested journalists for doing their (very important) job.

But sure, let's absolve the police of these many, many horrific acts and ignore the justifiable resentment they cause in the community because their jobs are hard.

$5.7MM over 4 years in a city with well over 500,000 people doesn't sound like a huge chunk to me, do you want robots to enforce the law?... The problems here go well beyond those who are hired to enforce the law... To endlessly point your finger at law enforcement is foolish... This behavior yesterday is unacceptable and I'd be happy if the penalties for inciting riots like this were increased 10 fold.

I don't know the solution here, but neither do you, nor does the African American Mayor, or the African American Police Commissioner.

This is a ridiculous straw man argument. I never said the problem is limited to law enforcement. I didn't endlessly point my finger at law enforcement. I have condemned rioting repeatedly in the Ferguson thread and now this one too. I never said I had the solution.

All I did was ridicule your preposterous knee-jerk defense of clearly improper police behavior because "their jobs are hard." Ignoring the sins of law enforcement here is a huge mistake, because that's obviously a source of a lot of the frustration in the community. And for that matter, why is there so much more outrage about people looting a CVS than there is about police beating up innocent grandmothers and pregnant women and many many other innocent people? Would anyone here even know about those incidents without the Gray death and the protests? Hell I bet the majority of the posters here condemning the looting still haven't read that Baltimore Sun investigation even though I've now posted it twice.

Prob bc it was burned and destroyed. But that is just a building owned by a corporation so who gives a ####? I can take a guess...

Prob grandma and grandpa who rely on the largest pharmaceutical carrier in their neighborhood. They might have difficulty conveniently obtaining life saving or altering medication for the next few months as this store is rebuilt (or if it is rebuilt). They might care and this might cause some outrage.

Cvs will have a couple of triage trailers and generate huge pub for rebuilding. It's a marketing opportunity.I am more concerned about bobs pharmacy than cvs

You monster!

Matt worked at that CVS.

Who is Matt? Was he on tv or elsewhere in the thread?

That's pretty racist of you.

 

[humpback]

Just heard a stat that 50% of black adult males are unemployed in Baltimore.

I need a link for a stat like this... This is almost unbelievable.

Why is it so unbelievable to you?The unemployment rate for all blacks in this country is around 17%, 10 points higher than for everyone else. The poverty rate in all of our inner cities approaches 40%.

Current unemployment is 5.5%... To say that black men in this city are 900% above the national average is something I would like proof on

Heard it on Morning Joe this morning. Here's link to the segment. on.msnbc.com/1EMz2TB

Guy says it around the 5:50 mark. He actually says OVER half are unemployed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htmAfrican American Unemployment rate for March 2015...10.1%

That's not black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

New to the world of charts?

Heading Black or African American, subheading Men, 20 years and over, row Unemployment rate.

Column, March 2015

Result...10.0%

Or are government unemployment statistics only accurate when you want them to be?

Where's the tab for Baltimore? I'm guessing it's lower than 50%, but national numbers are irrelevant to this conversation.

 

[General Tso]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

No, it really isn't. It ignores the fact that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed across all races and social classes. It operates on the obviously false assumption that "white racism and the vestiges of slavery" stopped after 1965. It ignores the fact that birthrates per 1000 unmarried black women have dropped quite a bit since 1969 (while rates for white unmarried women have grown, as it turns out). Birth rates for married couples have dropped off a cliff over that time frame, which obviously skews the numbers regarding % of births to unmarried women even if the birth rates are unchanged.

Basically, it's a single statistic pulled out of context, isolated and misused to give ammunition to conservatives who are more interested in blaming social programs and black people for everything than in doing any actual research.

This is complete utter nonsense. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/was-the-moynihan-report-right-sobering-findings-after-1965-study-is-revisited/2013/06/13/80eac980-d432-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story.htmlThere are a million reports and articles online talking about this. If you want to dismiss it, and call out another "vast right wing conspiracy", go ahead. I think most people by now see through all this BS. People are tired of the white racism being to blame for all the ills facing black communities today. It's not supported in Baltimore, as I've shown above, and it wasn't supported in North Charleston either. But keep race baiting if you makes you feel morally superior. Meanwhile, the key issue - the breakdown of the black family - continues to be discussed by no one. Nice work Chief.

 

[Sand]

Do we even have any speculations yet on what happened to this guy?

Did they do one of those rides where they cuff him, toss him in the van and then drive over every speed bump and pothole?

