For whites, blacks, latins and even Asians (in the one or two times a year it happens), always and forever, a large lack of fathers = a large criminal population.

Until black men start sticking around to show their sons how to be good, honest men, the criminal onslaught will not end.

Regardless of the underlying CAUSE (and The Code Of The Streets by Elijah Anderson, published in 1994 in the Atlantic Monthly, still is relevant reading: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199405/code-of-the-streets), the truth is still this:
Blacks are disproportionately involved in violent crime to the point that other Blacks are fleeing to the suburbs to escape.

I appreciate your presentation of Ms. MacDonald's arguments on race and crime. And I share your frustration at the lack of complexity on the part of the left on this issue (including Angela Davis - all thanks and praises be upon her name). Most of what passes for the left/liberals today are upper middle class whites, so we should not be surprised that their (our) understanding of this issue is more mythic than statistical (unless they too watched The Wire and felt like they lived in West Baltimore for the 57 hours they spent watching the show)

Yes, we need to step up our game on this question. So let me offer a simple argumentative gambit that both Wire fans and conservatives can grasp: The War on Drugs is undeniably racist in its origins, applications and prosecution and the statistics to prove it are not hard to find. Two recent reports from the The Sentencing Project and Human Rights Watch offer all the statistical ammo one needs.

Let's leave the question of race and violent crime aside for the moment, which of course has been the shibboleth of conservative whites since the Jim Crow era in which blacks were lynched at the rate of two or three a week for nearly five decades. However, once we look past the bogey man of the black rapist / gangster (a tiny minority of violent offenders) the weak link in the conservative criminal justice armor is easy to find. The majority of black folks who are incarcerated in this country are in for non-violent crimes, drug possession especially.

According to the Sentencing Project's new report, the rate of drug related arrests since 1980 rose among whites by 70%; yet it rose in the same period for blacks 225% - a rate that is 238% higher than whites. And these are just arrest rates, the racial disparity grows at each stage of the criminal justice system - from the filing of criminal charges, criminal prosecutions, conviction rates and finally incarceration rates. Black people constitute 53.5% of the people sent to prison for drug related offenses.

All of this would be understandable (especially to Ms. MacDonald) if African Americans consumed more than half of the drugs in this country. But they do not. There is no evidence to suggest that black folks consume any more than their general rate within the population. African Americans are 13% of the US population, and they consume 13% of the drugs - and yet they are arrested and incarcerated at more than 200 times the rate of whites who indeed are the largest consumer of illegal drugs in the US. If anyone needs evidence that drugs are just as destructive to white communities as black needs to study up on the last two decades of Methamphetamine consumption. (Frontline did a great piece on this several years ago that is available on-line).

The US Sentencing Commission has just revised its rules for crack cocaine convictions which for nearly two decades carried a 100 to 1 sentcing disparity between crack (a low cost, small quantity of smokable cocaine preferred by poor users) and powder cocaine (a high cost, larger quantity form of cocaine preferred by wealthier users). Five grams of crack got you the same five year mandatory minimum term as 500 grams of powder. Given that they are exactly the same drug, this rule seems designed to punish poor users over wealthy users, resulting in a clear racial disparity in its intent, application and results.

Lastly, statistics are often useful, but they are just as often the last refuge of the intellectually lazy Poli-Sci graduate. Is there anything less useful than a debate in which the two sides do little more than hurl numbers at one another?

The real questions in the War on Drugs are moral and political, and here the left has far more to offer (just ask Angela). The key moral question is this: are prisons the only solution to the problem of crime? For murders and rapists, I would say yes (Angela will tell you no). But for marijuana smokers, crack heads, meth addicts, or heroin users? Does prison solve the problems associated with mass drug addiction - let alone the business related violence concomitant with its prohibition? Or does mass incarceration of non-violent offenders simply brutalize them, dismember their families, and render them hardened and more dangerous when they come out? Is punishment the proper mode for addressing a public health crisis? Here is where we can all build up some useful, progressive common ground.

