INSPIRATION FROM IGNORANCE

From the "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2008."

"The proportion of U.S. prisoners to its population has hit a new high. The Washington Post reported on July 11, 2008 that the United States has 2.3 million criminals behind bars, more than any other nation in the world. A report issued by the U.S. Department of Justice on December 11, 2008 said that over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or on parole at the end of 2007, equivalent to 3.2 percent of all U.S. adult residents or one in every 31 adults. (The United Press International, December 11, 2008). For black men aged between 20-34, one in nine was in jail. (The Guardian, March 1, 2008). The rate of prisoners, higher than any period in the U.S. history, was almost six times the world average (125 in every 100,000 people). According to statistics, the recidivism rate stayed high in the United States. Half the people of previous convictions were sentenced to prison again within three years."


I had an interesting discussion at work yesterday. I walked into a conversation where a few people were talking about the way people dress. Specifically targeting minorities and the Hip Hop culture in general. None of the people talking had much knowledge or understanding of the culture or psychological effects of being a minority in this country. I tried(really, I did) to be silent, in hope it would pass.

Then one man, who is basically on the waiting list for a police officer position, describes an incident during a ride-along he had with an officer. The officer stopped and confronted a man because of the way he was wearing his hat. Adding that the officer asked "Where can I get one of those hats?" Because of the joking manner in which the story was told, I broke my silence.

ME: "Why don't you think that's harassment?"

HIM: "He just asked him a question? No harm done."

ME: "That's profiling."

HIM: "If it would've been a White person, they would be treated the same way."

ME: "That's not true. Don't you think minorities are disproportionately incarcerated?"

HIM: "I read 200 studies that say they're equal."

ME: "I have a hard time believing you read 200 studies and would come to that conclusion. Who did the studies?"

END OF RECESS

This is not the first conversation I've had with this individual, and he's generally a good guy. But I challenge him EVERY time he displays discriminatory dissonance. He will be a police officer in the future. I take it upon myself to plant the seed in him. He's obviously never heard the view of police by those he targets and mocks. He should and will.

As of July 2007, the rate of incarceration by race was as follows(per 100,000):

NATIONAL
WHITE: 412 (.4%)
BLACK: 2290 (2.3%)
HISPANIC: 742 (.7%)

PENNSYLVANIA
WHITE: 305 (.3%)
BLACK: 2792 (2.7%)
HISPANIC: 1714 (1.7%)

That's far from equal in my view.