I haven't heard anything on how he got injured yet.

Sounds like it was a "rough ride" thing where they made sure to drive like idiots in order to send a message to him. The cops involved should no doubt be punished. I believe they were already suspended last week or so.

punished? They should be prosecuted for manslaughter...

Just a rough ride caused his neck to break? I guess that's possible, but it doesn't seem very likely.

 

[MattFancy]

Do we even have any speculations yet on what happened to this guy?

Did they do one of those rides where they cuff him, toss him in the van and then drive over every speed bump and pothole?

I haven't heard anything on how he got injured yet.

Sounds like it was a "rough ride" thing where they made sure to drive like idiots in order to send a message to him. The cops involved should no doubt be punished. I believe they were already suspended last week or so.

punished? They should be prosecuted for manslaughter...

Just a rough ride caused his neck to break? I guess that's possible, but it doesn't seem very likely.

Guess it depends how rough it was? It's all speculation at this point, but that's what is making the latest rounds.

 

[GroveDiesel]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

No, it really isn't. It ignores the fact that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed across all races and social classes. It operates on the obviously false assumption that "white racism and the vestiges of slavery" stopped after 1965. It ignores the fact that birthrates per 1000 unmarried black women have dropped quite a bit since 1969 (while rates for white unmarried women have grown, as it turns out). Birth rates for married couples have dropped off a cliff over that time frame, which obviously skews the numbers regarding % of births to unmarried women even if the birth rates are unchanged.

Basically, it's a single statistic pulled out of context, isolated and misused to give ammunition to conservatives who are more interested in blaming social programs and black people for everything than in doing any actual research.

It's really not. We already know that the percentage of black women who aren't getting married is rising. Just because a lower percentage of them are having kids doesn't mean that the overall rate of kids out of wedlock still isn't skyrocketing. That article is nothing more than gaming the statistics.

There are all sorts of proven statistical benefits to marriage. You want to know why the middle class is declining? Let's start at the decline in marriage across the board.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

I feel like if CVS still sold cigarettes they would have spared it from burning and just looted the place.

 

[lod01]

Do we even have any speculations yet on what happened to this guy?

Did they do one of those rides where they cuff him, toss him in the van and then drive over every speed bump and pothole?

I haven't heard anything on how he got injured yet.

Sounds like it was a "rough ride" thing where they made sure to drive like idiots in order to send a message to him. The cops involved should no doubt be punished. I believe they were already suspended last week or so.

punished? They should be prosecuted for manslaughter...

Just a rough ride caused his neck to break? I guess that's possible, but it doesn't seem very likely.

His neck was broken long before the ride. They are using the ride as the excuse to how his neck was broken when in fact it was broken when they tried to cuff him. I mean c'mon people. look at his limp body when they tried to pick him up. That dude was messed up.

 

[TobiasFunke]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

No, it really isn't. It ignores the fact that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed across all races and social classes. It operates on the obviously false assumption that "white racism and the vestiges of slavery" stopped after 1965. It ignores the fact that birthrates per 1000 unmarried black women have dropped quite a bit since 1969 (while rates for white unmarried women have grown, as it turns out). Birth rates for married couples have dropped off a cliff over that time frame, which obviously skews the numbers regarding % of births to unmarried women even if the birth rates are unchanged.

Basically, it's a single statistic pulled out of context, isolated and misused to give ammunition to conservatives who are more interested in blaming social programs and black people for everything than in doing any actual research.

This is complete utter nonsense. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/was-the-moynihan-report-right-sobering-findings-after-1965-study-is-revisited/2013/06/13/80eac980-d432-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story.html

Not one thing in that article contradicts anything I said in my post or that is said in the link. I did not say that there isn't a disproportionate share of black children in single parent households. I pointed out that the 25% vs 70% figure completely ignores context and variables. It says nothing about how that shift towards out of wedlock childbirth compares to whites, or hispanics, or the rich, or the poor. It's just as misleading as if I were to say that birth rates for unmarried black women have been steadily declining since the 60s, so therefore this is a total non-issue.

You and I disagree about many, many things, but you seem smart enough to understand the utter stupidity of context-free statistical comparisons that ignore every other variable that may be at play, regardless of the subject matter. Leave that #### to the Bill O'Reilly's of the world.

 

[CowboysFromHell]

No question. The tough thing is when you have a black Democratic mayor and a black police commissioner, is the real issue race? Maybe, but it seems odd. I think we're talking about a whole lot more than just race and it's time we realize that. This affects everyone, and making it primarily about race actually minimizes the problem and makes it less likely to be addressed properly.

