(Indianapolis, IN) "The sword comes into the world because of justice delayed and justice denied."
It's been about a week now since the Leadership Forum on Civil Rights came out with its report on racial injustice in the American legal system (www.civilrights.org). Not surprisingly, it was mentioned on the evening news for all of a day and then people went back to ignoring this serious, severe problem.
I have the report in front of me and have given it a thorough reading. Like almost everybody on this list, I'm white and, therefore, I need a report to tell me that African-Americans are disproportionately likely to be in jail, arrested, detained, pulled over, questioned, suspected, and executed.
But, if you're African-American, you would already know that more black
men are in jail than in college. You would already know that blacks
are 4.3 times more likely to be executed for killing whites than vice-versa.
You would already know that blacks are sentenced more often and to longer
jail sentences than whites convicted of the same crimes. You would
already know that federally imposed mandatory minimum sentences seem specifically
designed to send black drug-addicts to jail while slapping the wrists of
whites. You would already know that prosecutors are less likely to
take a
plea, more likely to prosecute, and less likely to offer bail (although,
if they do set bail, it's probably going to be higher than for whites accused
of similar crimes).
There are many reasons for exploding prison populations and the incredibly incongruous percentage of blacks in jail - not the least of which is the failed war on drugs which imposes mandatory sentences, imprisons non-violent drug offenders, treats crack (used by blacks at a higher rate than their population percentage would suggest, although not as high as you're thinking and certainly not "predominantly" as a recent ABC News report claimed) more harshly than powder cocaine (used almost exclusively by whites), and turns drug addicts into hardened criminals by placing them with violent prison populations.
In 1972, the prison population was about 65%-35% white to non-white.
By 1997, those numbers had reversed. African-Americans, who make up only
about 14% of the US population, now account for 55% of our inmates.
On any
given day in 1997, a full one-third of every black man in America was
in jail.
There are certainly some severe problems in the African-Amercian community. And these numbers - and the problems they represent - are both a cause and an effect of those problems. A cause in that they continue to convince the black community that there are systemic obstacles to their success. An effect in that they indicate the hopelessness and frustration that goes hand-in-hand with poverty, ghettoization, and injustice. It's no secret that people who are hungry, hopeless, and frustrated turn to violence and self-abuse to escape the dolor of their daily existence.
Perhaps the saddest part of this report is the near total lack of indignation on the part of white Americans. Needing to be comfortable in our belief that criminals are being dealt with, society has determined that equality in our legal system is of relatively little import.
We need to make it a priority to elect prosecutors who will be sensitive
to the legal system's propensity to unjustly inflict heavier punishment
on African-Americans. We need to elect and demand the appointment
of judges who will be sensitive to the shortcomings of our system.
We need our politicians to repeal these ridiculous mandatory sentences
and "three
strikes" laws. We need to seriously reconsider our failed war
on drugs.
The issue here is not white guilt or any other politically correct buzzword.
The issue here is justice.
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AND THE DANNY GOES TO: Sen. Bob Smith (R-NH). Wow. Elian
is being drugged. Elian is being reprogrammed. The Wye Plantation
is a concentration camp and is surrounded by communists. Uh huh.