The Disconnect pt3

An Obvious Bias

This bias that we see played out by the numbers related to drug arrests alone shows a troubling trend. For whatever reason, black people are finding themselves behind bars more frequently than they should. Am I saying that our law enforcement officers are actively seeking out blacks? To deny that any member of law enforcement may be consciously biased would be foolish. Our police departments hire from the same pool as society. Some who make it onto the force will be biased. It is human nature; we all have some form of bias. However, I doubt that the number of overtly racist people who make into and last in the force is high enough to have a noticeable, nationwide impact like this.

Some of our laws need to be looked at and fixed to bring about a more even effect. Just to reuse the example from above: why should crack be punished so much heavier than cocaine? We’ve seen in the numbers that blacks do tend to commit crime at a higher rate than whites. This rate is not high enough to justify the wide disparity that we see reflected in the numbers. What do I think is the cause? I think it goes far back in history and as soon as I mention it, most will write me off as just another black man trying to blame white people and society for his problems. But, if you will hear me through, I hope to at least give you something to think about.

Way back in the 1600’s, black people were bought from Africa and sold into slavery here. This is nothing new. We all know about it. We also are well aware of the Emancipation Proclamation being signed in 1865, even if it really didn’t affect any actual change. The abolishment of slavery did not suddenly open a world of opportunity to black people. Newly freed slaves were released into a world that remained hostile towards them with little to no education and little to no opportunity to gain any (Does Poverty Cause Crime?, 2010). Things didn’t improve for a long time. Many states instituted poll taxes or literacy tests in order to vote. Blacks, being both poor and largely uneducated, could not pay the tax or pass the test. To avoid locking out the poor and uneducated white voters, most places also included a grandfather clause (Race, Segregation, and Voting Rights: Techniques of Direct Disenfranchisement 1880-1965). When poll taxes or literacy tests couldn’t be enacted, oftentimes violence was the answer. It was not until 1954 that it was decided that segregating the schools was not an acceptable practice (Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, 1954). Segregation still remained the norm throughout the South however. It took until the mid-1960s before the majority of the Jim Crow laws would be removed. The Supreme Court was unable to rule out segregation in private institutions such as restaurants and diners. These eventually went away as public opinion began changing. Things didn’t really start getting turned around until the 1970s. So, despite what many may say, black people have not had 140 years to get on their feet. Slavery still has its echoes today. One thing I’ve noticed from a lot of the reading I’ve done for this paper as well as from talking to a number of black people ranging in age from early twenties through to their mid sixties is that there is still a sense of distrust in certain areas towards white America. Coming from the checkered past that blacks have had in America, it makes sense. Looking at the numbers presented throughout this report, it is understandable why black people might not trust the system or the people seen as being responsible for the implementation of the system.

Where Do We Go From Here?

It is my belief that in order to correct the problem and keep blacks from being locked up at such a high rate, we will need a multi-tiered approach. This is not a simple question and there can be no simple answers. I won’t pretend to have all the answers, but for a start, we need to revise our war on drugs. As it sits, it’s been too heavily influenced by false and exaggerated media coverage. That is the only explanation for why crack would be punished so much more severely than any other. With 33-37% of all drug arrests being black people, just correcting this will make a large impact. We need to focus more on rehabilitation for drug offenders. This will have a widespread impact. Catch a man with drugs and toss him in lock up, he’ll go right back to drugs when he gets out. If you help him to kick the habit, his chances for success and staying clean increase. We also need to create opportunities for those living in poverty to further their education and be able to compete on equal footing with white people when interviewing for jobs. Affirmative action helps no one. We don’t need extra points for our skin tone, we need to be equally qualified so that when a black man gets hired or promoted, there is no question as to how he attained that position. In conjunction with increased opportunities for higher education, we need to educate the younger generation to finish school and strive for that extra education. Scholarships do no good if there is no one qualified to take them. Also, if these young blacks get through their schooling and can move on to college, they will be more able to get decent paying jobs and less likely to feel the need to supplement a minimum wage job with dealing crack. This then leads me to the most difficult part: removing the barriers between the races. No matter what people may think since the election of President Barack Obama, race is still an issue. As I stated, many blacks still are uncomfortable around white people. This of course goes both ways. Blacks are seen, through the lens of popular culture, as being more violent, and this can make some white people uneasy as well. There is no need for this and I don’t have an answer for how to repair it. The leader of the profiled crack gang had an education, he had gone to work for a successful ad firm, but said he felt out of place, “like a white man working at Afro-Sheen headquarters.” (Levitt, 2009) He had an opportunity, he could’ve made a handsome living without resorting to selling crack, but that barrier was there. The only suggestion I could make would be to assist in moving more black people out of the ghetto so the kids don’t grow up in isolation, without exposure to other cultures. But, we’ve seen that tried a few times in the past, and there hasn’t been a method found yet that works. First, there was bussing kids from the ghetto into white school districts and white kids from the suburbs into ghetto schools. That didn’t work so great. Then in the early 1990s, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were formed and given the directive to qualify more minorities as minorities tend to have lower credit scores. That led to increased home ownership amongst those who likely wouldn’t have qualified in the past, but it also has been one of the big factors taking the blame for the current economic crisis.

