1 in 100 US Adults behind bars

[Soxy]

Crikey!

 

 

[Balta1701]

1 in 15 African American adults.

[kapkomet]

Wow. That's crazy, if you think about that for a moment. 7% of African Americans adults behind bars? And 1% of our total adult population? It's not staggaring when you look at percentages, but the numbers are insane.

[NorthSideSox72]

Wow. That's crazy, if you think about that for a moment. 7% of African Americans adults behind bars? And 1% of our total adult population? It's not staggaring when you look at percentages, but the numbers are insane.

Yeah, that really is disturbing. And while I certainly think that we have much less racism now than we did 30 years ago, that difference in race in prison is hard to ignore. Not that its the result of racism occurring now, necessarily - its probably mostly not. But because of the way blacks were treated previously, they haven't been able to land on equal footing as often. On the other hand, I have a hard time abiding helping one race at the expense of another for any reason, because that's just more racism.

 

So... what to do?

 

[southsider2k5]

Education is the parole officer for the prison of poverty. We HAVE to catch kids at an early age and convince them to have hope in their lives (lack of hope IMO is what makes it easier to commit crimes.) and that education is the key to breaking those cycles. Once they get to adult age and are doing the things that they are getting put into jail for, it is too late. Those behaviors and attitudes are so ingrained, you basically have no chance of changing them. You have to catch kids EARLY.

[NorthSideSox72]

Education is the parole officer for the prison of poverty. We HAVE to catch kids at an early age and convince them to have hope in their lives (lack of hope IMO is what makes it easier to commit crimes.) and that education is the key to breaking those cycles. Once they get to adult age and are doing the things that they are getting put into jail for, it is too late. Those behaviors and attitudes are so ingrained, you basically have no chance of changing them. You have to catch kids EARLY.

Agreed, education is a huge key. In which case, if you want better equality and better education, you have to look at how schools are funded (ala Kozol's Savage Inequalities).

 

[YASNY]

Education is the parole officer for the prison of poverty. We HAVE to catch kids at an early age and convince them to have hope in their lives (lack of hope IMO is what makes it easier to commit crimes.) and that education is the key to breaking those cycles. Once they get to adult age and are doing the things that they are getting put into jail for, it is too late. Those behaviors and attitudes are so ingrained, you basically have no chance of changing them. You have to catch kids EARLY.

 

Didn't Bill Cosby get ripped in the media for basically saying the same thing? You better check tomorrow's headlines before leaving for work.

[southsider2k5]

Agreed, education is a huge key. In which case, if you want better equality and better education, you have to look at how schools are funded (ala Kozol's Savage Inequalities).

 

Lots of the problem is the way we fund schools. Property tax funding just reinforces the monetary differences between communities. The system where I live has a HUGE poverty rate. The school my wife teaches in has a 70% poverty rate. The differences between us and any of the adjoining communities are huge, because their tax bases are way bigger. Their systems are better funded because of that. In other words there is no way to catch up. They really need to look at a bigger picture of school funding to iron out those issues. In reality it isn't sex or race that has been shown to be the biggest indicator of how people will do in life, it is socio-economic backround.

[southsider2k5]

Didn't Bill Cosby get ripped in the media for basically saying the same thing? You better check tomorrow's headlines before leaving for work.

 

Except there is no racial overtone in my statement. It is all about economics. There aren't many rich people in prision, and there is a reason for that.

[NorthSideSox72]

Lots of the problem is the way we fund schools. Property tax funding just reinforces the monetary differences between communities. The system where I live has a HUGE poverty rate. The school my wife teaches in has a 70% poverty rate. The differences between us and any of the adjoining communities are huge, because their tax bases are way bigger. Their systems are better funded because of that. In other words there is no way to catch up. They really need to look at a bigger picture of school funding to iron out those issues. In reality it isn't sex or race that has been shown to be the biggest indicator of how people will do in life, it is socio-economic backround.

Agreed on all counts. Socio-economic background is that best indicator.

 

[StrangeSox]

Except there is no racial overtone in my statement. It is all about economics. There aren't many rich people in prision, and there is a reason for that.

 

Yeah, they can afford good lawyers.

 

I couldn't decide whether or not to make that green.

 

Who's the worse criminal: the 100 people who knock off a 7/11 for $1,000, or the one guy who commits some sort of accounting/ trading fraud and costs a company (and its shareholders) $10M?

Edited February 28, 2008 by StrangeSox

[EvilMonkey]

Yeah, they can afford good lawyers.

 

I couldn't decide whether or not to make that green.

 

Who's the worse criminal: the 100 people who knock off a 7/11 for $1,000, or the one guy who commits some sort of accounting/ trading fraud and costs a company (and its shareholders) $10M?

