Shocking Black & Latino Imprisonment Rates the Result of Racist, Punitive Impulse

[dreamdancer 0]

racism at work...

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For decades, journalists, scholars and activists seeking to understand the soaring number of people locked up in U.S. prisons over the past 40 years have uncovered -- or just looked clearly enough to see -- overwhelming evidence of systemic racism at every level of the criminal justice system. Yet, there has been a wide reluctance to name racism as one of the primary factors fueling the prison boom; as sentences have gotten longer and parole granted less often, even the starkest racial statistics -- like the fact that African Americans and Latinos make up 70 percent of the incarcerated population -- have often been treated as an unfortunate byproduct of the war on drugs.

Now, two criminologists have concluded, in a new study investigating public attitudes behind harsh sentencing, that the warehousing of African Americans and other minorities is no accident. Rather, "racial resentments are inextricably entwined in public punitiveness." In other words, racism and the rise of "tough on crime" policies go hand in hand.

James Unnever of the University of South Florida-Sarasota and Francis Cullen of the University of Cincinnati acknowledge the "lengthy roster" of previous studies on race and the U.S. prison system; yet theirs manages to contribute something crucial to the current debate: "… [G]iven the large body of research that documents a substantive association between punitiveness and racial animus," they write, "it is somewhat disconcerting that theories of the mass-incarceration movement do not place race and racism at the center of their explanation for why the United States imprisons so many of its citizens."

http://www.alternet.org/rights/146550/study_settles_it%3A_shocking_black_%26_latino_imprisonment_rates_the_result_of_racist%2C_punitive_impulse

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[rushmc 18]

More racism

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ms-gerhartstereotype042010

"America will never be destroyed from the outside,
if we falter and lose our freedoms,
it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
Abraham Lincoln

[kallend 1,623]

In Illinois, the data show that white teenagers are slightly more likely to be involved with drugs than black, yet the black ones are some 19 times more likely to be locked up in the juvenile justice system when caught, while the white ones get probation or community service.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[D22369 0]

well... I can only speak for the region I live in but we have a huge illegal issue, they come up here and can make really good money selling drugs, we are not that far off the I-5 corridor which is well known as a drug pipeline, they bring with them their gang ties, and conduct shootings almost on a daily basis - mostly shooting their rivals, but they are shitty shots and tend to hit others quite often. I dont see many blacks or whites go round shooting at people they dont like much around here, sure it does happen from time to time, but those from south of the border dont seem to have the respect or fear of the law as most do.

a few years ago some mexican rights group got together and threatened the town with a lawsuit claiming discrimination because about 70% of the inmates were mexican.... gee, if most of the crimes are committed by mexicans...and they get caught.....yup, those statistics would be just about right...however - rather than standing up and stating the obvious.... the spineless bastards in charge began sending some of our mexican inmates to seattle and elsewhere to balance the population mixture.

your article of "systemic racism" is bullshit.

Roy

They say I suffer from insanity.... But I actually enjoy it.

[regulator 0]

It's not the fact that non-whites are necessarily discriminated against in the legal system...(there are definately some exceptions...(OJ Simpson on one side...Rodney King on the Other). It's just that they get caught because they attract more attention than whites do. If they could be discreet they would probably get away with it more often.

[DrewEckhardt 0]

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racism at work...

Correlation does not imply causality.

The referenced article says that people who are racist using the studies metrics are more likely to favor a punitive approach to punishment.

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Yet, there has been a wide reluctance to name racism as one of the primary factors fueling the prison boom; as sentences have gotten longer and parole granted less often, even the starkest racial statistics -- like the fact that African Americans and Latinos make up 70 percent of the incarcerated population -- have often been treated as an unfortunate byproduct of the war on drugs.

Funding a middle class lifestyle requires skills that generally come from an education (college, trade school, apprenticeships). Children's educational attainment is predicted by parents educational attainment. Historically blacks have had a lower educational attainment level than whites so their children continue the trend.

Living above the poverty level requires a job period. The disparity of labor prices between the first world and emerging countries has moved many of those jobs over-seas, producing radically higher unemployment rates for un-skilled and semi-skilled labor (as of Q2 2009, 15.3% of adults without high school diplomas were unemployed versus 4.6% of those with 4 year degrees or better). Educational attainment strikes again.

