In speaking about the "Jena 6" case last week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson repeated the oft-heard line that there are "more blacks in jail than college." (In addition to televised reports (CNN), his words were also reported in articles like this one and this one.)
Sorry, Reverend, but the line is just not true. In fact, the Washington Post addressed this myth last month in an article about a new documentary from a black filmmaker. (Emphasis mine:)
In 2005, according to the Census Bureau, there were 864,000 black men in college. According to Justice Department statistics, there were 802,000 in federal and state prisons and jails, "even with the old heads holding on," [director Janks] Morton says.
Between the ages of 18 and 24, however, black men in college outnumber those incarcerated by 4 to 1.
The WaPo article profiled the film from new director Janks Morton. It's called "What Black Men Think," and it "explores the stereotypes and statistics that label black men, black families, black women, [and] black children" (WaPo).
(HT: The Larry Elder radio show (KABC, XM, Sirius). Several times on his show on Thursday (9/20/07), Larry played the audio of Rev. Jackson voicing the falsehood.)
+_+_+_+_
[UPDATE, 9/24/07, 8:25PM EDT: After further research, the basic fact remains the same: Jackson is still incorrect. A couple readers had some questions about the numbers from the WaPo article.
According to this October 2005 survey from the U.S. Census Bureau (click 'Table 1' 'black only'), there were 2,298,000 blacks enrolled in college at the time of the 2005 survey. That number exceeds the total number of inmates of all races in custody in state prisons, federal prisons, and local jails: 2,1186,230. Repeat: That's inmates of all races. That number comes from a count on June 30, 2005, and announced in this Department of Justice report (.pdf file) (See first sentence on page one and also tables 1 and 12.)
What's up with the different numbers we see above? I dunno, but Jackson's claim still appears way off.]
—Dave Pierre is the creator of TheMediaReport.com and a contributor to NewsBusters.
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Comments Policy
Race hustler Rule # 1
September 23, 2007 - 23:47 ET by SlicksterNever let the facts get in the way.
the true jesse jackson
September 24, 2007 - 07:00 ET by republican4lifeas you can see by his statement that it is totally false and self serving for him and "slim shady" al sharpton, the statement is false and I think that CNN(CLINTON NEWS NETWORK) should hold him accountable and he should be made to apologize
Interesting to see these facts. However, it`s still way too
September 24, 2007 - 00:38 ET by BlindSightmany!
Not only the welfare state, but the police state - in the form of the unending and counterproductive "war on drugs" - lie behind inner city problems.
Time to end the war on drugs!
"I do not know what is true. ... But in the midst of doubt ... I do not doubt that the faith is true and adorable which leads a soldier to throw away his life in obedience to a blindly accepted duty."
- Oliver Wendel Holmes, Jr.
Not enough really BlindSight
September 24, 2007 - 02:47 ET by SportPoliticsthat's why Jesse made sure they all believe they've got a great chance of being behind bars, so that he can direct more of them that way, after all he made sure it sounded nearly inevitable.
All the whiteys needed to know that, too. They need to know what they're facing in the other race.
They might as well choose crime cause the Jesse told em all the bars are where they're headed. I thought the libs believed in not telling their "children" they'ell never amount to anything, especially when it's a lie.
So reality is, in a group of black college age young adults, it's four more times likely any of them will be in college than in jail.
Maybe someone should tell them that instead.
I agree that Jackson should be citing the hopeful statistics,
September 24, 2007 - 10:02 ET by BlindSightbut it is appalling that he wasn`t that far off if he lumps together all black men, and not only those of school age.
"I do not know what is true. ... But in the midst of doubt ... I do not doubt that the faith is true and adorable which leads a soldier to throw away his life in obedience to a blindly accepted duty."
- Oliver Wendel Holmes, Jr.
It's indeed long-past time to end the war on drugs, but...
September 24, 2007 - 05:15 ET by sarcasmoAs this article correctly-concludes: "In fighting a symbol of their opponents' principles, conservatives have sacrificed their own." This remains true regardless of these numbers-games on jail vs college, and plenty of racial stories about the tax & spend drugwar continue to exist despite this blog post's take on those numbers.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
The War on Drugs feeds big government, corrupts/disrupts
September 24, 2007 - 10:32 ET by BlindSighturban development and the developing world, and is also based on a Constitutionally overbroad interpretation of the Commerce Clause that makes a mockery of "federalism" by giving Congress a trump over all state laws, including regulation of medical practice and growing hemp for commercial purposes.
