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>>> Whether these crimes deserve any police attention is something that could be discussed, but surely we can agree that prosecuting black kids but not white ki

>>> Whether these crimes deserve any police attention is something that could be discussed, but surely we can agree that prosecuting black kids but not white kids is something that drives inequality in society? Except when you take into account blacks commit far more crime than whites: "According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, in the year 2008 black youths, who make up 16% of the youth population, accounted for 52% of juvenile violent crime arrests, including 58.5% of youth arrests for homicide and 67% for robbery." Also keep in mind, these are usually not black on white crimes, but usually black on black crimes. It would foolish to think we should simply start prosecuting more white people simply because there is some form of perceived inequality in the justice system. Perhaps instead of focusing on the fact more blacks end up in the system (when its already too late), maybe we should take a harder look at WHY they end up in the system and work on preventing them from ever getting there in the first place.

reginaldjcooper 13y ago
LOL your argument against black people being targeted for arrests is percent of arrests as proof of black people "committing more crimes"? Holy shit it's like an Onion article came to comment.
- blisterpeanuts 13y ago
  The reality is that for some types of crimes, African Americans, especially 18-39 year-old-males, are over represented. For example, roughly half the 32,000 gun homicides annually are committed by black males (see bjs.gov for the numbers). (Most of their victims are also black.) Most white gun deaths are from suicides. Latinos are also high up on this unfortunate list. These numbers aren't made-up or based on biased arrest patterns; they're pretty much reality, sad but true.
  - ThomPete 13y ago
    No but there are reasons why these numbers are high for them and they are as much to do with how society treats them and what their prospects with regards to making it are.
    - blisterpeanuts 13y ago
      Can you expand on your point a little? Does any other group behave this way because of "how society treats them"?
      - ThomPete 13y ago
        No because society doesn't treat them that way.
        CreakyParrot 13y ago
        So there's only one group of people society treats badly? What about other demographic sets of people with higher-than-average crime rates?
      - datphp 13y ago
        I'm white, from Switzerland. The only time I experienced racism was taking a vacation in Spain, in a place where there are a lot of french tourists. They get a lot of hate, and me speaking french got me treated like one of them. I'm a very laid back, cool guy, and I'm usually the last one to get angry. But being at a restaurant and being made fun of randomly by the waiter, and then wondering if someone spat in my food, and having this impression that everyone hated me for now reason... It was a terrible feeling. But I knew the only reason they were like that was because of a misunderstanding. All I had to do was mentioning I was Swiss or speak Spanish and it would stop instantly. Now if I had been french, and I had no way to defuse the situation, I can imagine how frustrating it would have been. Then I can see how things being like that your whole life must feel, specially when its something that stands out as much as your skin color. I've been extremely frustrated on rare occasions in my life, and I've done things I would never thought I would. Karma is a thing. If people give you shit without a good reason, you'll do the exact same, probably to someone else, just to balance things.
    - bullseye 13y ago
      How is this argument any different than the absurd Affluenza argument that gained popularity this week? Successful/great people rise above all kinds of adversity and come from all sorts of backgrounds. Criminals likewise span every demographic in the U.S. The "poor" in our country live an order of magnitude better than many in the world and some of our most affluent groups have some of the highest suicide rates. I don't even know what my point was anymore... I just get so tired of hearing everyone blame everyone else except themselves for the directions of their lives.
nitrogen 13y ago
I think you're misreading the symptom as the cause. What's claimed is that black people are arrested more, even if they don't commit more crimes. Thus, the statistics will not necessarily reflect reality, but rather the alleged bias in arrest and prosecution. I agree with your final paragraph, though. We as a society have an obligation to try to correct all forms of injustice, whether it's biased enforcement and prosecution, cultural isolation, or financial immobility.
bitlord_219 13y ago
> "According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, in the year 2008 black youths, who make up 16% of the youth population, accounted for 52% of juvenile violent crime arrests, including 58.5% of youth arrests for homicide and 67% for robbery." Arrests. Not convictions, and certainly not "crimes perpetrated."
DanBC 13y ago
> Perhaps instead of focusing on the fact more blacks end up in the system ...institutionally racist police officers arrest them for minor offences, and that arrest and conviction fucks any chance of employment, meaning that gangs are the only employer left?

reginaldjcooper 13y ago

LOL your argument against black people being targeted for arrests is percent of arrests as proof of black people "committing more crimes"? Holy shit it's like an Onion article came to comment.

blisterpeanuts 13y ago
The reality is that for some types of crimes, African Americans, especially 18-39 year-old-males, are over represented. For example, roughly half the 32,000 gun homicides annually are committed by black males (see bjs.gov for the numbers). (Most of their victims are also black.) Most white gun deaths are from suicides. Latinos are also high up on this unfortunate list. These numbers aren't made-up or based on biased arrest patterns; they're pretty much reality, sad but true.
- ThomPete 13y ago
  No but there are reasons why these numbers are high for them and they are as much to do with how society treats them and what their prospects with regards to making it are.
  - blisterpeanuts 13y ago
    Can you expand on your point a little? Does any other group behave this way because of "how society treats them"?
    - ThomPete 13y ago
      No because society doesn't treat them that way.
      - CreakyParrot 13y ago
        So there's only one group of people society treats badly? What about other demographic sets of people with higher-than-average crime rates?
    - datphp 13y ago
      I'm white, from Switzerland. The only time I experienced racism was taking a vacation in Spain, in a place where there are a lot of french tourists. They get a lot of hate, and me speaking french got me treated like one of them. I'm a very laid back, cool guy, and I'm usually the last one to get angry. But being at a restaurant and being made fun of randomly by the waiter, and then wondering if someone spat in my food, and having this impression that everyone hated me for now reason... It was a terrible feeling. But I knew the only reason they were like that was because of a misunderstanding. All I had to do was mentioning I was Swiss or speak Spanish and it would stop instantly. Now if I had been french, and I had no way to defuse the situation, I can imagine how frustrating it would have been. Then I can see how things being like that your whole life must feel, specially when its something that stands out as much as your skin color. I've been extremely frustrated on rare occasions in my life, and I've done things I would never thought I would. Karma is a thing. If people give you shit without a good reason, you'll do the exact same, probably to someone else, just to balance things.
  - bullseye 13y ago
    How is this argument any different than the absurd Affluenza argument that gained popularity this week? Successful/great people rise above all kinds of adversity and come from all sorts of backgrounds. Criminals likewise span every demographic in the U.S. The "poor" in our country live an order of magnitude better than many in the world and some of our most affluent groups have some of the highest suicide rates. I don't even know what my point was anymore... I just get so tired of hearing everyone blame everyone else except themselves for the directions of their lives.

nitrogen 13y ago

I think you're misreading the symptom as the cause. What's claimed is that black people are arrested more, even if they don't commit more crimes. Thus, the statistics will not necessarily reflect reality, but rather the alleged bias in arrest and prosecution. I agree with your final paragraph, though. We as a society have an obligation to try to correct all forms of injustice, whether it's biased enforcement and prosecution, cultural isolation, or financial immobility.

bitlord_219 13y ago

> "According to the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, in the year 2008 black youths, who make up 16% of the youth population, accounted for 52% of juvenile violent crime arrests, including 58.5% of youth arrests for homicide and 67% for robbery." Arrests. Not convictions, and certainly not "crimes perpetrated."

DanBC 13y ago

> Perhaps instead of focusing on the fact more blacks end up in the system ...institutionally racist police officers arrest them for minor offences, and that arrest and conviction fucks any chance of employment, meaning that gangs are the only employer left?