In speaking about the 'Jena 6' case last week, the Rev. Jesse Jackson repeated the oft-heard line that there are "more blacks in jail than college." (In addition to televised reports (CNN), his words were also reported in articles like this one and this one.)

Sorry, Reverend, but the line is simply not true. In fact, the Washington Post addressed this myth last month in an article about a new documentary from a black filmmaker. (Emphasis mine:)

In 2005, according to the Census Bureau, there were 864,000 black men in college. According to Justice Department statistics, there were 802,000 in federal and state prisons and jails, "even with the old heads holding on," [director Janks] Morton says.

Between the ages of 18 and 24, however, black men in college outnumber those incarcerated by 4 to 1.

The WaPo article profiled the film from new director Janks Morton. It's called "What Black Men Think," and it "explores the stereotypes and statistics that label black men, black families, black women, [and] black children" (WaPo).

(HT: The Larry Elder radio show (KABC, XM, Sirius). Several times on his show on Thursday (9/20/07), Larry played the audio of Rev. Jackson voicing the falsehood.)