John Edwards Does Not Understand How Insulting...?
"Asked about what he could do about "inner-city kids partaking in violence" at the MTV/MySpace Forum yesterday, Democratic candidate John Edwards offered an apocalyptic prediction for young black males:
“We cannot build enough prisons to solve this problem. And the idea that we can keep incarcerating and keep incarcerating — pretty soon we’re not going to have a young African-American male population in America. They’re all going to be in prison or dead. One of the two.”
Hyperbole much? Despite popular misperception and those who find it a convenient talking point to illustrate inescapable racism, there are more young African-American men in college than in prison. In 2005, according to the Census Bureau, there were 864,000 black men in college. According to Justice Department statistics, there were 802,000 in federal and state prisons and jails; between the ages of 18 and 24, however, black men in college outnumber those incarcerated by 4 to 1."
Thank you, NRO! The drive-by media will never call him out, I'm happy you did! What an idiot!
I support John Edwards. I do not think he is a racist. And I truely do not understand how his views about institutional racism make him a racist. From his comments about crack vs. powder cocaine makes me think he knows a little bit about how law discriminates against the wealthy and poor. His unflinching response tells me that he cares deeply about "inner-city kids partaking in violence".
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Many successful, highly intelligent friends of mine who are black thought it was a radically racist statement.
You, as a voter, concerns me. You do not "think", you "feel". That is a bad way to make decisions.
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I do think.
Have your black friends read my blog...
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"And I truely do not understand how his views about institutional racism make him a racist."
No such thing as Institutional racism. Guys like Edwards have well a truly sued it out of existence. There still exists personal racism, which is protected by the Constitution. Personal racism is irrational and will die out, given enough time. A thousand years should do it. Meanwhile, Edwards is living proof that a fool can be educated, yet remain a fool.
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Institutional racism exists.
I've copied and pasted these statistics from the NAACP website:
1.Blacks represent 12% of total population yet represent 29.5% of those arrested
2.Once arrested, blacks are three times more likely to be incarcerated than whites
3.54% of blacks and 50% of whites return to prison after 3 years
4.Of 682 defendants charged with federal crimes subject to death penalty 20% were white, 80% minority
This is what institutional racism looks like. It is real.
I do not believe because I want it too exist. Just because it isn't as blatant as a swastika doesn't mean it isn't real. I am responsible to fight it. And would like to encourage you to delve deeper into this subject. Because if you are wrong -- what are you doing to fight it?
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Goldie (I'll hold the "Ste" in reserve for now), stats never tell the whole story. Justice Clarence Thomas' new book tell a story about what will change the stats you site. With strong parenting, as Bill Cosby points out (to the chagrin of the media, and the castigation of his own community), when blacks had strong families and communities, this phenomenon happened due to real and true racism. Not "institutional", but real true racism in American life. That same "real" and "true" racism, as Typos pointed out is, for the most part, dead in America.
Americans work, eat, live together, next to one another, and black vs. white is not an issue anymore. What IS an issue, is that the programs put into place by LBJ, i.e., the welfare & ADC (Aid to Dependant Children) which mandated that fathers could not live with the mom and kids, created a dependent black/"poor white trash" community(s) in America. In fact, LBJ bragged that his welfare programs would tie the black population to the Democrat party "for the next 50 years". Unfortunately he was correct, and as Bill Cosby points out, his programs ruined the once hard-working, close-knit black community.
Goldie, I live in South Texas. The only racism I've seen here is when I smile (as I'm prone to do) at a person who happens to be black, 3 out of 5 times they appear to be either ignoring or scowling at me. It's the two of 5 times that tells me racism is a matter of perception.
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