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Ferguson an exception as '93% of blacks are killed by other blacks,' Giuliani says

By Sara Fischer, CNN

updated 8:58 AM EST, Mon November 24, 2014

Protesters march in Ferguson, Missouri, on Thursday, August 21. The St. Louis suburb has been in turmoil since a white police officer, Darren Wilson, fatally shot an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, on August 9. Some protesters and law enforcement officers have clashed in the streets, leading to injuries and arrests.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Rudy Giuliani says the shooting in Ferguson is not a reflection of race relations in national crime
Giuliani: "White police officers wouldn't be there if you weren't killing each other 75% of the time"
Ex-New York mayor: Focus should pivot toward reducing crime in black community
Michael Eric Dyson: Those remarks "reinforce [a] problematic perspective"

Washington (CNN) -- Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says the controversy surrounding the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, does not exemplify a larger national problem.

"93 percent of blacks are killed by other blacks," Giuliani said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "We're talking about the exception here."

"What about the poor black child that is killed by the other black child? Why aren't you protesting that?"

In a heated exchange Sunday with academic and radio host Michael Eric Dyson, Giuliani suggested that the white police officer who fatally shot Brown in mid-August shouldn't be the focus of the nation's attention.

"We are talking about the significant exception," Giuliani said. "I'd like to see the attention paid to that, that you are paying to this."

Giuliani went on to explain that he and other New York City mayors have worked hard to make New York Police Department "as proportionate" as possible to reflect the racial makeup of the city.

In response, Dyson called Giuliani's comparison "a false equivalency."

Giuliani says the chaos signifies that the nation is focusing on racial disparity when it should be setting its attention on the way the police force is arranged in respect to high crime rates.

"Why don't you cut it down so that so many white police officers don't have to be in black areas?"

"White police officers wouldn't be there if you (speaking to Dyson) weren't killing each other 75% of the time."

The former New York mayor, who has been credited with greatly reducing crime in the Big Apple among poorer areas, insisted that the focus of the nation should pivot towards reducing crime among the black community.

"(Crime) is hardly insignificant," Giuliani said. "It is the reason for the heavy police presence in the black community."

Giuliani received significant blow-back from Dyson, an African America who told Giuliani his remarks "reinforce the problematic perspective that prevails in the culture."

Complete coverage of what's happening in Ferguson