Thanks for the links sarcasmo - I am with you 100%. Cato has extensive materials, and Radley Balko of Reason continues to make excellent posts as well on all of the abuses. And of course there is a growing movement among police chiefs also to end the war on drugs.
How long will so-called "conservatives" remain willfully blind to how the octopus of federal government is destroying our Constitutional government and increasingly is itself the biggest threat to our communities and liberties?
"I do not know what is true. ... But in the midst of doubt ... I do not doubt that the faith is true and adorable which leads a soldier to throw away his life in obedience to a blindly accepted duty."
- Oliver Wendel Holmes, Jr.
I don't know...
September 24, 2007 - 10:40 ET by sarcasmoBut you can count on our opponents wanting to call us names and make it about us, rather than do the intellectual work of taking on Justice Thomas' dissent. It's understandable, IMO they're not intellectually up to the task of taking on the good Justice WRT Federalism, but saying that usually infuriates some of 'em! Anyway, thanks for your kind words.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
Continue!!!
September 24, 2007 - 18:16 ET by UnsaneTime to fight a REAL war on drugs!
The countries that have all quit are ALL Going Absolutely Nowhere.
Unless you are one of those who think it is a GREAT idea to induce as much ROT as possible in American society. "Here, inner-city America: instead of trying to save you, why don't you just smoke/shoot yourselves up until you OD yourselves out of existence?"
Um, that's NOT the message I want to send to my fellow Americans...
Res tantum valet quantum vendi potest.
I love how well you document this "going nowhere" allegation.
September 28, 2007 - 05:13 ET by sarcasmoIt's almost as if you had a definition of "REAL." Should we REALLY spend more money on what looks to various people like an abject failure at home and abroad? Why??
You sound exactly like the intellectually-bankrupt Democrats talking about public schools, where failure is merely an excuse to throw good money after bad. How is your solution to the drugwar's obvious failures any different from the Democrats' solution to public education's obvious failures?
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
How Sarcasmo of you
September 30, 2007 - 00:52 ET by UnsaneIt is EASY to document, crybaby. The Netherlands is a Nanny State. NO ONE is talking about The Netherlands the way people are talking about China. Ditto Canada, with their wish to decriminalize drugs.
You sound exactly like the intellectually-bankrupt Democrats constantly invoking "they do it in Europe!" as an excuse to have government take over as many aspects of life as possible. (Never mind that such initiatives as "Needle Park" in Zurich didn't exactly work out so well. If it did, why did the locals demand its closure just over a decade ago?)
I love how you whine about me not documenting my allegations while you at the same time mention the drug war's "obvious failures" without documentation. But then, hypocrisy in argument is very Sarcasmo of you.
Res tantum valet quantum vendi potest.
That's ok i'm sure Jesse Jackson enraged
September 24, 2007 - 02:33 ET by SportPoliticsenough colored people that they went on some burn and pillage and protest and "denounce themselves" for allowing it to happen to "their group".
[Between the ages of 18 and 24, however, black men in college outnumber those incarcerated by 4 to 1.]
Aww, how could Jesse make rage against republicans worse by telling the truth ? You can't expect public liberal figures to tell the truth.
So stop committing crime!
September 24, 2007 - 05:20 ET by Blogger Guy00001They want us to think that they are in jail unjustly, due to racism. Jackson is not doing them any favors by blaming it on racism. They would be helped more if Jackson would tell them to study hard and stop committing crime!
Easy to get Jail Vote
September 24, 2007 - 07:03 ET by PawpawNEasy to get JAIL VOTE when you tell them I'll get ya out! You're in there 'cause you BLACK, etc. Now they're doing the same to Illegals! They want them to vote and vote DIM all the way!! Guarantee thatall the DEAD & JAIL & ILLEGAL Votes go to the DIMS!!
Even if Jackson was right
September 24, 2007 - 07:13 ET by Senior ChiefEven if Jackson was right with his figures, these are individuals who, most likely, choose to be where they want to be. Certainly NOT a white or black issue. He wants us to believe that racism was the ONLY cause of some black folks' dire situation.
I'm an Asian-American, and we Asians, have experienced all forms of race-ralated attacks or inuendos directly or indirectly than blacks, but it doesn't hinder us from moving forward. We can't play victims. We need to prove that we can compete through education and hard work. We rather have 2 full-time jobs than collect other people's hard-earned money at dole-out welfare centers. We adhere to family values and apply the common sense approach. The more time we spend studying, working or tending the needs of the family, the less likely we'll get in trouble. Still some of us gone astray, but they've choose to be so...
