Re:Policing, Mass Imprisonment, and the Failure of American ...
by dragonwriter on Wednesday May 20, 2015 @10:08AM
(#9576372)
> Empirically, crime rates do depend on race, not just class.
Some of that is racism in crime reporting and law enforcement behind the stats, and some if it is a real disparity, and at least some of that real disparity -- perhaps all of it -- results from the fact that black people in the US come from a cultural which has very different attitudes due to a very different experience with authority historically, with de jure discrimination and overt police repression of the black community extending into living memory (and even stronger farther back where it still exerts considerable cultural influence), which has a considerable impact on attitudes towards institutions of authority and the broader society.
Piling more racism by the broader society on top of that is not going to alleviate that problem.
Some of that is racism in crime reporting and law enforcement behind the stats, and some if it is a real disparity, and at least some of that real disparity -- perhaps all of it -- results from the fact that black people in the US come from a cultural which has very different attitudes due to a very different experience with authority historically, with de jure discrimination and overt police repression of the black community extending into living memory (and even stronger farther back where it still exerts considerable cultural influence), which has a considerable impact on attitudes towards institutions of authority and the broader society.
Piling more racism by the broader society on top of that is not going to alleviate that problem.