Since the Reaganite War on Drugs and the politics of mass incarceration which it enabled, prisons have become the catch-all solution to societal ills. There is a new consensus emerging on the War on Drugs and the moment is in sight where liberals can not only win the argument against the blatant racism of Ms. MacDonald, but we can gain some significant reform and most importantly take back some of the meaning of Justice.

What about that memorandum criticizing too many Blacks in the Front Line Units (Vietnam War)--because it looked bad!!! Everytime an embedded reporter "shot" an "action unit" it looked like some African Army...

One can imagine how such a thing would stick in the craw of the White Majority...

Why is it that those who don't share the same driving ambitions of others deserve to be "stepped on."

Who's idea was that: Either glue your nose to the grindstone (like we do) or else we're going to really stick it to you...

Relitively recently, CA "education activists" settled out of court; something like half the settlement (to those minorities who didn't receive a decent education) ended up in the lawyers' pockets; in the end it was like the minorities merely got a piece of the interest of the "money stolen from them..." When one considers what "treasures" an education can lead to...

What?--why am I feeling unfairly excluded here...???

That's how Arnold Schwarzenegger got into office--with his advocacy of after-school programs for the minorities...

A clean, well-lighted, quiet place to study will do wonders...

Isn't that the big problem: the poor kids don't take good care of the expensive books...

It's interesting to think that funding school libraries (why bother taking the books home...), ect. could go so far here...

Sad to think that some "superior Black mind" would turn to criminal enterprise instead...

Ms. McDonald would have a time of it convincing me that the Millions of illegal aliens in this country aren't pertinent here...

WHO'S SHE TRYING TO FOOL???

Nowadays, it's commonly accepted that the FBI had a big hand in "icing" MLK; doesn't mean that one should let evil overcome good...

TO HELL WITH THEM!!!!!!!!!

Stick this in your ear:

Why is it that the Zoloft Dealers effectively killed those disturbed KIDS..., but the working class is harshly persecuted for snorting cocaine...

It's OK to expose workers to cancer and reproductive harm causing chemicals--and then get rich selling them opiates...

Actually, my point here was supposed to be that the Chinese Govt. goes off the deep end because the Falun Gong embraces something different than the proper work ethic... Isn't that pertinent here. The working stiffs all have their heads up ...

Jack London extensively hung out with the lower class in London--he said there will always be a small number of the poor that have larcenous minds, but mostly crime was driven by poverty...

"James Heckman, a Noble Prize winning economist at the University of Chicago--hardly known as a hotbed of liberal, soft headed thinking--has concluded, also looking at the benefits of early childhood education, that it alone would narrow the achievement gap between African American and Caucasian children by 50 percent," Remarks of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at the Push for Quality Pre-School Education Forum, 07/25/07.

Here one should read Manipulating the Bill Counts, A. Bettelheim, Politifact.com, 04/28/08: SUMMARY: A chain e-mail compares apples to oranges to assert that Obama is a more active senator than Clinton.

"A side-by-side tally of Clinton's and Obama's legislative output on Thomas, looking only at bills, shows Clinton has sponsored 635 bills and co-sponsored 2,441 more since she was elected in 2000, 54 of which became law. Obama has sponsored 272 and co-sponsored another 834 since he was elected in 2004, 16 of which became law."

My point here (actually) is that these people are masters of manipulation...

The National Center for Policy Analysis, supposedly a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization, prides itself on giving BOTH SIDES of the issues...

However, the article "Wall of Shame: National Center for Policy Analysis funded by Exxon; employs long-time Republican activists," explains how the Center's policy chairman was a big oil executive, ect., ect., ect.

Doesn't Heather MacDonald and Co. represent just such expert prevaricators...

After all, isn't the Govt. supposed to be all about leveling the playing field, ect., ect., ect.

