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5 Misleading Statistics Used by Media to Fuel Negative Stereotypes About Black People

Posted byBy Lynn Brown | Published on: CommentsComments (20)

Poverty in black communities

2  Welfare statistics

Too often when we hear statistics about welfare recipients, we picture a young, unemployed Black woman with multiple children. That stereotype has become known as the “welfare queen.”

 In fact, there is only a 1 percent difference between the number of African-Americans and whites receiving welfare.

Another statistic indicates that nearly half of all food-stamp recipients are employed full time, but still qualify for assistance because of impossibly low wages.

 A hardworking person who can’t make ends meet because her salary is below the poverty level, is hardly the same as a lazy person who spends all her money on non-essentials. The reality is almost half of people on welfare fall into the former category.

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