Truth About Black Crime “You could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down.”- Former Education Secretary and Drug Czar William Bennett Racism and discrimination had been one of the many governing factors in every society. This is true especially in the United States were the majority of whites view blacks as a lesser being.
This is not only in terms of the status and capability but just as the statement above indicates, some whites view black Americans as criminals. The statement by Czar William Bennett proves that blacks in general are viewed as law breakers. Even those that were not yet born were even included. Talking about African Americans as criminals in general may be true in some point but I believe that including those unborn child is going a little too far.
Some whites argue that the statement was based on solid ground such as statistical findings and researches rather than subjective opinions involving racism and discrimination. Should we really consider African Americans as a criminal race or are we just making illogical and hollow assumptions? In order to take a stand in the issue at hand let us look at the statistical findings that pertains to the matter and see what they have to say about blacks and how they are viewed in our society.According to the US Department of Justice black men are more likely to be imprisoned than whites during their life. The number of blacks admitted in prison is six times larger than those of whites with 28.
5% admitted black men and 4.4% admitted whites. The same result was obtained for women. Around 3.
6% black women were arrested at least once in their life, more than six times larger than the number of white women which is only about 0.5%. It was also estimated that 7.9% of black males will be detained by the time they reach the age of 20 compared to 0.
7% rate among whites. By the age of 30, 21.4% of blacks are likely to be imprisoned at least once in their life while only about 1.4% for whites.
Also, according to The Black and white Justice, Freedom Magazine, there are even more black men in prison than those that are in college. These figures clearly show that blacks are more likely to be arrested of certain offense than blacks. However, can we really infer, basing from these statistics that blacks are criminals in general?In most cases, detained African American was arrested for charges involving drugs. Studies also show that 31.
1% of persons that were admitted for the first time in state prison were due to charges of drug offense. In Georgia, the National Drug Strategy Network found that the number of blacks arrested due to drug charges is five times greater than that of whites. Accordingly, 75% of all cases of drug arrest in Georgia were related to African Americans that constitute almost all life sentences for drug offenses since 1990. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, black drugs users are around 12% however, arrested blacks for drug offenses make up about 50% of all drug possession related arrest.
If we look at the results at first, we can conclude that there are indeed a great number of blacks being held in prison compared to whites. However, these findings are also alarming. If blacks comprise only 12% of the total drug users how come 50% of the arrested individuals due to drug possession were blacks? The results themselves speak. It is not that 50% of drug users in the country are blacks but rather, black users are the ones that are being arrested for the offense.
In an independent survey conducted in six California countries in 1995, all arrested individual on charges related to drugs were minorities while 60% of drug users in those six countries were whites. Most people view that African Americans are often arrested due to drug related charges however, it was found that 77% of all first conviction and 79% of all second conviction cases involving drug offenses involved just a small quantity, less than a gram, of controlled substance. Accordingly, 60% of all drug related cases in Georgia valued less than $50. These results indeed show that African Americans comprise a large part in drug related arrests and convictions but that is not the only thing that was proven.
It also proves that racial discrimination plays an important part in the arrest involving drugs and blacks are most often than not, the ones that were arrested.The research done by Carl Pope and Richard Feyerherm also support the idea of “racial effect” in the state and local juvenile justice system and that the most area affected involve drug arrests and imprisonment, the very same area that blacks are mostly arrested. From these findings, we can see the prejudice even in our justice system.According to the Monitoring the Future Survey, 2004 “Contrary to popular assumption, at all three grade levels African American youth have substantially lower rates of use of most licit and illicit drugs than do Whites.
“. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that in 2004, whites comprise 11.1% while African Americans constitute 9.3% illegal drug use among the youth aging from 12 to 17.
In the year 2005, it was found that whites from the same age group are three times more likely to have sold drugs than blacks.The Monitoring the future Survey of high school seniors also found interesting results relevant to drug consumption by blacks and whites. According to their findings, whites consume drugs more frequently, if not the same, than blacks: 1.5 times the rate of using crack cocaine, 4.
6 times of using cocaine, the same for the use of heroine, and about 46% higher for using marijuana. These results show that whites use drug more often than whites and how come more blacks are arrested due to drug related offenses?We can see from these findings that although whites use and sell drugs more often than blacks, blacks comprise 50% of all drug related arrest. Should we really consider blacks to be a criminal race as compared to whites? I believe it is the other way around. The mere fact that whites are using and selling more licit or illicit drugs shows that there are indeed more white criminals when it comes to the issue of drugs.
The fact that there are a greater number of black men being arrested of such offense shows that even the judicial system is guilty of not being able to uphold the law. It is not that we should reverse our thinking that whites are criminals but rather, we should be view each other as equals and that no person should be considered a criminal basing from his/her race and ethnicity.There is something wrong not only in our views but in our judicial system as well. The law should be fair for everyone but the results of these findings clearly show that something must be done.
I am not saying that black should not be arrested on drug offenses but rather, than both blacks and whites should be arrested for breaking the law. This kind of racial disparity is not only evident in terms of drug offenses but in other criminal areas as well.In 2001, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey of the Center on Disease Control, whites and African American have almost the same rate of cases regarding the offense of carrying a weapon; 17.9% on whites and 15.
2% on blacks. The same is true for carrying guns with 5.5% for whites and 6.5% for African Americans.
However, the cases of weapons arrest are twice the number in African Americans.When it comes to cases of assault and being in physical fights, whites and blacks have similar rate with 32.5% on whites and 36.5% on blacks.
Still, the cases of arrest for aggravated assault are three times greater involving blacks than whites. These findings are consistent with the finding regarding drug offenses and weapon carriage, that many blacks are arrested considering the fact that the same or even greater numbers of whites are guilty of the same offense.Surely, there are other areas were more blacks are arrested even though the number of offenders are the same for both black and white. These statistical findings show that rather than looking at blacks as criminals, they should be viewed as the victims.
They are victims of discrimination and racism not only in history but in the present time as well and surely in the near future.It is not just in the judicial system that blacks deprived of some of their rights as citizens. We can see discrimination in many aspects of our lives. One example would be in terms of loans wherein blacks are more likely to be turned down than whites according to the reserve Bank of Boston.
Blacks are given less in almost everything and are viewed as lesser individuals. Studies also show that blacks are considered to have greater risks of having diseases such as AIDS. This maybe true but the fact that it can be due to limited access to health care in country also can’t be denied.It is evident discrimination still exists in our society and it will never be eliminated for there will always be differences in ethics, appearance etc.
However, everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt and should not be judged based solely on the fact that he/she belongs to this particular group. Discrimination is also one of the major factors that hinder the growth and development in every nation. We should take away the mentality that a certain people is what his/her race is known for.Blacks are not born criminals; they deserve to be respected in the same way that we respect whites.
They also deserve the same privilege that whites are enjoying. Blacks and whites are all human being and citizens of this country, thus they deserve equal treatment and not one race is superior to the other. It order to have a peaceful and strong nation, we should set aside our differences and make every effort to unite, no matter what race and group. Works CitedJones, Jeneen.
The Truth About Black CrimeJones, Van. (2005). Are Blacks A Criminal race? Surprising Statistics. May 12, 2010< httpwww.
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(2008). African-Americans, racism, Inequality and Prejudice in the United States.Buzzle.com.
(2010). Racism Against African Americans. May 12, 2010< http://www.buzzle.comarticlesracism-against-african-americans.html/racism-against-african-americans.html>