Instead, so it would seem (but who actually can tell...???), the politicians are precisely all about exploiting people--just so the rich can get richer...

That's the thing about the rich--what's their excuse...????

Hey People,

This author has not hit on anything new. She just has good stats to back up what EVERYONE already knows.
The black community, NEEDS to start taking care of themselves, or more and more states will passs "right to carry" laws, and then the average person will defend themselves as they see fit.
Peolpe in this country are VERY tired of being the victims of crime commited by yuor sons, and they WILL defend themselves.
I don't know what you are going to do, but maybe you should start with making the fathers stay with their families, and stop the irresponsibility..!!!

BIll

A lot of the time, cops will "make you pay" simply for sticking up for your rights...

This doesn't make any sense, insofar as the Vietnam War cost us 300-years of cop fatalities in the form of 18 and 19 year-olds--lower-class kids (generally).

I can imagine: You manage to make it back in one piece, only to find out that you don't got no rights--because the PIGS have gone wild, but "no one" minds, because the cops face danger...

You see..., if you've got a million dollar pension on the line..., but have a fancy to dish it out to the lazy ...

Another brilliant observation from Mr. Nigh...

mr paul,

Dude, you just can't handle the truth, can you..?
You are very against plain reason and logic, I don't have to type a lot of statistics, they were done for me, thank you very much..!!! But if you can't accept the truth, then you need to try and learn from those of us who DO know..
Are you disputing that 80% of black children are born out of wedlock, and that there daddies ARE somehow responsible, in YOUR eyes..?

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on that..?

Bill

You are wrong again

MacDonald asseses the high black crime rate from a perspective that is fact-based, and that is why her columns are so compelling. She has no blade to hone; therefore, her writing is clear and tough. In 21st century America the high rate of black anti-social behavior leading to incarceration cannot be laid at the feet of others. If you don't do the crime, you don't land in jail. It's about as simple as making a decision as to whether you say yes or no, and that is a choice guided by the indiuvidual, not by the too-often blamed whipping boy - "society."

Macdonald is a joke

I do not believe nothing from Heather MacDonald

I am a great admirer of Ms. Mac Donald. I don't always agree with her, but she usually bravely and factually challenges "the conventional wisdom". People who reply by calling her names without identifying errors in fact or reasoning aren't doing anyone any good.

The article in question addresses a fairly narrow question: Do the facts support the commonplace assumption that the criminal justice system is biased against blacks? It doesn't argue that there is no racism, nor does it suggest that blacks are born killers or any other such nonsense strawmen.

The distinction is vitally important. If blacks are disproportionately incarcerated because of failures of the justice system, the justice system needs to be fixed. If, on the other hand, the incarceration rate primarily reflects deeper problems, it does little good to waste effort fixing what isn't broken and ignore those deeper problems.

Assigning blame for those problems on slavery or rap or whatever is not helpful. The only useful question is: starting where we are now, what changes in law or policy are likely to do the most good.

I'm a Black female and I read the article by Ms. MacDonald. Unfortunately she is correct. Although the justice system must be fixed for racial unbalances, the fact remains that far too many black men are incarcerated, under educated and unemployed. And the black community, particularly that of the upper classes, has done little to reverse the crisis.

The only problem I have with MacDonald is that the subject of her articles is always negative towards blacks and latinos. If you think her latest article about blacks in the justice system are bad, you should read her diatribes against latinos (Good heavens!). It seems that Ms. MacDonald NEVER has anything positive to say about these two minority groups.

Even with the unfortunate statistics, there is much good that comes out of the black community. Maybe she should write about how black marriages have been increasing at a steady pace over the past 10 years. Another thing that would be of interest is the black population living in poverty is at an all time low and continuing to decrease. A more specific topic would be about how Dillard University, still rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina, continues to produce the highest number of black pharmacists in the nation. Another would be the excellent state of black owned businesses and the upward trend at which they start up across the country.

Just a thought.

