Senate Candidate Blames Hip-Hop For Gun Violence, Studies Show Different

Mississippi GOP Senate candidate, Chris McDaniel, blamed rising gun violence on a "hip-hop" culture while on a promotional run for his Christian conservative radio program, Right Side Radio.

"The reason Canada is breaking out with brand new gun violence has nothing to do with the United States and guns," said McDaniel "It has everything to do with a culture that is morally bankrupt. What kind of culture is that? It's called hip-hop."

He also proceeds to state that hip-hop is also a major reason for failing schools and broken communities. "Name a redeeming quality of hip-hop," states Chris "I want to know anything about hip-hop that has been good for this country. And it's not—before you get carried away—this has nothing to do with race. Because there are just as many hip-hopping white kids and Asian kids as there are hip-hopping black kids. It's a problem of a culture that values prison more than college; a culture that values rap and destruction of community values more than it does poetry; a culture that can't stand education. It's that culture that can't get control of itself." You can listen to the audio right below

Well a recent study done by The Wire contradicts those stereotypical claims. The research uses an algorithm that correlates crime data from the FBI in comparison with the top charting singles in popular music over the past 3 decades. The results are compelling, and provide a valid, statistic-backed argument that as hip-hop culture gains popularity the rates of both crime and violent crime decline. Check out the compelling report for yourself here. Knowledge is power.

[via Mother Jones]
[via The Wire]