On display Sunday morning was the latest example of how the dominant media are grossly misinforming viewers about police shootings and the issue of race as veteran singer and liberal activist Harry Belafonte claimed that "all" of those being "murdered" are "black or African-American."
Appearing as a guest on PoliticsNation on MSNBC to plug his upcoming event promoting political activism, host Al Sharpton referred to current protests and asked about "the criminal justice challenge that you've outlined, in terms of black men and shootings," leading Belafonte to lament: "I think that you cannot just go about -- if it's once or twice, you can say it's an accident and a coincidence. But when you have as large a population of murdered young men in the streets of America and they're all black or African-American descent, I think there's somebody sending us a message, and we should respond to that message."
In fact, according to statistics compiled by the Washington Post, the number of whites killed by the police in 2015 outnumbered blacks by a 2-1 margin. The media just tend to cherry pick a portion of the black victims while seldomly ever highlighting a white victim.
A bit earlier, before Sharpton specifically brought up the criminal justice system, Belafonte began discussing the issue of blacks being victims of shootings, and made reference to what he had seen in newspapers on the issue. After describing the nation as "restless," he added: "The consequence of that restlessness for a host of reasons -- political, social, whatnot -- has manifested itself in black men becoming like shooting ducks in a gallery. Every time you pick up a paper, another young brother got shot or murdered somewhere."
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, September 25, PoliticsNation on MSNBC:
8:50 a.m. ET
AL SHARPTON: First of all, tell us about this project. Why is it so important to have this kind of festival at a time like this?
HARRY BELAFONTE, SINGER: In five months, I'm going to be 90 years old. Looking back at the last 70 years of life, I've never ever witnessed in America when the community has been as restless as this is. The consequence of that restlessness for a host of reasons -- political, social, whatnot -- has manifested itself in black men becoming like shooting ducks in a gallery. Every time you pick up a paper, another young brother got shot or murdered somewhere. A lot of times, you help us find the articulation for that problem. The black community is at a very, very restless place.
A lot of young men out of the bloods and the cripps and other groups in the country are looking for response to this onslaught. One of the things that they needed are resources. One of the best places for resources is within black culture. Never before in the history of this culture and this country have we boasted such a harvest of popular figures -- between popular art, popular music, certainly the world of sports. We're all over the place. Yet that powerful celebrity voice is not heard in the inner part of our communities.
(...)
SHARPTON: We've seen more protests and gatherings this week that all of us have been involved. Would you say that the criminal justice challenge that you've outlined, in terms of black men and shootings, is the civil rights priority of today?
BELAFONTE: Absolutely. I think that you cannot just go about -- if it's once or twice, you can say it's an accident and a coincidence. But when you have as large a population of murdered young men in the streets of America and they're all black or African-American descent, I think there's somebody sending us a message, and we should respond to that message.