Good comments, CBR. It's nice to hear positives instead of the same old sinking-ship story of the black community. While I believe that racism does actively and negatively impact all ethnic minorities, it is good to balance the sited incidents of crime, poverty and failure with accounts of commitments, ambitions and successes. It is important.

Ghettos (and all that follows), are created deliberately by forces outside the community, not from within, a point completely ignored by MacDonald and her statistics.

Thank you Michael for your informed comment. Her picture should not be on any one site. shameful to even look at our enemy and take info from her. Shame. Nothing a slave master has to say is true, remember how they were taught. why put nonsense on the internet (even though it is free)

Dear Friend,
I agree absolutely that other solutions are needed for drug offenders. I am a 20 year former resident of Synanon,
an integrated live-in community of both squares and fiends, criminals and others.
It worked well during its lifetime, until we lost our tax exemption. There are other great therapeutic communities now like Delancey Street, but not enought, obviously.

Tell Heather...
1,200,000 dead Iraqiis...
20,000,000 dead Angolans via UNITA-us owned
20,000 dead Guatemalans via CIA
10,000 Somalii women and children vis USArmy.....and the list goes on

It is interesting that MacDonald does not discuss that fact that whites are the majority in this country and they are arrested more than blacks for crimes ranging from drug offenses to domestic violence and burglary etc., while blacks are incarcerated for the same crimes at a higher rate. Hence, racism in the criminal justice system. See Table 43 Uniform Crime Report www.fbi.gov.

That blacks represent a disproportionate number of crimes as compared to their population representation is a consequence of racist ideologies caried out within the criminal justice system.

Whites have been, and continue to be the biggest murderous group of human beings throughout the history of this country, and many parts of the world.

To ignore the effects slavery had on blacks and this society in general is ridiculous. This country was founded on the premise of white (false) supremacy over the natives and enslaved blacks.

It is pure arrogance that guides people like Heather MacDonald. Usually, racists are arrogant.

ms mcdonald's subject was 'black crime rates & the black prison population' not an essay on the total humanity of the negroid ethnic experience in the usa since 1619...

thus how in the he11 would anyone expect ms mcdonald to have something 'good or positive or uplifting' to say about the nature of 'vile, deranged & criminally-insane' black 'predator terrorism'...

which is the source of most of the civic, cultural, economic & social dysfunction experienced by 'mature/stable' usa negro communities over the past 30 yrs!

...priceless!!!

@dirtyblues: Perhaps MacDonald's should start with white crime in the United States 1619-present.

Lets not leave out essential pieces to this puzzle. Check the Uniform Crime Report, Table 43 www.fbi.gov and gather the facts about this. Whites are involved in much more criminal activity, and arrested for it than blacks are. Blacks are the ones who get incarcerated due to the racist criminal justice system.

Black people as a group have endured the most dehumanizing experience in this country, made amazing strides to catch up on an uneven playing field, and thus continue to battle racist, arrogant, and ignorant presumptions about what causes the social ills black communities contend with.

As a previous post states, it would be interesting to see the looking glass aimed at the ills of whites in this society.

People like to focus on the negative aspects of others so as not to draw attention to themselves. That is what racists such as Mac Donald do in the case of blacks in America as opposed to examining the flaws of whites.

Mac Donald will be dealt with, statistics and all shortly on my blog.

Most of you folks sound like nothing more than a modern day lynch mob.

"MacDonald will be dealt with" What the hell?

I find it very telling that the author of this little diatribe spent words upon sentences upon paragraphs howling that MacDonald is wrong, wrong, wrong, and yet, provided no evidence to the contrary.

Words are words, sister, and nothing more. You want to make a point? Stop being so lazy, gather some facts and make one!

"Black people as a group have endured the most dehumanizing experience in this country"

Excellent comment by Stop The Propaganda. And again, very telling.

I suppose that being all but wiped off the face of the Earth by white settlers is no big deal to this individual? Sure, sure. Native Americans were tortured, murdered and made all but extinct, but blacks were slaves, so blacks win.