I'm with you
September 24, 2007 - 08:51 ET by mattmIs it possible that Jackson is so stupid as to think that those Blacks who are in prison don't deserve to be there? Does he believe what he is saying? If so, he's an idiot; if not, he's something worse.
All anyone has to do to stay out of jail is to not be a criminal. And all you have to do to go to college is go. Get financial aid, get a scholarship, go to work any pay your own way...
Anything else is just making excuses...
Right Matt. Instead of
September 24, 2007 - 09:31 ET by Senior ChiefRight Matt. Instead of personal responsibility and accountability, people give all kinds of excuses to get "off the hook". Jackson, Sharpton and their likes are pandering to minorities to their way of thinking- blame somebody else for their situation.
I'm just wondering how did these two get their titles of "reverend"? I heard it at either BOR or Hannity's show that Sharpton received or confered this "title" at age 9. Both Jackson and Sharpton are Baptist ministers, and that's where we have commonality. I am also a Baptist, but I differ with their views on almost everything, Biblically or politically. And I know, they're not black or white issues...
You can apply online for
September 24, 2007 - 10:13 ET by mattmYou can apply online for reverend status.
Although I don't think Jess and Al did it that way...it must have been a mail-order thing...
There are different types
September 24, 2007 - 10:45 ET by Dan The Man 2There are different types of Baptists chief. Some actually believe the Bible while others think it is a good book to live by if you can. IMO the Southern Baptist Convention is one of the stricter types of Baptists probablt because I am SBC. But, even in that convention you have dissention in among the ranks and some who think others like me are too strict. So just because someone says they are Baptists and professes the word of Jesus does not mean they believe it.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
County & City Jails--Don't They Count?
September 24, 2007 - 08:26 ET by CaringwhiteguyMr. Pierre-Please check the statistics for those black men locked up in county and city detention facilities (in addition to federal and state prisons, these places are jails). By doing so you might prove Jesse Jackson is actually correct. I'm no fan of the Reverend Jackson, but the quote you attribute to him says "jail" not just "prisons". You may be 100% correct with the prison numbers, but the census data you provide may also be incomplete.
Thanks ...
September 24, 2007 - 10:06 ET by Dave PierreThanks for the heads-up.
1. By definition (according to the Justice Dept.), a "jail" is a "locally operated correctional facility." (According to the Justice Department web site: "Jails are locally-operated correctional facilities that confine persons before or after adjudication. Inmates sentenced to jail usually have a sentence of a year or less, but jails also incarcerate persons in a wide variety of other categories." (link))
The WaPo article says "and jails"; so it seems (to me, anyways) that they are trying to distinguish between federal and state prisons and local jails, and they are including everybody.
2. If the stats are wrong, I'll correct them, but the Washington Post and that filmmaker would have some explaining to do!
Paris Hilton analogy
September 24, 2007 - 13:22 ET by CaringwhiteguyThere was a lot of commentary about Paris Hilton spending time in "prison" a little while ago. Obviously her trip to the county lockup was not prison time but merely a trip to jail.
Analogy
September 24, 2007 - 19:28 ET by Dave Pierre"Obviously her trip to the county lockup was not prison time but merely a trip to jail."
Yes. And see my update above.
Thanks.
802,000 [blacks] in federal and state prisons and jails
September 24, 2007 - 08:52 ET by ding7777So how many blacks are in local jails?
See ...
September 24, 2007 - 19:29 ET by Dave Pierremy links in the UPDATE above.
It doesn't matter what the
September 24, 2007 - 08:56 ET by MikeBIt doesn't matter what the proportion of blacks in college to blacks in prison/jail, or the proportion of blacks vs. whites in prison/jail is. Quite simply, everyone in prison/jail is a volunteer. Perhaps Jesse and Al should explain why black men volunteer in such numbers to go to prison.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
}}---> Oh, it matters
September 24, 2007 - 20:05 ET by Cool ArrowWith the weight of an entire political machine driving home the point that it's the racist conservatives who put them there, it matters a whole lot.
Let's compare it to the parents who hope the problem with little Johhny is A.D.D. rather than discipline. You think they won't jump at the A.D.D. diagnosis rather than assessing their own parenting skills?
Victimhood looks a lot more appealing than responsibility. And who won't join the "White Man done this to me" club on the inside.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
race baiters never let a fact get in the way of a good lie
September 24, 2007 - 21:29 ET by lunaticcringeradiorace baiters and liberals both. a fact is only a crib note to be ignored and glossed over when trying to push your agenda.
by the way what exactly does jesse jackson do for a living. i mean on his tax form what is it that he puts down for an occupation, rhymey instigator?
lunaticcringeradio