Without access to a legal job market providing a decent lifestyle and often lacking any job at all they do the smart thing and get their money outside the legal job market, get caught, and go to prison.

To fix the problems we need to address that. Social manipulation through the media could help; it's done wonders for smoking. Free education could help and wouldn't be that expensive with decent state schools + room and board in small apartments running half what expensive states spend to house their prisoners for one year.

Blaming it on current racism might help getting research grants but isn't addressing the real problems.

[JohnRich 4]

So you're complaining that they're doing illegal drugs, getting caught, and having to actually serve their time for breaking the law?

Maybe they should just try not doing illegal drugs.

[dreamdancer 0]

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So you're complaining that they're doing illegal drugs, getting caught, and having to actually serve their time for breaking the law?

Maybe they should just try not doing illegal drugs.

whites use drugs just as much as anyone else - why aren't they imprisoned at the same rate?

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[kallend 1,623]

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So you're complaining that they're doing illegal drugs, getting caught, and having to actually serve their time for breaking the law?

Maybe they should just try not doing illegal drugs.

In Illinois, the data show that white teenagers are slightly more likely to be involved with drugs than black, yet the black ones are some 19 times more likely to be locked up in the juvenile justice system when caught, while the white ones get probation or community service.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Bolas 5]

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So you're complaining that they're doing illegal drugs, getting caught, and having to actually serve their time for breaking the law?

Maybe they should just try not doing illegal drugs.

In Illinois, the data show that white teenagers are slightly more likely to be involved with drugs than black, yet the black ones are some 19 times more likely to be locked up in the juvenile justice system when caught, while the white ones get probation or community service.

Socioeconomic reasons, not race.

Rich or middle class kid caught with drugs gets a lawyer and gets the case thrown out or sentence reduced.

A poor person defending themselves or using a public defender may not.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[kallend 1,623]

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So you're complaining that they're doing illegal drugs, getting caught, and having to actually serve their time for breaking the law?

Maybe they should just try not doing illegal drugs.

In Illinois, the data show that white teenagers are slightly more likely to be involved with drugs than black, yet the black ones are some 19 times more likely to be locked up in the juvenile justice system when caught, while the white ones get probation or community service.

Socioeconomic reasons, not race.

Lame excuse when the socioeconomics are directly attributable to race.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[akarunway 1]

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So you're complaining that they're doing illegal drugs, getting caught, and having to actually serve their time for breaking the law?

Maybe they should just try not doing illegal drugs.

Maybe they should should legalize and tax minor recreational/medicinal drugs?

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[Bolas 5]

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So you're complaining that they're doing illegal drugs, getting caught, and having to actually serve their time for breaking the law?

Maybe they should just try not doing illegal drugs.

In Illinois, the data show that white teenagers are slightly more likely to be involved with drugs than black, yet the black ones are some 19 times more likely to be locked up in the juvenile justice system when caught, while the white ones get probation or community service.

Socioeconomic reasons, not race.

Lame excuse when the socioeconomics are directly attributable to race.

I think Obama and the homeless white trash guy would disagree.

The point still stands. It's a socioeconomic issue.

If there are more poor people of one race than others, it stands to reason more are going to be incarcerated.

Want less people of a certain race in jail? Figure out how to motivate them to help themselves and others in their economic situation.

Handouts and aid sure doesn't seem to be the answer.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[rhaig 0]

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Lame excuse when the socioeconomics are directly attributable to race.

if you're contending that the initial complaint (rate of lockups vs administrative punishment) is indirectly due to racism, through the socio-economic reasons outlined here, then I have much less of a problem with that argument.


The man is keeping them down, by keeping the prior generation down. yeah... that's it...

--
Rob

[kallend 1,623]

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So you're complaining that they're doing illegal drugs, getting caught, and having to actually serve their time for breaking the law?

Maybe they should just try not doing illegal drugs.

In Illinois, the data show that white teenagers are slightly more likely to be involved with drugs than black, yet the black ones are some 19 times more likely to be locked up in the juvenile justice system when caught, while the white ones get probation or community service.

