On Jul 10, 2013, at 10:03 AM, michael yates <mikedjyates at msn.com> wrote:
> Doug asks what should we do about the racial disparities. Let me turn this back on you and ask what you think should be done. The essay I wrote from which the data that I gave comes offers some suggestions. Paul Le Blanc and I have a book coming out in August, titled "A Freedom Budget for All Americans
> Recapturing the Promise of the Civil Rights Movement in the Struggle for Economic Justice Today." In it we offer some ideas relevant to this discussion. I basically agree with Adolph Reed's take on the matter, though sometimes I think he tips the scales too far toward a strictly class analysis. The intractable racial disparities suggest more is at work here.
Ending mass incarceration would be a nice start, yes. And though the black rate is horribly high, the white rate is actually several times higher than other First World countries too. But otherwise, a basic social democratic agenda would also be a nice start - minimum income, jobs program, free health care and education, etc.