Agree. The original, underlying issue of police brutality is being swallowed up and is now just one of many grievances being aired by the angry rioters. If you crawled out from under a rock, flipped on your TV and just watched what was going on, it probably looks like race riots, pure and simple. It's blacks lashing out against whites.

 

[Rove!]

Just heard a stat that 50% of black adult males are unemployed in Baltimore.

I need a link for a stat like this... This is almost unbelievable.

Why is it so unbelievable to you?The unemployment rate for all blacks in this country is around 17%, 10 points higher than for everyone else. The poverty rate in all of our inner cities approaches 40%.

Current unemployment is 5.5%... To say that black men in this city are 900% above the national average is something I would like proof on

Heard it on Morning Joe this morning. Here's link to the segment.

on.msnbc.com/1EMz2TB

Guy says it around the 5:50 mark. He actually says OVER half are unemployed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm

African American Unemployment rate for March 2015...10.1%

if you include short term and long term discouraged workers, the national rate for all races is 23% right now.

 

[Sand]

Do we even have any speculations yet on what happened to this guy?

Did they do one of those rides where they cuff him, toss him in the van and then drive over every speed bump and pothole?

I haven't heard anything on how he got injured yet.

Sounds like it was a "rough ride" thing where they made sure to drive like idiots in order to send a message to him. The cops involved should no doubt be punished. I believe they were already suspended last week or so.

punished? They should be prosecuted for manslaughter...

Just a rough ride caused his neck to break? I guess that's possible, but it doesn't seem very likely.

Guess it depends how rough it was? It's all speculation at this point, but that's what is making the latest rounds.

A severed spinal cord, three crushed vertebrae, and a damaged larynx?

That's one hell of a bump.

 

[TobiasFunke]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

No, it really isn't. It ignores the fact that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed across all races and social classes. It operates on the obviously false assumption that "white racism and the vestiges of slavery" stopped after 1965. It ignores the fact that birthrates per 1000 unmarried black women have dropped quite a bit since 1969 (while rates for white unmarried women have grown, as it turns out). Birth rates for married couples have dropped off a cliff over that time frame, which obviously skews the numbers regarding % of births to unmarried women even if the birth rates are unchanged.

Basically, it's a single statistic pulled out of context, isolated and misused to give ammunition to conservatives who are more interested in blaming social programs and black people for everything than in doing any actual research.

It's really not. We already know that the percentage of black women who aren't getting married is rising. Just because a lower percentage of them are having kids doesn't mean that the overall rate of kids out of wedlock still isn't skyrocketing. That article is nothing more than gaming the statistics.

There are all sorts of proven statistical benefits to marriage. You want to know why the middle class is declining? Let's start at the decline in marriage across the board.

I'd say that ignoring jumps in children born out of wedlock and declining marriage rates across races and classes in order to cast this as "the breakdown of the black family" is gaming the statistics (that's actually a nice way to put it). I'm just presenting more information and the missing context.

 

[Gawain]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

No, it really isn't. It ignores the fact that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed across all races and social classes. It operates on the obviously false assumption that "white racism and the vestiges of slavery" stopped after 1965. It ignores the fact that birthrates per 1000 unmarried black women have dropped quite a bit since 1969 (while rates for white unmarried women have grown, as it turns out). Birth rates for married couples have dropped off a cliff over that time frame, which obviously skews the numbers regarding % of births to unmarried women even if the birth rates are unchanged.

Basically, it's a single statistic pulled out of context, isolated and misused to give ammunition to conservatives who are more interested in blaming social programs and black people for everything than in doing any actual research.

It's really not. We already know that the percentage of black women who aren't getting married is rising. Just because a lower percentage of them are having kids doesn't mean that the overall rate of kids out of wedlock still isn't skyrocketing. That article is nothing more than gaming the statistics.

There are all sorts of proven statistical benefits to marriage. You want to know why the middle class is declining? Let's start at the decline in marriage across the board.

From 1900-1950 black women married, on average, at the youngest age of the four race/sex combinations.

Since 1950 the median age of a black woman's first marriage has gone from younger than 21 to 30.

The median age for a black woman's first marriage is now 4 years later than a white woman, while the figure was almost identical in 1950.

The decline in child birth amongst married black women is because black women aren't married during child bearing years as long as they were in 1950.

