>>I couldn't agree more with your thoughts. I've been writing to my local paper over the last couple of years regarding our local obsession with hate crimes. I think most on this board would agree that the race of the perpetrator should play no role in the consequences of the actions. So why would we make it an issue ourselves?<<
But the BEHAVIOR that produces these sociopathic predators in such abundance is out-of-wedlock birth/fatherlessness/illegitimacy.
How can you address illegitimacy without mentioning race and without being called a racist?
"But the BEHAVIOR that produces these sociopathic predators in such abundance is out-of-wedlock birth/fatherlessness/illegitimacy."
While you're right about the consequences of illegitimacy, you have no actual knowledge about any of these offenders. Your assumptions give rise to the kind of stereotyping that plagues Republican efforts to cement their majority.
I'm sure that with very little effort you could find many examples of white kids from privileged backgrounds doing reprehensible sexual things in groups during the past decade or two. Probably Latino kids too and maybe some Asians as well. I would probably speculate that it is the culture that has changed and that has a bigger impact than the impact of fatherlessness.
That's the problem - conservatives are instantly called racists if they try to fight race related issues.
I think that the welfare state and over zealous child support laws have caused much of this. Why should a woman bother staying with her baby's daddy if she can do just as well financially (or even better) without him?
Since the child support laws are so draconian, why should a young black man making $20,000 a year even bother keeping a job if its all going to be siphoned off by a woman that isn't spending the money on the child and is sleeping with everyone but him. He is better off just going on welfare.
Reforming welfare and the child support laws is going to be terribly difficult though since they both will generate a lot of ignorant, emotional demagoguery. There's just not much bang for the buck there.
Instead, we should focus on issues that do have a huge pay off. Controlling our borders would be a great start. Abolishing the IRS and going to a retail sales tax would be another. Building more nuclear power plants and oil refineries would be a great one too.
Solving black on black crime is something that just isn't worth pursuing right now since we have so many bigger fish to fry.