> [WS:] I think that white boys who made those bad
> decisions slide just as badly as black boys - and I
> have seen plenty examples of that. What makes the
> difference is visibility - bad black boys get most of
> the public attention whereas white bad boys do not.
> Hece the impression that only black boys make wrong
> life turns.
Hasn''t Devah Pager demonstrated pretty conclusively that white job applicants with minor felony convictions are far more likely to get a job callback than black job applicants with the same rap sheet? In fact, IIRC, she found that white job applicants w/ a minor felony conviction were more likely to be called back than black job applicants with no felony convictions. That's pretty damning stuff. So if Pager's right, then wouldn't that be a good example of how black boys who make bad decisions fall farther than their white counterparts?
And I bet the phenomenon Pager studied extends into all sorts of areas -- like criminal sentencing: A white kid and a black kid -- both identical in all relevant respects -- both plead guilty to the same felony drug possession charge. Who is statistically more likely to get a harsher sentence in the average US courtroom? Hmm...
-WD