 

[Rove!]

Just heard a stat that 50% of black adult males are unemployed in Baltimore.

I need a link for a stat like this... This is almost unbelievable.

Why is it so unbelievable to you?The unemployment rate for all blacks in this country is around 17%, 10 points higher than for everyone else. The poverty rate in all of our inner cities approaches 40%.

Current unemployment is 5.5%... To say that black men in this city are 900% above the national average is something I would like proof on

Heard it on Morning Joe this morning. Here's link to the segment.

on.msnbc.com/1EMz2TB

Guy says it around the 5:50 mark. He actually says OVER half are unemployed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htmAfrican American Unemployment rate for March 2015...10.1%

That's not all black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

Just to add more numbers and likely confusion - here is Milwaukee in 2009. the number for black males in that city at that time out of work, 53.3%

2009/2010 isn't relevant to the discussion at hand. All unemployment has dropped precipitously since then.

This study also seems to incorporate institutionalized persons into the unemployment rate.

This paints a better picture of unemployment

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002696672#post1

 

[General Tso]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

No, it really isn't. It ignores the fact that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed across all races and social classes. It operates on the obviously false assumption that "white racism and the vestiges of slavery" stopped after 1965. It ignores the fact that birthrates per 1000 unmarried black women have dropped quite a bit since 1969 (while rates for white unmarried women have grown, as it turns out). Birth rates for married couples have dropped off a cliff over that time frame, which obviously skews the numbers regarding % of births to unmarried women even if the birth rates are unchanged.

Basically, it's a single statistic pulled out of context, isolated and misused to give ammunition to conservatives who are more interested in blaming social programs and black people for everything than in doing any actual research.

It's really not. We already know that the percentage of black women who aren't getting married is rising. Just because a lower percentage of them are having kids doesn't mean that the overall rate of kids out of wedlock still isn't skyrocketing. That article is nothing more than gaming the statistics.There are all sorts of proven statistical benefits to marriage. You want to know why the middle class is declining? Let's start at the decline in marriage across the board.

I'd say that ignoring jumps in children born out of wedlock and declining marriage rates across races and classes in order to cast this as "the breakdown of the black family" is gaming the statistics (that's actually a nice way to put it). I'm just presenting more information and the missing context.

I'm in a meeting for the next two hours unfortunately. I think this topic warrants it's own separate thread. It's hugely important in my opinion.And Tobias - sorry for snapping at you.

 

[TobiasFunke]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

No, it really isn't. It ignores the fact that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed across all races and social classes. It operates on the obviously false assumption that "white racism and the vestiges of slavery" stopped after 1965. It ignores the fact that birthrates per 1000 unmarried black women have dropped quite a bit since 1969 (while rates for white unmarried women have grown, as it turns out). Birth rates for married couples have dropped off a cliff over that time frame, which obviously skews the numbers regarding % of births to unmarried women even if the birth rates are unchanged.

Basically, it's a single statistic pulled out of context, isolated and misused to give ammunition to conservatives who are more interested in blaming social programs and black people for everything than in doing any actual research.

It's really not. We already know that the percentage of black women who aren't getting married is rising. Just because a lower percentage of them are having kids doesn't mean that the overall rate of kids out of wedlock still isn't skyrocketing. That article is nothing more than gaming the statistics.There are all sorts of proven statistical benefits to marriage. You want to know why the middle class is declining? Let's start at the decline in marriage across the board.

I'd say that ignoring jumps in children born out of wedlock and declining marriage rates across races and classes in order to cast this as "the breakdown of the black family" is gaming the statistics (that's actually a nice way to put it). I'm just presenting more information and the missing context.

I'm in a meeting for the next two hours unfortunately. I think this topic warrants it's own separate thread. It's hugely important in my opinion.And Tobias - sorry for snapping at you.

No problem- anything you might have said to me here barely registered compared to what I usually get in these threads

 

[HellToupee]

Ray Lewis

 

[tdoss]

Ray Lewis telling people to stop the violence is like Cosby telling black kids to pull their pants up and speak English.

It's definitely a good message but wow...the messenger is an awe-inspiring hypocritical choice.

 

[Clifford]

So tell me genius, how do you explain this incontrovertible FACT:

- in 1965 the percentage of illegitimate black babies was 25%. Today the number is 70%.

People like you live to blame the breakdown of the black family on white racism or the vestiges of slavery. Unfortunately the data doesn't show that.

