Politics

Jul 27, 2026 John J. Donohue  and Charlie Grabois

With inaccurate claims about Black Americans’ poverty and crime rates having migrated from the far-right fringe to mainstream outlets like the Wall Street Journal, it is worth considering what the data actually say. Doing so will show that there is no empirical basis for such claims, only an ideological one.

STANFORD—After the right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk’s death last year, a video clip resurfaced in which he proclaimed that Black Americans “are poorer, more murderous, and more dangerous” today than in the Jim Crow era. The soundbite sparked outrage in liberal circles, owing to the dubious suggestion that Jim Crow had conferred some advantages on its victims, and became a flashpoint in the debate about Kirk’s legacy. Since then, Kirk’s claim has spread far and wide, with respected figures like Shelby Steele of Stanford University and the former Reagan adviser Robert Woodson peddling a similar line.