Conclusion

The number of black men currently locked up in prison or with felony convictions taking away their right to vote is appalling. No matter your opinion on crime, for 12% of the population to make up over 40% of the prison population has to tell you there is a serious problem. We’ve explored a few possible causes and looked at where those ideas go astray. Poverty may be related to increased crime rates, however poverty does not cause crime. Contrary to popular belief, drug dealers are not necessarily living the high life. We looked at the differing crime rates, arrest statistics, and conviction rates and saw that blacks still make up too great a proportion of arrestees and convicts. I’ve put forth my ideas for how to correct the system, but most importantly, I hope I’ve provided some new information and maybe shed some light on a problem that you may not have realized the depth of.

Works Cited

(2004, May). Retrieved September 2011, from Prison Policy Iniative: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/graphs/statepopulations.html

Bowman, B. (2010). A Portrait of Black America on the Eve of the 2010 Census. The Root .

Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, 347 US 483 (US Supreme Court May 17, 1954).

Crime in the US, 2009. (2010, September). Retrieved September 2011, from US FBI: http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/cius2009/offenses/expanded_information/data/shrtable_03.html

Does Poverty Cause Crime? (2010, October 27). Retrieved from ehow: http://www.ehow.com/about_4570679_does-poverty-cause-crime.html

Incarcerated America. (2003, April). Retrieved from Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/legacy/backgrounder/usa/incarceration/

Institute on Race & Poverty. (2000). Racial Profiling Data Collection Status Report. Minneapolis.

Levitt, S. D. (2009). Drug Dealers Living With Their Moms. In S. D. Levitt, Freakonomics (p. 296). New York: Harper Perennial.

Mac Donald, H. (2010). A Crime Theory Demolished . Wall Street Journal .

Poverty rate among African Americans nearly double that of White Americans. (2010, October 2). Retrieved September 2011, from Milwaukee Courier Online: http://milwaukeecourieronline.com/index.php/2010/10/02/poverty-rate-among-african-americans-nearly-double-that-of-white-americans/

Race, Segregation, and Voting Rights: Techniques of Direct Disenfranchisement 1880-1965. (n.d.). Retrieved September 2011, from Univeristy of Michigan: http://www.umich.edu/~lawrace/disenfranchise1.htm

The EFFECTIVE NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY 1999. (1999). Retrieved September 2011, from Common Sense for Drug Policy: http://www.csdp.org/edcs/page30.htm

US Prison Population Tops 2.4 Million. (2011, August 9). Retrieved September 2011, from PressTV: http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/193137.html

Williams, J. (2007). Poverty and Crime. Retrieved September 2011, from Christian Association for Prison Aftercare: http://capaassociation.org/newsletter_N009/Articles/PovertyCrime.htm

World Prison Population 2011. (2011, July 11). Retrieved September 2011, from Harm Reduction International: http://www.ihra.net/contents/1055