As a white dad with a black son I've decided that the cost of doing business, the cost of our being together is to shoulder a bit of annoying racism, mostly from blacks since we live in the black community; but I won't poison his life pointing out every look of disgust on that black man or woman's face, the black guy making gagging motions with his hand and mouth inside his car as we walk the crosswalk; the teenagers who try to stare us down at McDonald's; the black barber who won't serve us with me waiting with him (but he will when his black mom waits with him). Thank God, blacks are prejudiced too. But I insist that there is no disabling prejudice coming from both black or white in America today; just the annoying shit that rolls off the back of love and forgivness. (But all this is about as important as lint in my shoe for the love that we have for each other and the divine gift that is my son)

Debra,
Kudos for having the guts to take on your opposition in a fair way. My admiration for your honesty aside however, I want to take issue with a couple of aspects of your piece. Throughout your essay you portray Heather MacDonald as being motivated by an innate antipathy towards blacks, albeit one with well researched points. I have been a reader of Ms. MacDonald's for quite some time and do not believe that to be the case. She is writing because she is concerned about the decay of the urban, black world and to disprove liberal theories which she and many on the right believe are either causing or exacerbating those problems. For example, she is writing in the piece you cited to illustrate that, in fact, the black crime rate is something that the black community itself can have control over because it is not the product of a white conspiracy, but rather the product of bad personal choices and a decaying family and social structure. The overriding point of MacDonald's writing is an open-eyed concern for the black community, a concern which is real enough to not corrupt the truth with the liberal bromides you mention in your opening paragraphs. Throughout her pieces she is saying and proving that blacks do have control over their destiny and that if we begin to have a conversation about protecting the innocent in the black community, rather than glorifying the criminal; about personal responsibility instead of white guilt; and about self-empowerment rather than perpetual racial grievance-mongering, then it will be possible for black people to take control of their society and proceed towards a better day unburdened by liberal notions of their helplessness.

So what's to be done about this? There's no real constructive advice given in the essay.

What is a person with an awareness of the fact that there's a slant in the way black people are treated to do?

As a white woman with a black husband, who's witnessed some of the indignities foisted upon him, I'd surely love to know.

guess what world: so-called usa 'white citizens' commit crimes in the usa

who would have guess that -- after all: so-called 'whites' make up nearly 83$ of the total population of the usa...

priceless!!!

IN A VERY CONCRETE AND WELL-DOCUMENTED WAY…

‘VILE, DERANGED & CRIMINALLY-INSANE’ – VERY LOW-IQ - BLACK PREDATOR TERRORISTS ARE THE PRIMARY SOURCE & AT THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE “CIVIC, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC, INTELLECTUAL & SOCIAL” POVERTY AMONG THE ‘BLACK SUPER UNDERCLASS’ POPULATION OF THE USA…

AS THE WORLD WITNESSED THE DESTRUCTION OF MAJORITY USA NEGRO POPULATION CENTERS & COMMUNITIES OVER THE PAST 30 YEARS!

IF “EXTREMELY LOW-IQ BLACK PREDATOR THUG” CRIME RATES -- WERE THE SAME AS THAT OF -- “PALE NON-NEGRO LOW-IQ ETHNIC THUG” CRIME RATES…

THE USA NEGRO POPULATION WOULD SEE ABOUT $3 BILLION OF POTENTIAL ECONOMIC WEALTH DESTROYED EVERY WEEK SINCE MID-1980'S: INSTEAD OF THE REALITY WHICH SAW $18 BILLION OF ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION WEEKLY.

