That’s usually followed by “about (fill in the blank) in
this country.”
The topic can be any number of things: racial injustice,
income inequality, immigration, gun violence, or whatever.
The implication is that we’ve never actually discussed any
of these things. At least not had an “honest” discussion. But we need to. Right
now.
Anytime someone says this I already know they aren’t
interested at all in an “honest” conversation. They don’t want a
“conversation.” They want something quite different. They want yet another
opportunity to “discuss” something they’ve been yammering about for years.
Nine times out of ten whatever that is has no realistic
solution because it’s not intended to ever be “solved.” Often it’s a purely manufactured “problem,”
invented simply to be a wedge issue. Their proposed “honest conversation” will
just rehash the same pointless crap once again.
Let’s take “racial injustice” for a moment. It seems to be the issue of the day that’s
brought pro athletes to their knees during the national anthem.
What exactly is racial injustice? Seriously, what is it?
It implies that people aren’t getting impartial treatment
under the law solely because of their race. The only “evidence” anyone can present for
“racial injustice” is based entirely on outcomes, where blacks are
disproportionately more likely to end up in prison than whites. And black
offenders are disproportionately more likely to be shot by police than whites.
Here’s my problem with that “proof” of racial injustice – those
claims typically and conveniently ignore prior arrests and convictions, and the
specific circumstances of the incident. That usually explains any difference in
outcomes.
Let’s take perp A and perp B, for example, who are both
arrested for selling the same amount of the same drugs. If A has no prior arrests
or convictions and B has a record stretching back to when he was 15 with
multiple arrests and convictions for selling drugs, the one with more priors is
most likely to get a harsher sentence. Race has nothing to do with that
outcome; prior bad behavior does.
Step it up a notch.
Perp C is accused of shooting someone in commission of a robbery, so is
perp D. Both serious crimes. But C has
done this several times before, and has also served time in prison for
attempted murder. D has one prior conviction for robbery when he was 16, served
time in juvenile hall, and hasn’t been arrested again until now.
Guess who gets a stiffer sentence.
Okay, it’s time to take on police shootings. Perp E is found in a stolen car with
unregistered guns and a large amount of cocaine during a routine traffic stop.
So is perp F. When officers try to arrest E, he races off leading police on a
high-speed chase through a residential area before he is finally stopped and
gives up. F does exactly the same thing,
but when he’s stopped he refuses to remain in the car as instructed and instead
walks toward the officers while reaching into his waistband for something as he
screams profanities at the arresting officers.
Who is more likely to be
shot?
Race has little if anything to do with these outcomes.
Except for one thing: black males are significantly more likely to have prior
arrest records than white or Hispanic males.
At any time up to 25% of all adult black males are in the justice
system – they’ve either done time, are on parole, or are awaiting trial. Blacks
are only 13% of the U.S. population, yet they account for 40% of our prison
population. That’s way too high to blame solely on racial injustice.
Consider this: one report speculates that if this trend
continues one in three black males will go to prison in their lifetimes. The
number for white males is one in 17, and one in six for Hispanics. That’s not
about racial injustice; that’s about paying the price for committing
crimes. And that’s also why blacks are
far more likely to have prior arrest and convictions than whites or Hispanics
charged with the same crimes, and consequently, why they often get harsher
sentences.
Proponents of the claim of widespread racial injustice against
blacks think that shouldn’t matter. Just because someone commits the same type
of crime, or worse, repeatedly, that shouldn’t matter in how they are treated
by the justice system.
Of course it matters.
If a reasonable person on a jury discovers that a defendant has
a history of violent crime and is now being charged with yet another violent
crime, it’s certain to affect their opinion. Nobody sane wants a repeat
offender like that back on the streets. If someone has a history of convictions
for armed robbery, and is convicted of yet another armed robbery, you can bet
they are going to get more than a slap on the wrist this time, regardless of
skin color.
That’s an “honest conversation” about “racial injustice.” I
doubt many on the other side care to have that one, ever.
As if to prove my point, last night I saw an interview with
a Chicago alderman. He was asked about the possible link between so many
kids in the black community without fathers and the murder rate in Chicago,
especially among black males. He conceded that there was likely a link.
However he blamed the lack of black fathers on the
incarceration rate of black males. His solution was to stop incarcerating so
many black males for so long.
Not stop the crimes. Not stop so many black kids being born
to single mothers. Not stop a culture that equates manhood with how many different
baby mamas some male can impregnate.
Nope. Just give black males lighter sentences, regardless of any
crimes they’ve committed or their prior criminal history.
In effect, he was asking for a break solely based on the race of the criminal.
Yeah, that's fair. That's textbook racial injustice if you don't happen to be black.
So much for an “honest conversation.”
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