This is the short edition of More or Less, first broadcast on the BBC World Service.

Welcome to More or Less on the BBC World Service. I'm Charlotte MacDonald.

And I'm Simon Maven. This week, how safe are America's cities?

They just killed somebody down there, damn.

They just killed someone. They just killed somebody down. They just killed somebody.

They started shooting bullets at us and throwing tear gas and this guy got hit.

There have been violent protests in Charlotte, North Carolina, this week, after a black man was

killed by police in the city.

It's a third black death at the hands of police in a week in the US,

and the shootings and protests add to the sense

that American cities are dangerous places to be.

But how dangerous are they?

Our African-American communities are absolutely in the worst shape

that they've ever been in before, ever, ever, ever.

You take a look at the inner cities, you get no education, you get no jobs, you get shot

walking down the street, they're worse, I mean, honestly, places like Afghanistan are safer than some of our inner cities.

In case you didn't recognize the voice, that was Donald Trump, the Republican candidate

in this year's U.S. presidential election. He was speaking at a rally earlier this week,

but it's not the first time he's made the claim.

You can go to Afghanistan. You can go to war-torn crunchers,

and you will find that it's safer

than being in the middle of some of our inner cities.

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