[lbo-talk] Black men in jail (was Chomsky)

joanna bujes jbujes at covad.net
Tue Nov 4 14:21:47 PST 2003


Doug writes:

"And many don't, but that's not the question. Unless you believe in some innate predisposition to criminality - a belief that would be grounds for explusion from civilized society - then you have to ask why so many black men turn to crime. I don't think the answer is very complicated - the heritage of slavery and pervasive racism, which most white people won't admit to. And that, as I said earlier, is seriously fucked up."

Look, the cops have absolute discretion about making arrests. A white teenager of close aquaintance was caught smoking pot several times in Oakland, by a cop. The cop simply told him to "put it away." Same white teenager took his mom's car for a joyride , lost control, and smashed into a parked car causing $4000.00 of damage. What happened? Nothing. Not even a ticket. I'm willing to bet that if this same white teenager were black, the result would have been very different.

Believe me, cops can do anything they want. Depending on who the subject is, they make wildly different choices.

Oh, and also, black cops can be as racist, sometimes more racist, than white cops.

The unemployment rate among black men is very, very high. I'm sure this doesn't help. But as for black people in the U.S., I'd just like to quote my father who once said "The only trouble with black people in the United States is that they're too nice."

Joanna



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