The Disconnect pt2

Complex Problem, Complex Cause, Complex Solution     

A popular explanation for crime is that poverty causes crime and blacks spend more time in poverty than whites. After all, if you go to any ghetto, you generally find high crime as well as a high concentration of black people. Blacks in America reported a lower average income than every other group (Bowman, 2010). Blacks are also twice as likely to be living in poverty in comparison to the rest of the population (Poverty rate among African Americans nearly double that of White Americans, 2010). On the surface, the causal relationship seems obvious and logical. If a person is lacking the income to attain the standard of living he aspires to, he is more likely to rob someone than someone who has plenty of money. Fifty-three percent of people in prison earned less than $10,000 in the year prior to their incarceration (Williams, 2007). People with little access to money usually have a lower education level than those with plenty. In Detroit, one of the poorest sections of America, the graduation rate is between twenty-five to forty percent of all students (Williams, 2007). This also holds true for the mascot of crime in the ghetto, the crack dealer. These are people who make the equivalent of minimum wage or less while standing in the open on the street corner, hoping that a rival dealer doesn’t gun him down (Levitt, 2009). In a study done by Sudhir Venkatesh in the book, Freakonomics, Venkatesh is granted a rare look inside the inner workings and financial dealings of a Chicago crack gang. The low level dealers making between three and seven dollars an hour are largely uneducated. The one with the college education found himself as the leader of the local gang. He made, on average, $8500 each month. Lack of education led the lower level associates to a life of crime with very little pay while the educated criminal saw very high pay. Why did the leader turn to crack dealing, even after getting a college education? It was because of a lack of integration at the office in which he worked. He felt out of place.

            The question we are asking in this section, however, is whether or not poverty directly causes crime. This has been a controversial topic over the years. However, a look at the numbers can provide us with insight here as well. During three periods in America’s history, we have seen the economy both rise and fall and have had the opportunity and ability to track the overall crime rate. The Great Depression was a huge downswing for the economy causing a large increase in poverty. We recovered and rolled into the 1960’s, a time of prosperity and an economy that was going up. Since 2008, we have been in a downswing again in our economy (Mac Donald, 2010). According the “poverty causes crime” theory, crime should have risen in the Great Depression, fallen during the 1960’s, and should be on the rise again today. However, facts show a different tale. Crime plummeted during the Great Depression. As Heather Mac Donald states, “The Great Depression also contradicted the idea that need breeds predation, since crime rates dropped during that prolonged crisis.” During the prosperous times of the 1960’s, crime was on the rise again. Even though more cushy, government jobs were being opened for inner city residents, homicide went up by forty-three percent. Today, as our economy goes down again, we should be expecting to see a rise in crime only if we have not been paying attention to history and we are not let down; crime has fallen to the lowest it has been since the early 1960’s. So, we can be fairly sure that while people in poverty may be more likely to commit crime, poverty itself does not cause crime. So, does this mean that black people truly are committing ten times more crime, per capita, than white people? So, knowing that poverty itself does not directly cause crime, we can move past poverty and income as a major factor.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation keeps very detailed records of crimes committed. A quick look at their statistics reveals that, while black people compose a higher percentage of arrests than they do of the general populace, with blacks composing twenty-eight percent of total arrests to the sixty-nine percent of arrests from white people, it doesn’t bear out a tenfold increase over the rate of arrest for white people. This does not hold true however for homicide. When comparing homicide rates, the black rate very well could be ten times higher than the white rate. Blacks account for thirty-seven percent of homicide arrests (Crime in the US, 2009, 2010). When it comes to drug arrests, thirty-three percent of those arrested were black as opposed to white people accounting for sixty-five percent of the arrests. This means that blacks were arrested at a rate nearly three times higher than their percentage of the population would suggest. As I pointed out in my example of the crack dealers in the ghetto, crack-cocaine is indeed a problem in the black community. However, the group Common Sense for Drug Policy (CSDP), has compiled data that shows that blacks comprise only eleven percent of the nation’s drug users while making up nearly sixty percent of those in state prisons for felony drug convictions. They also point out that prior to mandatory minimum sentencing, blacks received sentences six percent longer than whites. Four years later, black prison terms were ninety-three percent longer than white prison terms. A big portion of that disparity comes from the disparity in enforcement of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. Crack is largely used in the black ghettos whereas powder cocaine is generally the drug of choice more affluent, usually white users. In order for a person in possession of cocaine to receive the same sentence as a person possessing crack, he must have one hundred times the amount of powder by weight than the person with crack. To add to it, while other drugs require the intent to distribute in order to get the harsh sentencing, one must merely possess crack to be hit with the harsher sentencing (The EFFECTIVE NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY 1999, 1999). Since crack has such harsh sentencing and is generally a black drug, it is largely black people who get sent away for these long prison terms for possessing crack.  The Institute on Race & Poverty had this to say: ” African Americans constitute 13% of the country's drug users; 37% of those arrested on drug charges; 55% of those convicted; and 74% of all drug offenders sentenced to prison.” (Institute on Race & Poverty, 2000). No matter how you cut it, there is a definite bias coming to light.