Why has the black family broken down? And why does the breakdown coincide with the flood of liberal programs that came on the scene right when the numbers spiked?

A little harsh approach but this is a pretty interesting statistic/question.

No, it really isn't. It ignores the fact that the rate of children born out of wedlock has skyrocketed across all races and social classes. It operates on the obviously false assumption that "white racism and the vestiges of slavery" stopped after 1965. It ignores the fact that birthrates per 1000 unmarried black women have dropped quite a bit since 1969 (while rates for white unmarried women have grown, as it turns out). Birth rates for married couples have dropped off a cliff over that time frame, which obviously skews the numbers regarding % of births to unmarried women even if the birth rates are unchanged.

Basically, it's a single statistic pulled out of context, isolated and misused to give ammunition to conservatives who are more interested in blaming social programs and black people for everything than in doing any actual research.

This is complete utter nonsense. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/was-the-moynihan-report-right-sobering-findings-after-1965-study-is-revisited/2013/06/13/80eac980-d432-11e2-b05f-3ea3f0e7bb5a_story.htmlThere are a million reports and articles online talking about this. If you want to dismiss it, and call out another "vast right wing conspiracy", go ahead. I think most people by now see through all this BS. People are tired of the white racism being to blame for all the ills facing black communities today. It's not supported in Baltimore, as I've shown above, and it wasn't supported in North Charleston either. But keep race baiting if you makes you feel morally superior. Meanwhile, the key issue - the breakdown of the black family - continues to be discussed by no one. Nice work Chief.

Didn't LBJ increase welfare payments to single-parent households as part of the Great Society legislation?

 

[Gawain]

I'd say that ignoring jumps in children born out of wedlock and declining marriage rates across races and classes in order to cast this as "the breakdown of the black family" is gaming the statistics (that's actually a nice way to put it). I'm just presenting more information and the missing context.

How about this one?

From 1900 to 1950, the percentage of black people (both sexes) who never married was lower than the percentage of white people that never married.

White men/women around 8.5% black men around 6% and black women around 4%.

In 2010, the percentage ow white women never married was about 6.5%, white men about 9% and black men/women around 20%.

I don't think someone has to be married to lead a rewarding and meaningful life, but if the accepted definition of a family is a married couple, doesn't there seem to be a disparity?

 

[PinkydaPimp]

Anyone see Obama's statement : MY LINK

 

[matttyl]

This is likely where the 50% number came from, which has been mangled to now apply to all of the city.

"Freddie Gray grew up in a neighborhood particularly plagued by the problems that have long faced the city of Baltimore. In Sandtown-Winchester, more than half of the people between the ages of 16 and 64 are out of work"

They are talking about Sandtown-Winchester/Harlem Park (which is 97% black) - which is just a part of Baltimore. The median household income is 24,000. Half of high school students are "chronically absent", only 40% of the age 25+ population has a high school diploma, the mortality rate is 19 per thousand in the 15-24 age range (roughly 6x the national average), and a life expectancy of less than 69 years.

 

[jonessed]

Just heard a stat that 50% of black adult males are unemployed in Baltimore.

I need a link for a stat like this... This is almost unbelievable.

Why is it so unbelievable to you?The unemployment rate for all blacks in this country is around 17%, 10 points higher than for everyone else. The poverty rate in all of our inner cities approaches 40%.

Current unemployment is 5.5%... To say that black men in this city are 900% above the national average is something I would like proof on

Heard it on Morning Joe this morning. Here's link to the segment. on.msnbc.com/1EMz2TB

Guy says it around the 5:50 mark. He actually says OVER half are unemployed.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htmAfrican American Unemployment rate for March 2015...10.1%

That's not black males, truly unemployed, or Baltimore.It appears the 50% cannot be validated, but there's no reason to further muddy the waters by just throwing out numbers.

New to the world of charts?Heading Black or African American, subheading Men, 20 years and over, row Unemployment rate.

Column, March 2015

Result...10.0%

Or are government unemployment statistics only accurate when you want them to be?

16-20 is much higher, it doesn't count all unemployed, and it's not specific to Baltimore.

 

[HellToupee]

Ray Lewis telling people to stop the violence is like Cosby telling black kids to pull their pants up and speak English.

It's definitely a good message but wow...the messenger is an awe-inspiring hypocritical choice.

as a Steelers fan I hated Lewis , dont like his post player work but I have to give it to him here. The right words & for Baltimore probabky the right person