As I See It: High Rate of Black Incarceration Is Challenge To Us All

WorkingForChange ^ | 4.18.03 | Cynthia Tucker

[Charles Henrickson]

. . . the high rate of incarceration . . . is the single most daunting challenge to black America today because it creates the conditions that lead to other failures. Already, nearly 70 percent of black children are born outside the bonds of marriage. . . .

Cindy has it exactly backwards, of course. It's not the incarceration that causes the illegitimacy. It's the illegitimacy that breeds the criminality. The lack of morality and self-control--that's the problem. Children growing up without structure and discipline--that's the problem.

Keep your pants zipped and your legs closed until marriage. Drop the gangsta rap and start hitting the books. Hard work and delayed gratification. That's the ticket to success.

Until blacks stop making excuses and blaming whites . . . until they start looking in the mirror and stigmatizing the bad actors within their own community . . . the black illegitimacy-crime problem will keep perpetuating itself.

Lots of blacks have figured this out. Actually, 40-50-60 years ago, the black community as a whole was doing better at this than they have been recently.

[Urbane_Guerilla]

... means less rapes, less murders, less robberies, less drug dealing in the street.

Absolutely wrong. There is NOT less drug dealing in the streets because of widespread imprisonment. But the drug dealing in the streets leads to tens of thousands more crimes than would otherwise occur, because the illegality of drugs makes the profit and the price so absurdly high.

Murders and robberies and burglaries of completely innocent people occur because drugs are illegal.

I beg Freepers to grasp this truth. Tens of thousands of completely innocent people are made the victims of crime because drugs are illegal. Is that a price acceptable to you?

[LaraCroft]

No, I think a more logical reason for higher black incarceration would be money. If you know how to work the system and have the money for a good lawyer, you are more likely to 'get off' than if you are poor, dumb or have a court appointed attorney.

One thing that no one has brought up is that there is a preponderance of crime are not a.reported, b. solved or c. punished. There is a possibility that blacks are pulled in more often than whites are, given the belief that blacks are more likely to be involved in crime. That would presume racism of some sort though on the police. In some areas, that's probably true.

I'd say mostly though, its not black / white issue... it's a urban thing. In any area that you have huge populations of poor people, even if they are purple you are going to have higher crime than in rural homogeious society.

[cyborg]

I am not sure why none of the 'civil rights' folks seem to care. I'm suspect of Al's motives any time esp. when involving money. This is a mind boggling issue. I think people, myself included, already have too much problems to worry about. Sudanese slavery is so...beyond imagination the average person can't get their minds around why people enslave other people. This is probably why many blacks obsess over american slavery and why many jewish people think about the holocaust.

[visualops]

I'm a bit late getting to this thread- but wanted to note I certainly agree.
The answer is:
-2 parent family
-family care not day care
-structure and discipline
-education that stresses personal responsibility, critical thinking, and the value of learning as a tool for improvement of self and society

The fact that prison culture is all the rage: pants falling off, shoes either untied or with no laces, etc (among youth regardless of race) should be a major tip-off that something is very wrong with this picture.

[demosthenes the elder]

here's one for the ostrich-like civil-rights crowd:

If as many as half of all black men convicted and imprisoned are done so falsely, being innocent... That means that 6% of young black men right now are guilty of imprisonable crimes, and 15% of the black male population will be found so guilty during the course of their lives.

That is STILL a vastly higher incidence of criminality than among other demographic groups, and I have heard NO ONE, not even the NUTTIEST afrocentrist tinfoilhatter, claim that anywhere NEAR half of all convictions of black men are incorrect.

AND... that is ONLY those who are caught so flagrantly that they are actually successfully prosecuted and sent to jail. It doesn't count those who get away with criminal actions.

Take THAT, Jesse! Take THAT, NAACP!

More importantly, take your compaints of "disproportionate representation" and shove 'em where the sun don't shine, and let the rest of us -who live in the real world instead of a self-serving ivory tower- deal with the situation as the facts require us to do.

[demosthenes the elder]

interesting notion. I like it, on principle. As you note: it will never fly, for the reasons noted.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

Absolutely. When govt. makes it more financially advantageous for a group of people to have children out of wedlock rather than in, the seeds of disintegration are planted in that segment of society.

A friend of mine was going down the hall of her rural home yesterday morning and a man (who happened to be black and on drugs) came out of her master bedroom and began beating her with a two by four. She managed to get herself, her teenaged daughter and her wheelchair bound son out of the house, and the man was chased down by law enforcement. My friend was sent to the hospital and thankfully, has no permanent injuries. The perpertrator was a repeat offender, and will likely be sent away for a VERY long time, perhaps for life.

My cousin was attacked in this same manner in this same community for the same reason, $$ for drugs, about 5 years ago, and was nearly killed. If her father had not gone over to her house, she would have been killed. If I'm not mistaken, the man who attacked my friend may be a relative of the man who nearly killed my cousin.

[Future Snake Eater]

What the heck can civil rights advocates do except tell black men to quit committing crimes?

They can lead by example. They can deride those who would seek shelter in the "I'm a victim of racism" defense. They could get up in front of cameras and microphones and tell all blacks all over the country that a real man takes care of his family, has no use for drugs, and is a productive member of society. Black leaders could be very effective. Obviously, we've seen what not to do...

[Anamensis]

Thing is, most black criminals hurt black victims. If the larger society doesn't do anything, it has a "as long as they're only doing it to each other" flavor to it. Oh well, I know... it's Cynthia Tucker. No sense getting my shorts in a wad.

[Future Snake Eater]

Hmmmmm! Loss of voting rights from felony possession charges is the sole purpose of the WOD. Anybody remember that 2/3 of a person thing in the constitution? Looks like its back again. Courtesy of the War on Drugs.

Tell me you're not serious...

[Anamensis]

Community colleges are great. You get your Associate's there and the whole thing transfers to any university they have an arrangement with. I did that and ended up getting a fellowship to a Master's program. And you get more personal attention at community colleges, the profs there aren't a bunch of class snobs trying to publish.

[cookcounty]

Answer: Boys-only military schools.

[Anamensis]

Well, it depends on WHAT drug you're caught with. Crack carries a higher sentence than cocaine. Don't know about meth.

[Anamensis]

There is simply no substitute for the presence of a loving, caring involved father in a child's life.

Moreoever, children raised by only a father and no mother show NO heightened risk for crime. Not only do boys need a father just as much as they need a mother, they need one MORE. Don't hold your breath waiting for NOW to hold a press conference on that one.

[BOOTSTICK]

Trent Lott was correct, let those who castigate him give evidence of all the positive effects upon America, from the current Black culture.....Good luck!

[dancusa]

Why didn't Ms. Tucker mention the'Decatur Syndrome' in her article?The Rev. Jackson can espouse on this theory.

[Mr. K]

This is the dirty secret kept from us by the presstitues:

"Note in the above statistics that while Black males make up only about 6% of the US population, they commit over half of all violent crimes and over 43% of all rapes"

[blam]

"Among persons convicted of drug felonies in state courts, whites were less likely than African-Americans to be sent to prison. Thirty-three percent (33%) of convicted white defendants received a prison sentence, while 51% of African-American defendants received prison sentences."

Do these percentages reflect previous problems with the law? Prior records, etc?

[cyborg]

Thankfully my CC isn't too politically correct and active. I think it's because everyone is working, have families and are too busy. CC professors aren't academic snobs for the most part too.