Racist or Just Reporting Facts?

[arcticfox2005]

We have been in area where we are getting Memphis network stations for NBC etc. and I am appalled at the crime rate there. What if a reporter wrote and published an article that was a three column list showing (1) The 10 U.S. cities with the highest violent crime rate, in order - St. Louis, Detroit, Memphis. etc.
(2) The numerical rate - number of violent crimes per 100,000 population according to FBI data and (3) the percentage of the population that is African American.

Would this be racist or would it just be reporting verifiable facts?

 

[darsben]

Not racist but fails to report all the facts that contribute to the numbers.
LAck of educational opportunities, lack of meaningful jobs, government programs that encourage people not to work and many other factors dating back centuries. LOts of reasons for the disparity, But remember more non blacks in jail than black.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Facts are facts and cannot be racist or anything else on their own.  However, facts, often incomplete facts, can be used to make racist or religious or similar biased arguments.

One of the major tenets of statistics is that correlation is not causation.  The fact two statistics coincide does not mean one causes the other. For example, if we showed the crime rate vs the number of people who eat french fires, it would be tempting to conclude that eating french fries is a major cause of crime. Right? 

 

[LarsMac]

"the facts speak for themselves" we often hear.
But how the facts are presented can tell another story.

 

[Utclmjmpr]

AND,,, the term racist is heavily overused by those using it to promote a political position.>>>Dan

 

[arcticfox2005]

Gary, you hit the nail on the head. I used to teach statistics and when going over the calculation of the correlation coefficient, I spent a lot of effort stressing that strong correlation does not imply cause and effect.

 

[TheBar]

Anyone that has taken a sociology course knows any minority has two different cultures. In areas where the minorities are the minority they have converted to the European culture. In actuality our diverse European population has largely converted to the majority Anglo Saxon culture. In the areas where the minorities are the majority they have not. Their ideals, morals, and beliefs are more tied to their ancestral heritage. This is not limited to one minority. For example the China towns in several large US cities still remain a sub culture even after 150 years.

 

[sightseers]

I'm not sure the Memphis crime problem is a Black issue anyway.  They are saying that MS-13 is the big problem now.

 

[SeilerBird]

Gary, you hit the nail on the head. I used to teach statistics and when going over the calculation of the correlation coefficient, I spent a lot of effort stressing that strong correlation does not imply cause and effect.

This is the entire point of this "article" that was being quoted by the OP. The facts are about as racist as you can get. The entire point is that these cities are not safe to live in because of the sheer number of foreigners. It appeals to insecure headline readers who think they know everything since they read the headlines.

 

[Pugapooh]

Why would it only list African Americans?  All races commit crimes.

 

[sightseers]

So..... if fearing foreigners makes me a racist....then isn't everyone that hates the Russians also a racist ? 

 

[SeilerBird]

So..... if fearing foreigners makes me a racist....then isn't everyone that hates the Russians also a racist ? 

Only if you are trying to prove Russians were somehow inferior because they were Russians.

 

[Isaac-1]

One thing that bothers me when the topic of race comes up is how some people go so far out of their way to be "color blind" that they deny even basic scientific facts about the races.  They attribute racial differences in propensity to certain health conditions to socioeconomic factors, even when there are clearly evident physiological differences, take for example that people of African descent tend to have weaker fibulas (shins) than people of European descent, something that may seem trivial, but still a clear difference.

 

[sightseers]

Only if you are trying to prove Russians were somehow inferior because they were Russians.

then the term "inferior" becomes subjective.  In most cultures, being different is often perceived as inferior.

A person that does not go to college is perceived as inferior by western values.

 

[Pugapooh]

I'm going out for dinner.  I expect this thread will be gone when I get back.  Looks like trouble to me.

 

[Back2PA]

I'm going out for dinner.  I expect this thread will be gone when I get back.  Looks like trouble to me.

It hasn't gone unnoticed. Seems to me the topic has already exhausted itself.

 

[sightseers]

One thing that bothers me when the topic of race comes up is how some people go so far out of their way to be "color blind" that they deny even basic scientific facts about the races.  They attribute racial differences in propensity to certain health conditions to socioeconomic factors, even when there are clearly evident physiological differences, take for example that people of African descent tend to have weaker fibulas (shins) than people of European descent, something that may seem trivial, but still a clear difference.

Is it even possible to discuss the NBA diversity without being labeled as the 'R' word ?

 

[sightseers]

A long time ago in the Army I was trained to hate a whole group of different (and supposedly inferior...ha ha) people...but more importantly, I learned it was impossible for me to hate any one guy just for being a different color than I was.

however.....we all had to shower together...and some things were true.    8)

 

[darsben]

One thing that bothers me when the topic of race comes up is how some people go so far out of their way to be "color blind" that they deny even basic scientific facts about the races.  They attribute racial differences in propensity to certain health conditions to socioeconomic factors, even when there are clearly evident physiological differences, take for example that people of African descent tend to have weaker fibulas (shins) than people of European descent, something that may seem trivial, but still a clear difference.

Do you have a citation for this?

 

[sightseers]

I thought it is possible to determine the race of skeletal remains.