The Disconnect: Why is the rate for Black Incarceration so High?

Introduction

Currently, the American population sits at 312,000,000. The number of Americans currently behind bars is over 2,000,000 strong and climbing. In a totally fair world, that population would closely resemble the general population, but this world is not fair. Currently over forty percent of the United States prison population consists of African-Americans. This is from a group that makes up only twelve percent of the total United States population. Blacks find themselves in prison five to ten times more frequently than whites and Hispanics. One group will tell you this tragedy is the result of a corrupt and racist legal system in America. Another will tell you it is directly related to blacks simply committing more crimes. Yet another group believes that it is all caused by an increased level of poverty amongst African-American communities. This is a complex problem and cannot be explained away with a quick and easy answer. To get a better grasp of the root cause involved here, I will be looking at what the numbers actually show us regarding the prison population and the demographics thereof. I will also be researching the correlation between poverty and the relative crime rate. Thirdly, a look will be given to the actual crime rates as related to blacks, Hispanics, and whites to compare whether blacks truly are committing more crimes. Lastly, we will look at the enforcement, arrest, and conviction rates of the different races to see if there is any credibility in the theory that more blacks are sentenced to longer prison terms due to racism. The goal of this paper is to explore the causes behind such an astronomically high rate of imprisonment for blacks in comparison to everyone else and attempt to reach a conclusion as to what the actual problem is and how to fix it. This is a problem that I believe has its roots in the long and sordid history of blacks in America. Relations have made a vast improvement today, however, contrary to the beliefs of some, I believe we are still too close to the problem era to be fully clear of its impact.

A Comparison of Numbers

            America is home to the largest prison population in the world. Out of a total of 10.1 million prisoners worldwide, America is home to 2.29 million prisoners (World Prison Population 2011, 2011). We also are owners of the highest rate of imprisonment with 743 out of every 100,000 people in prison, compared to a worldwide average of 146 per 100,000. How did America, Land of the Free^TM, end up with so many imprisoned? Today’s prison population represents a tenfold increase in prison population over the last thirty years (US Prison Population Tops 2.4 Million, 2011). Why has the prison population sky rocketed so quickly? Certainly there is not ten times the crime rate or population to support this prison population. What reasons might there be? The same article above gives mandatory minimum sentencing a piece of the blame along with politicians wanting to appear tough on crime creating harsher sentencing laws. These policies were originally written to protect people from serious and violent crimes, yet violent crime has remained fairly steady even as prison populations explode. Almost three fourths of new inmates have been nonviolent offenders (Incarcerated America, 2003). Between 1980 and 2000, the number of drug related offenders in prison has increased by a factor of twelve as a result of the war on drugs. The most vulnerable tend to be minorities at the bottom of the income bracket.

