Were you shocked at the disruption in Baltimore? What is more shocking is daily life in Baltimore, a city of 622,000 people, 63 percent of whom are African-American. Here are 10 numbers that tell some of the story.
5.6 Blacks in Baltimore are more than 5.6 times more likely than whites to be arrested for possession of marijuana, even though marijuana use among the races is similar. In fact, Baltimore County has the fifth-highest arrest rate for marijuana possession in the U.S.A.
5.7 Since 2011 over $5.7 million has been paid out by the city of Baltimore in over 100 police-brutality lawsuits. Victims of severe police brutality were mostly people of color and included a pregnant woman, a 65-year-old church deacon, children, and an 87-year-old grandmother.
6 White babies born in Baltimore have six more years of life expectancy than African-American babies born in the city.
8 African Americans in Baltimore are eight times more likely than whites to die from complications of HIV/AIDS, and twice as likely as whites to die from diabetes-related causes.
8.4 Officially, unemployment is 8.4 percent citywide. Most estimates place unemployment in the African-American community in Baltimore much higher, and certainly double that of the white community. The national rate of unemployment for whites is 4.7 percent; for blacks it is 10.1 percent.
9 African-American babies in Baltimore are nine times more likely than white infants to die before age 1.
20 There is a 20-year difference in life expectancy between those who live in the most affluent neighborhood in Baltimore and those who live six miles away in the most impoverished.
23.8 Some 148,000 people in Baltimore, or 23.8 percent of the city's population, live below the official poverty level.
56.4 About 56.4 percent of Baltimore students graduate from high school. The national rate is about 80 percent.
92 Some 92 percent of marijuana-possession arrests in Baltimore were of African Americans, one of the highest racial disparities in arrests in the U.S.A.