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Post by AussieMeg on Jun 10, 2020 13:13:11 GMT
I've been meaning to post about this for a while now. 'Planet America' is an Australian news program that covers US political events from the past week. I thought some of you might be interested in seeing another country's take on US politics. It's on the ABC, which tends to be left-leaning, which I'm sure most of you will be fine with.  This is a link to the show on ABC iView (an on demand / catch up service) but I doubt that it is available for overseas viewers: Planet America iViewIf that doesn't work, you can watch some of it on their Facebook Page: Planet America FacebookThe last two weeks they have shown a segment called The Wall, which talks about black/white economic inequality. The Wall 3rd JuneThe Wall 10th JuneTonight's episode had some really interesting / shocking stats around: unarmed people shot and killed by police police use of force traffic stops / driving while black arrest rates black vs white conviction rates etc etc I hope you're able to watch, and I'd be keen to know your thoughts. It's 11:15pm here now and I am about to go to bed, so I won't be able to check back until tomorrow morning. |
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Post by AussieMeg on Jun 10, 2020 13:17:43 GMT
One thing I really want to fact check is this stat from tonight's show:
"By age 23, 49 percent of black males, 44 present of Hispanic males and 38 percent of white males have been arrested."
Is this for real? I mean, 38% of white males being arrested by age 23 is high enough, but nearly half of all black males?!
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Post by corinne11 on Jun 10, 2020 13:24:26 GMT
We watch it every week. It's probably the only program we have on reminder.
Even though it is left leaning, Chas certainly does his research and will include information to show that sometimes it is the way in which polls/questions are worded that provide a different view and he presents a realistic view of how we perceive what we here in Australia see through our media/internet. I am quite fascinated with all the information and opinions I see on this website and am probably more invested in US politics than Australian.
It's 11pm here for me too, so I hope I make sense!
Corinne
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Post by LavenderLayoutLady on Jun 10, 2020 13:30:31 GMT
One thing I really want to fact check is this stat from tonight's show: "By age 23, 49 percent of black males, 44 present of Hispanic males and 38 percent of white males have been arrested." Is this for real? I mean, 38% of white males being arrested by age 23 is high enough, but nearly half of all black males?! I haven't fact checked this, but I could believe it is true. Two things to keep in mind: The majority of arrested people are most likely poor. Arrested does not equal guilty of a crime. People are arrested wrongly often. |
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lindas
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Post by lindas on Jun 10, 2020 14:18:27 GMT
One thing I really want to fact check is this stat from tonight's show: "By age 23, 49 percent of black males, 44 present of Hispanic males and 38 percent of white males have been arrested." Is this for real? I mean, 38% of white males being arrested by age 23 is high enough, but nearly half of all black males?! I did a quick google search and everything containing these types of numbers was from 2014 so the numbers are 6 years old. It would be interesting to see what they are now. |
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jun 10, 2020 14:54:04 GMT
I find those numbers to be very high when looking at the people I know.
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gsquaredmom
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Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on Jun 10, 2020 16:48:07 GMT
I would also like to know where those numbers come from. I don’t know anyone who has been arrested, and our public police news would be a lot longer. I might believe a decimal shift, but even one over seems high.
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Belle
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Post by Belle on Jun 10, 2020 16:51:37 GMT
The numbers seem high to me too. Could it be that if someone is arrested 4 times or 10 times before age 23 that might increase the percentages?
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Post by freecharlie on Jun 10, 2020 17:15:57 GMT
I wonder why they picked age 23. It seems like an odd number to use. 18 wouldn't give them much stats as minor records aren't always available. 22 was the age people tended to graduate from college if you entered at 18 and went full time all the way through.
23 might give them 5 years of being an adult.
I would say those numbers feel high to me, but I would think it would differ with geographic location.
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gsquaredmom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,078
Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on Jun 10, 2020 17:32:10 GMT
I wonder why they picked age 23. It seems like an odd number to use. 18 wouldn't give them much stats as minor records aren't always available. 22 was the age people tended to graduate from college if you entered at 18 and went full time all the way through. 23 might give them 5 years of being an adult. I would say those numbers feel high to me, but I would think it would differ with geographic location. I thought a big city might explain it but I still cannot believe that many young men have been arrested by age 23 even in New York. That might translate to a lot of people unable to get jobs, and I just can’t see that. |
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gsquaredmom
Pearl Clutcher
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Jun 26, 2014 17:43:22 GMT
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Post by gsquaredmom on Jun 10, 2020 17:48:08 GMT
Ok. I googled and those stats show up on several sites. I did not find the original study. If true, that is an astonishing number. They also mentioned the rate of arrests for women also increased.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Jun 10, 2020 17:53:41 GMT
I think those stats would be high for men in their lifetime, let alone by the time they are 23.
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Post by dizzycheermom on Jun 10, 2020 17:58:18 GMT
We live in VA and my daughter is 21. She knows MANY people from her high school that have been arrested. I will have to ask her if she can come up with some numbers for me.
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schizo319
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Post by schizo319 on Jun 10, 2020 18:04:56 GMT
Those white guy numbers don't seem particularly high to me when thinking about the people that I know. My husband was arrested before the age of 23 for running around shooting a bb gun at a streetlight with his friends - they did zero damage and he paid his fine and learned his lesson - He's been clean as a preacher's sheets since then.
I'd guess that about half the white guys I know have been arrested for various infractions (fights, possession, DUI, vandalism, etc), but I always hung out with skaters, rejects, and hooligans, so my number is probably skewed.
I think they chose 23 as the cutoff because your brain doesn't stop developing until around 23-25, and that can cause some serious lapses in judgement especially for young men. Doesn't excuse the racial discrepancy, but it might explain why so many men are arrested. Also, as someone else mentioned arrested doesn't necessarily mean guilty or incarcerated.
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Post by AussieMeg on Jun 10, 2020 22:02:23 GMT
Thanks for the replies, those numbers were so surprising to me. I had to chuckle when he ran over to the camera to address it, and ended with "America arrests a lot of people!"
But I seem to have used a minor derailment on my own thread. The question about the arrest rates was really only an aside. I was more keen for people to have a look at the two videos linked, because it has some really interesting statistics regarding the disparity between blacks and whites in all kinds of issues. Plus I thought some of you might be interested in how another country views US politics, from some of the other segments on the show.
If you don't have Facebook you won't be able to watch though.
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