[Magdalen] Yet another case of race abuse?

[Lynn Ronkainen]

As a nation we have to come to terms with the use of statistics. They have 
become a high art form, IMO, especially with crime.

Stats seem designed to show us that crime is under control, all the while 
every other facet of crime seems to shout: "NO!" Stats of 'arrests' are huge 
compared to what 'sticks', but what do we hear about? The arrests. Looks 
like law enforcement is going hard and fast to keep us safe.  In the last 
year, since Ferguson, we have all become more attuned to the various ways 
that under certain circumstances, police can to *anything* to *anyone*.... 
this also feeds the great almighty 'statistical' entity.

It is true that there are far more people of color in our prisons than would 
seem likely. Information is coming out in many places around the US that 
indeed, people of color are treated differently when arrested, when 
prosecuted and when incarcerated.  Somewhere recently I read the number of 
black men who don't even live into their 20s. Is it any wonder that some of 
them may live with a reckless attitude about life and their place in it?

Two phrases that I have used for over 20 years about our country is 'House 
of Cards' and regarding specific people - wearing 'The Emperor's new 
clothes'. Both have become big catch-phrases  since they've been used to 
name dramas or describe politicians, but the situations that warranted my 
'labels' 2 decades ago have endured. (I'm also fascinated that Potemkin 
Village is now being bandied about as well... a favorite of mine since 
taking Russian History in University in the early '70s).

Lynn

website: www.ichthysdesigns.com

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not a 
single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me." 
attributed to Erma Bombeck
 "Either Freedom for all or stop talking about Freedom at all" from a talk 
by Richard Rohr

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From: "James Oppenheimer-Crawford" <oppenheimerjw at gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2015 11:52 AM
To: "Magdalen at herberthouse.org" <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] Yet another case of race abuse?

> Some statistics to consider:
>
> *Incarceration Trends in America*
>
>   - From 1980 to 2008, the number of people incarcerated in America
>   quadrupled-from roughly 500,000 to 2.3 million people
>   - Today, the US is 5% of the World population and has 25% of world
>   prisoners.
>   - Combining the number of people in prison and jail with those under
>   parole or probation supervision, 1 in ever y 31 adults, or 3.2 percent 
> of
>   the population is under some form of correctional control
>
> *Racial Disparities in Incarceration*
>
>   - African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3
>   million incarcerated population
>   - African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of
>   whites
>
> from
> http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet
>
> James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
>
> On Fri, Oct 2, 2015 at 12:08 PM, Sibyl Smirl <polycarpa3 at ckt.net> wrote:
>
>> On 10/1/15 8:50 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford wrote:
>>
>>> The number of Blacks in prison is far and away greater than their actual
>>> behavior.  It's a matter of give the white boy a pass and when the Black
>>> kid comes before the bar, throw the damn key away.
>>>
>>> When I taught in prison, it was like it was a Black prison.  I could be
>>> the
>>> only white face in sight, excepting, of course all the white guards 
>>> (they
>>> hate being called guards.  They prefer to be called correction 
>>> officers.)
>>>
>>
>> That's odd.  The people who go to jail from here are almost all white, or
>> maybe Latino.  We're doing race in this thread, so I should mention that
>> the "whites" here are frequently part Indian, but they usually don't 
>> _look_
>> Indian at all, unlike the Latinos.  I see the pictures in the papers. 
>> They
>> go for everything from drugs (meth, usually, around here, lots of 
>> kitchens,
>> though we have some grass kicking around too), burglary, drunk driving 
>> with
>> resulting death, domestic violence, on up to murder.  We do get some 
>> nasty
>> stuff happening, like the boy who went to prison last summer (white).  He
>> got badly beaten up at a beer party, by a somewhat older young man, went
>> home and got his gun, went back to the party, and shot him.  The picture 
>> in
>> the paper at the kid's arrest (I think he's 19-20) showed the battered
>> condition of his face from the beating.  I got the impression from the
>> newspaper stories that it was one of those post-adolescent macho pride
>> things.  Admittedly, we don't have a high proportion of black people, but
>> not one of my friend Joyce's dozen or so kids (black) have ever been in
>> prison (that I know of).  I don't know a black person in this county (of
>> course, I don't know everyone in the county) who has been in jail.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Sibyl Smirl
>> I will take no bull from your house!  Psalms 50:9a
>> mailto:polycarpa3 at ckt.net
>>