It doesn't seem unlikely to me that race and location are primary causal factors here. When I take my kid to the park in my suburban neighborhood, there are alm

It doesn't seem unlikely to me that race and location are primary causal factors here. When I take my kid to the park in my suburban neighborhood, there are almost always kids this age hanging around without adult supervision. To my knowledge, the police have never been called about it. So perhaps the title should be 'It's now a crime for black people to let their kids play alone in parks located in economically disadvantaged areas'. Admittedly it's less grabbing to non-black suburbanites, but it more accurately reflects what's likely going on here.To me, the current title seems like it would encourage the relatively affluent readership of Slate to make sure that their municipalities don't overstep like this. But the real issue is that we as a society presume criminality in our dealings with disadvantaged minorities.