"The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation"

[Linda Anderson]

Kate, first of all the NYT piece is an opinion piece, not a news article.

Second, Mr. Ball is got his information from the Justice Department report. He writes:

"Earlier this month the Justice Department found the police in Ferguson, Mo., culpable for conducting a continual dragnet in which they stopped, harassed and took into custody black citizens in disproportionate numbers. African-Americans make up approximately 90 percent of traffic stops and tickets, and nearly 95 percent of arrests, in Ferguson. Furthermore, according to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., the courts of the largely black and yet white-run town use arrests and fines against African-Americans to raise revenue and keep the city budget from falling into deficit. It’s hard to imagine that Ferguson is alone among American cities in applying this strategy."

Here is the Justice Department report. The data on the traffic stops is on page 4. "Data collected by the Ferguson Police Department from 2012 to 2014 show that African Americans account for 85% of vehicle stops, 90% of citations, and 93% of arrests made by FPD officers, despite comprising only 67% of Ferguson's population." The Justice Department found the arrests, etc. "disproportionate," as Mr. Ball says, with even 67% of the population being African American.

http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documen...ment/1435/