IF ‘VERY LOW-IQ’ BLACK THUG’S CRIME RATES WERE THE SAME AS PALE NON-NEGRO ETHNIC CRIME RATES – THE WORLD WOULD SEE ABOUT 1,400 NEGROES EXECUTE “WITHOUT DUE PROCESS-OF-LAW” INSTEAD OF THE LIVES OF 10, 000 NEGRO CITIZENS MURDERED BY BLACK THUGS…

IF LOW-IQ BLACK THUG’S CRIME RATES WERE THE SAME AS PALE NON-NEGRO ETHNIC CRIME RATES -- VILE, CRIMINALLY-INSANE LOW-IQ DARKER AMERICANS BRUTUALLY RAPES < 18,000 NEGROES EVERY YEAR -- INSTEAD OF RAPED BODIES OF 90,000 NEGRO CITIZENS…

IF LOW-IQ BLACK THUG’S CRIME RATES WERE THE SAME AS PALE NON-NEGRO ETHNIC CRIME RATES -- VILE, CRIMINALLY-INSANE LOW-IQ DARKER AMERICANS ARM-ROB < 60,000 NEGROES EVERY YEAR -- INSTEAD OF 300,000 NEGRO CITIZENS…

IF LOW-IQ BLACK THUG’S CRIME RATES WERE THE SAME AS PALE NON-NEGRO ETHNIC CRIME RATES -- VILE, CRIMINALLY-INSANE LOW-IQ DARKER AMERICANS VIOLENTLY ASSAULTS < 120,000 NEGROES EVERY YEAR -- INSTEAD OFBODIES OF 600,000 NEGRO CITIZENS…

IF LOW-IQ BLACK THUG’S CRIME RATES WERE THE SAME AS PALE NON-NEGRO ETHNIC CRIME RATES -- VILE, CRIMINALLY-INSANE LOW-IQ DARKER AMERICANS INFLICT “DESTRUCTIVE” PROPERTY CRIMES AGAINST < 400,000 NEGROES EVERY YEAR -- INSTEAD OF 2,000,000 NEGRO CITIZENS…

IF VILE, DERANGED & CRIMINALLY-INSANE LOW-IQ BLACK THUG’S CRIME RATES -- WERE THE SAME AS -- PALE NON-NEGRO ETHNIC PREDATOR” CRIME RATES…

VILE, CRIMINALLY-INSANE ‘VERY LOW-IQ’ BLACK THUGS OF USA INFLICT < 600.000 “SERIOUS & VIOLENT” CRIMES WHICH DESTROYS < $180 BILLION OF POTENTIAL ECONOMIC WEALTH IN USA’S NEGRO COMMUNITY EVERY YEAR…

INSTEAD OF 3,000,000 “SERIOUS & VIOLENT” CRIMES AGAINST NEGRO CITIZENS AT AN ECONOMIC COST OF $900 BILLION EACH YEAR!

VILE, DERANGED AND CRIMINALLY-INSANE LOW-IQ BLACK PREDATOR TERRORISM SOURCE DATA:

WWW.CENSUS.GOV/STATAB/WWW/

WWW.OJP.USDOJ.GOV/BJS/

WWW.FBI.GOV/UCR/UCR.HTM

//OJJDP.NCJRS.ORG/OJSTATBB/INDEX.HTML

WWW.FEDSTATS.GOV/

@Nutz: You sound just that>>>Nutz. It is interesting that you choose not to select facts to discuss from the posts you comment on.

@Das: You sound a bit self centered in your complaint about how some blacks in the black neighborhood you live in with your black wife and child, react towards you. Forgiveness??? When there is NO MORE racism, maybe forgiveness...LOL...However, racism and racist practices are still very much alive. Venture outside of your bubble and you can see it. Try if you might to imagine how blacks deal with that kind of response in most daily life interactions (police, stores, schools, work); issues which are of no consequence to you as a white male.

@Nicole Hickman. I'll tell you as Malcolm X said he wished he told a white female who asked him what she could do to help. Confront and educate you rwhite counterparts on the spot when you witness racism and/or discrimination happening. If you are in a relationship with a black man, it behooves you to understand the history of racism in the United States. Educate yourself so that you can be effective.