Sharpton the Huckster

"The FBI report confirms what we have been saying for many months about the severe increase in hate crimes," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who organized Friday's march. "What is not reported, however, is the lack of prosecution and serious investigation by the Justice Department to counter this increase in hate crimes." Sharpton called for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights leaders to discuss this matter.

-more on cnn.com-








I'm sure Al would never discuss the actual numbers and what exactly they mean. The only thing we see is him pointing the finger. But who is he pointing at? Well lets look at who's pointing the fingers with him.



Free the Jena 6. I guess it's okay to assault someone and send them to the emergency room as long as you're not white.

No Justice, No Piece. That's a good one. I wonder is Channon Christian and Christopher Newsom will get their justice?

Rally urges hate crimes prosecutions, new AG responds

..snip..

The protesters' frustration stems from several racially charged incidents over the past year and a half: the police shooting of an unarmed man in New York, hours before his wedding, in November 2006; the appearance of nooses in several workplaces and schools; the case of a black teen charged with child molestation after having sex with another willing teen; and the story of a black West Virginia woman whom six white people allegedly raped, tortured and forced to eat animal feces as they berated her with racial slurs.

Particularly resonant was the "Jena 6" case in Jena, Louisiana. Nooses were hung from an oak tree at a high school there last year. The federal government did not prosecute the three white teens responsible.

"It was impossible under federal law as written today for us to go after these particular juveniles," Donald Washington, U.S. attorney for western Louisiana, told a congressional panel.

The noose incident at Jena was the beginning of months of racial tension that included the beating of a white student in December, allegedly by six black classmates. Two months ago, 15,000 to 20,000 protesters, including Sharpton and King, descended on Jena -- a town of about 3,000 -- to protest how authorities handled the cases of the six charged in that beating.

"There's Jenas everywhere," Sharpton said Friday. "Which is why you saw thousands of us come to Jena and why you see thousands of us come now.

"No one has the ability to get people to come on a cold day like this if people weren't feeling that they have been disenfranchised and been treated unfairly. Clearly, Jena resonates because people are familiar with the Jenas in their areas."

-source-

From the looks of all of this, I'm getting the impression that Sharpton and his marchers are saying that "white" people are to blame for the hate crimes and African Americans are the victims. Well lets take a look at the numbers:

As has been the case since the FBI began collecting hate crime data in 1991, the most frequent motivation was racial bias, accounting for 51.8 percent of the incidents in 2006. That was down slightly from the 54.7 percent in 2005.

Also in 2006, religious bias was blamed for 18.9 percent of the incidents; sexual orientation bias for 15.5 percent, and ethnic or national origin for 12.7 percent.

Of the 7,330 offenders identified by police, 58.6 percent were white, 20.6 percent were black, 12.9 percent were of unknown racial background and other races accounted for the remainder.

58.6% of all reported hate crimes where the perpetrator is know are committed by "whites" 20.6% are committed by "blacks". Let's look at this countries demographics.

From Wikipedia:

White alone: 74.7% or about 215.3 million
Black or African American alone: 12.1% or 35.0 million

So, Whites make up 74.7% of the population but only commit 58.6% of the hate crimes. On the other hand African Americans make up a small 12.1% of the population, but they commit 20.6% of the hate crimes.

Mr. Sharpton and his ilk need to look at the number and reflect. Maybe they should take a pointer or two from Bill Cosby.


All the way to the bank.