A Look at Inequality

             There were 37,131,771 African Americans living in America as of the time of the 2008 Census estimates. That accounts for 12.33% of all Americans. Blacks make up the second largest minority group now. Hispanics are the largest with 45,432,158 members, or 15.08% of America. Whites are still the majority and by quite the wide margin: 198,420,355 people and 65.87% of the population. Asians make up a very small portion of America with only 13,164,169 people comprising 4.37% (Bowman, 2010). A fair world would show a similar break down of race and ethnicity in the prison system. If this nation truly was post-racial as so many have been saying, the numbers would reflect it. However, what we see in the numbers is far from the non-incarcerated reality. In the prison world, blacks make up 43.7% of the population. This bit of over representation follows the minorities, but none to the huge impact it has on blacks. The only group that shows a lower percentage in prison than in the rest of America is whites (Prison Policy Iniative, 2004). The percentage of blacks in prison exceeds the percentage in the general population in every single state in the union. In twenty states, blacks find themselves incarcerated at a rate five times higher than in the general population. Nearly one in four black people are either in prison, on parole, or on probation. The rate of incarceration for black men aged 18-64 is more than seven times higher than that of white men of the same age range (Incarcerated America, 2003). When seeking to understand how we find ourselves at this stage, there are only a couple options. Either black people are indeed committing ten times as much crime as white people or there is some form of bias in the system.

Welfare Might as Well be a Full-Time Job

     Welfare is meant to be a help to those who need it. Yes, there are those who take advantage of it, but there are people who genuinely need assistance. What's a real problem is that those who truly need it can feel ashamed of their need as a result of being associated with those who choose welfare over actual work or seeking work. In order to minimize the cheats, the welfare department requires a lot of proof that you are who you say you are and are as poor as you claim. This evidence makes the process of obtaining assistance very difficult and time consuming.
     As a result of the events described in my first post of this year, we are poor. Very poor. We went and applied for Welfare about two weeks ago. They issued us a card same day so we could buy groceries with the intent to return with certain pieces of paperwork. Two pieces we need are a letter from my former employer stating that I am no longer employed by them and a letter from unemployment declaring that I am either receiving benefits or that I have been denied. They can't help us any further until we get those two pieces of paper to them. Here's where it gets silly though. My former employer was being very elusive with the phones. No matter who I called, I got sent to voice mail, and of course the message was never returned. We asked for and received an extension on our claim as a result.
     However, today, I finally get a call back and am told to call the payroll company (I was officially employed by one company and leased to the company I drove for). When I called them, they said they don't send out letters. Ever. Not gonna happen. Seriously? You can't write a letter stating that I am no longer employed by you and send it to me? Isn't that just a little ridiculous? So, I call my former company again and actually get through! But again, I'm given the run around. I tell the lady that I called about needing paperwork and she responds, "I left you a message." "Yes, I got the message, called them, and was told to call you because they don't do letters." She takes down my info and claims to need to run it by the boss. Listen, I'm not asking for a recommendation or an opinion or anything that I might sue over, I'm just asking for a simple letter simply stating the fact that I'm not working there anymore.
     The second half is the need for a letter from Unemployment. I've been calling them everyday and everyday I've gotten the recorded message that they are receiving more calls than they can handle. Well, maybe you need to hire more people. Simple solution, right? Finally, I dig a little deeper and find out that I actually have to apply through Illinois' Unemployment department. This, after I punch in my SSN to California's department four times, only to have them hang up on me. Is it me, or does that strike anyone else as somewhat careless or risky on their part to take people's social security numbers over the phone only to hang up because they still don't have enough people? Anyways, I call Illinois, get a place in line, wait ten minutes or so, and hang up. Gonna have to try that again tomorrow, just ran out of time today.
    Why does this frustrate me so? Because it's very frustrating, duh. But also because the Welfare folk stress the fact that they will be tracking my social security number to make sure I don't have any unreported income. So, basically, it's in their power to get all of this information themselves if they just thought for a moment. Instead, I have to deal with people who have no ability to think for themselves and fight to get one single letter stating that I'm unemployed and wade through the system of another state to get a letter stating that I am not receiving any unemployment benefits. I only worked for a month, so I'm pretty sure that I won't be eligible.
    