Socioeconomic reasons, not race.

Lame excuse when the socioeconomics are directly attributable to race.

I think Obama and the homeless white trash guy would disagree.

The point still stands. It's a socioeconomic issue.

If there are more poor people of one race than others, it stands to reason more are going to be incarcerated.

Want less people of a certain race in jail? Figure out how to motivate them to help themselves and others in their economic situation.

Handouts and aid sure doesn't seem to be the answer.

How about a few hundred years of slavery, followed by Jim Crow laws, "equal but separate" schools, "Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" state governors, etc. Do you think maybe that had some effect?

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[regulator 0]

So you're back to blaming it on someone else...I agree completely with Bolas. Obviously handouts aren't working. There needs to be a way to motivate the poor and homeless to educate themselves and find work so they aren't burdens on themselves and society.

[kallend 1,623]

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So you're back to blaming it on someone else...I agree completely with Bolas. Obviously handouts aren't working. There needs to be a way to motivate the poor and homeless to educate themselves and find work so they aren't burdens on themselves and society.

Well, I don't think the slaves enslaved themselves, and I doubt that Rosa Parks wrote Wallace's speech.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[dreamdancer 0]

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Handouts and aid sure doesn't seem to be the answer.

if you call massive prison systems 'handouts and aid' then you're right

(except if you're a rich banker)

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[dreamdancer 0]

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So you're back to blaming it on someone else...I agree completely with Bolas. Obviously handouts aren't working. There needs to be a way to motivate the poor and homeless to educate themselves and find work so they aren't burdens on themselves and society.

no answer as to why so many blacks compared to whites are imprisoned?

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[regulator 0]

Ok so let's go with your theory. Give me a run down about how re-hashing how lazy our white ancestors were by using slaves and how saying over and over again that its the white peoples fault because they enslaved blacks hundreds of years ago...and how that will motivate a homeless or poor person to get an education and become more self-sufficient.

[dreamdancer 0]

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Ok so let's go with your theory. Give me a run down about how re-hashing how lazy our white ancestors were by using slaves and how saying over and over again that its the white peoples fault because they enslaved blacks hundreds of years ago...and how that will motivate a homeless or poor person to get an education and become more self-sufficient.

that's your silly rehash. the adults are talking about racism and the current us prison system

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[regulator 0]

As to why more of one race are incarcerated than another? Its a mixed answer...some white people are rich...their kids screw up...their parents get a high price lawyer...end of story. In the south (where I live) some white people get away with just being white...while others do not...(am I saying that's right no...but it does happen) And of course ...this is only my personal opinion, but my dad is a police officer...just like my boss. I have an idea how cops think...lets take two cars...one a 2000 Honda Civic. all stock...no rims...no loud stereo (both driven by a black man wearing a suit...but you cant see inside because theres tinted windows)...then the other car is a 2000 Caprice with 22 inch dubs worth as much as the car itself probably and with loud music blaring out...which one do you think he will pull over? It's just common sense.

[kallend 1,623]

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Ok so let's go with your theory. Give me a run down about how re-hashing how lazy our white ancestors were by using slaves and how saying over and over again that its the white peoples fault because they enslaved blacks hundreds of years ago...and how that will motivate a homeless or poor person to get an education and become more self-sufficient.

Where did I claim anything of the sort? Are you having a bit of a comprehension problem?

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[dreamdancer 0]

why are both cars being driven by black men? shouldn't one be driven by a white man. also, it used to be common sense that the races shouldn't mix.

(do you remember those signs)

stay away from moving propellers - they bite
blue skies from thai sky adventures
good solid response-provoking keyboarding

[regulator 0]

My comprehension is just fine. Look our ancestors screwed up. Big Time. A few hundred years ago. Now we have liberal media outlets that debate the issue to infinity. But exactly how does being black in America in 2010 have anything to do with other blacks that were enslaved hundreds of years ago. If it were the case of motivating these young people to become something more than what they are now, then something somewhere along the line has failed. Whats the largest killer of young black males in the United States? Other young black males. They have been instilled in the streets the mentality of 'shoot first...ask questions later'. Perhaps if more of the minorities could enroll in some of your classes at the University then crime would go down.