Depends if the people robbing the 7-11 had such little regard for human life that they shot the clerks and/or customers that may have been there, just 'because'.

[StrangeSox]

Depends if the people robbing the 7-11 had such little regard for human life that they shot the clerks and/or customers that may have been there, just 'because'.

 

Let's say that both crimes are non-violent. No one gets hurt.

[Rex Kickass]

Would the Slurpee machine be affected? Cause that might affect my decision.

[StrangeSox]

Would the Slurpee machine be affected? Cause that might affect my decision.

 

Come on now, that would make it a no-brainer!

[santo=dorf]

So... what to do?

"STOP BREAKING THE LAW ASSHOLE!"

[Controlled Chaos]

Lots of the problem is the way we fund schools. Property tax funding just reinforces the monetary differences between communities. The system where I live has a HUGE poverty rate. The school my wife teaches in has a 70% poverty rate. The differences between us and any of the adjoining communities are huge, because their tax bases are way bigger. Their systems are better funded because of that. In other words there is no way to catch up. They really need to look at a bigger picture of school funding to iron out those issues. In reality it isn't sex or race that has been shown to be the biggest indicator of how people will do in life, it is socio-economic backround.

 

I think the biggest problem is the 70% out of wedlock birth rate.

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

Yeah, that really is disturbing. And while I certainly think that we have much less racism now than we did 30 years ago, that difference in race in prison is hard to ignore. Not that its the result of racism occurring now, necessarily - its probably mostly not. But because of the way blacks were treated previously, they haven't been able to land on equal footing as often. On the other hand, I have a hard time abiding helping one race at the expense of another for any reason, because that's just more racism.

 

So... what to do?

 

 

What to do? I prefer the Bill Cosby approach. Blacks should quit whining about racism and stop committing crimes. It's really simple but as long as they want to live the "thug life" they can spend the bulk of it behind bars.

[whitesoxfan101]

I think the biggest problem is the 70% out of wedlock birth rate.

 

I'd agree in an economic sense, not many out of wedlock babies grow up around a ton of money. These stats don't surprise me though, the term "white collar crime" is rare, and for the most part, the poor go to jail, and as much as it's supposedly "racist" to say, a lot more blacks are poor and/or stuck in crappy inner city areas than whites. Meanwhile, Drew Peterson continues to run free....

Edited February 29, 2008 by whitesoxfan101

[witesoxfan]

I'd agree in an economic sense, not many out of wedlock babies grow up around a ton of money. These stats don't surprise me though, the term "white collar crime" is rare, and for the most part, the poor go to jail, and as much as it's supposedly "racist" to say, a lot more blacks are poor and/or stuck in crappy inner city areas than whites. Meanwhile, Drew Peterson continues to run free....

 

Why is it racist to say that a lot more blacks are poor and/or stuck in crappy inner city areas? That is true. It's unfortunate, but it's true.

[southsider2k5]

I think the biggest problem is the 70% out of wedlock birth rate.

 

Where did you get that number from?

[NorthSideSox72]

"STOP BREAKING THE LAW ASSHOLE!"

 

What to do? I prefer the Bill Cosby approach. Blacks should quit whining about racism and stop committing crimes. It's really simple but as long as they want to live the "thug life" they can spend the bulk of it behind bars.

 

I think you're both missing my main point. I am not asking what to do with criminals - on that I see it no differently than you do. You break the law, you go to jail. Its pretty simple.

 

I was asking more, what to do about the fact that the african american population in this country is so inordinately more poor than others? SS2K5 and CC both made suggestions - education and out-of-wedlock birthrate changes. What would you two suggest?

 

[santo=dorf]

I think you're both missing my main point. I am not asking what to do with criminals - on that I see it no differently than you do. You break the law, you go to jail. Its pretty simple.

 

I was asking more, what to do about the fact that the african american population in this country is so inordinately more poor than others? SS2K5 and CC both made suggestions - education and out-of-wedlock birthrate changes. What would you two suggest?

I don't want to go too deep into this as I'll probably be labeled as a racist, but I made this point in the abortion threads. Make abortions more accessable/affordable to poor, black, young women who get knocked up by some immature scrub who has no intents to provide support either financially or emotional to that child.

[StrangeSox]

I don't want to go too deep into this as I'll probably be labeled as a racist, but I made this point in the abortion threads. Make abortions more accessable/affordable to poor, black, young women who get knocked up by some immature scrub who has no intents to provide support either financially or emotional to that child.

 

Why not make birth control more accessible instead?

[sox4lifeinPA]

Why not make birth control more accessible instead?

 

or tell people that a magical leprechan lives inside their bajingo until they get married and he'll bite off any penises that enter his domain until he leaves...

 

 

or what you said.