War on Drugs? part 2

Blacks are twice as likely to be living in poverty in comparison to the rest of the population (Poverty rate among African Americans nearly double that of White Americans). On the surface, a causal relationship between poverty and crime seems obvious and logical. If you can’t afford the things you want, you are more likely to rob someone than if you had plenty of money. Fifty-three percent of people in prison earned less than $10,000 in the year prior to their incarceration (Williams). However, we have had the opportunity and ability to track the overall crime rate during three different stages in our economy: the Great Depression, the roaring economy of the 1960’s, and the current recession that began in 2008 (Mac Donald). According to the theory that poverty causes crime, crime should have risen in the Great Depression, fallen during the 1960’s, and should be on the rise again today. However, facts show a different tale. Crime plummeted during the Great Depression. As Heather Mac Donald states, “The Great Depression also contradicted the idea that need breeds predation, since crime rates dropped during that prolonged crisis.” During the prosperous times of the 1960’s, crime was on the rise again; even though more cushy government jobs were being opened for inner city residents, homicide went up by forty-three percent. Today, as our economy shrinks again, crime has fallen to the lowest it has been since the early 1960’s. So, we can be fairly sure that while people in poverty may be more likely to commit crime, poverty itself does not cause crime. So, knowing that poverty itself does not directly cause crime, we can move past poverty as a root cause.

When it comes to drug arrests, thirty-three percent of those arrested were black (Crime in the US, 2009). This means that blacks were arrested at a rate nearly three times higher than their percentage of the population would suggest. However, the group Common Sense for Drug Policy (CSDP), has compiled data that shows that blacks comprise only eleven percent of the nation’s drug users while making up nearly sixty percent of those in state prisons for felony drug convictions. They also point out that prior to mandatory minimum sentencing, blacks received sentences only six percent longer than whites. Four years later, black prison terms were ninety-three percent longer than white prison terms. A big portion of that disparity comes from the disparity in enforcement of crack cocaine versus powder cocaine. Crack is largely used in the black ghettos whereas powder cocaine is generally the drug of choice of more affluent, usually white, users. Crack cocaine brings with it a punishment 100 times more harsh than powder cocaine. To add to it, while other drugs require the intent to distribute in order to get the harsh sentencing, one must merely possess crack to be hit with the harsher sentencing (The EFFECTIVE NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL STRATEGY 1999). Since crack has such harsh sentencing and is generally found in low income black communities, it is largely black people who get sent away for these long prison terms for possessing crack. According to the Institute on Race & Poverty, black people account for 37% of drug arrests, 55% of convictions, and a whopping 74% of those who are subsequently sent to prison (Institute on Race & Poverty).

The War on Drugs has focused law enforcement and law makers on the drug problem in America. There is indeed a problem, but the solution isn’t necessarily getting “tough on crime”. The laws regarding mandatory minimum sentencing and drug enforcement may have been written with good intentions, but they weren’t written with enough thought put into side effects or how they might collide with each other. As we know, felony convictions cause you to lose certain rights, chief among them your right to vote. Thanks to tougher enforcement of drug crime, more people are getting charged with felonies. These are people whose only crime may have been getting caught with some crack cocaine. With most drugs, you must be in possession of at least 500g to be charged as a dealer. Since the inception of the War on Drugs, only five grams of crack gets you charged with intent to distribute. Five grams of crack is just your average crackhead, yet now he’s a felon with no right to vote. He can get cleaned up, turn his life around, and become a productive member of society, but he still has lost certain, supposedly inalienable rights. With 33-37% of all drug arrests being black people, just correcting this disparity in enforcement will make a large impact. We also need to focus more on rehabilitation for drug offenders. This will have a widespread impact. Catch a man with drugs and toss him in lock up, he’ll go right back to them when he gets out. Rehabilitate the man and give him a chance to succeed and you have a much higher likelihood of keeping off drugs and out of prison.

No matter your opinion on crime, for 12% of the population to make up over 40% of the prison population has to tell you there is a serious problem. We’ve explored a few possible causes and looked at where those ideas go astray. Poverty may be related to increased crime rates, however poverty does not cause crime. We looked at the differing crime rates, arrest statistics, and conviction rates and saw that blacks still make up too great a proportion of arrestees and convicts. I’ve put forth my ideas for how to correct the system, but most importantly, I hope I’ve provided some new information and maybe shed some light on a problem that you may not have realized the depth of.