Statistically Speaking Part 2
Let’s continue our discussion on race.
I listen carefully when the local newscasters drop their fake “buddy buddy banter” and read an actual news story. I am constantly amazed at the blatant attempt to give every detail of a crime except the race of the perpetrator.
In a recent TV news story several members of a white family were killed by the boyfriend of one of the daughters. Among the dead were the father, a sister and the grandmother. The daughter was seriously injured as was the mother of the family, all stabbed repeatedly in what was described as a blood bath. The TV news crews covered every aspect of the crime scene and the lives of the victims, going so far as having video of the murdered sister’s high school and the church they attended. They named the boyfriend and gave information about where he lived and worked. The only item missing from the report was that the killer was black.
The August 2nd Chicago Tribune ran a front page article, complete with pictures of a police news conference, detailing violent attacks on pedestrians in Chicago’s upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood. In the 531 word piece the paper detailed the attacks and the victims. The paper gave no description of the group of men who were sneaking up on unsuspecting victims, immediately beating them in the face and head and then stealing their wallets and cell phones. I thought perhaps as these attacks occurred at night and were so sudden and unexpected that nobody got a good look at the attackers. But a when I called the police desk I was told the perpetrators were a group of black men between 15 and 20 years old.
Why has it become standard procedure for news outlets to leave out racial description when discussing crimes committed by minorities? Don’t they think it is an important part of the overall description of the crime and the criminal?
As I explained yesterday, we cannot have a true and honest discussion without including all the facts. The ACLU is up in arms about the number of minorities pulled over by police, but until they catch these violent predators I hope that police pull over and investigate every group of young black men they see cruising the streets of Lincoln Park at night. God help us if the police ever get to the point of reluctance in investigating crimes because they don’t want to skew some study results on racial profiling. That would be as stupid and dangerous as announcing to your enemy when you are going to withdraw your troops.
I understand the frustration for every law abiding group of young black men that gets pulled over, but they must understand that the problem is not an act of prejudice but rather an investigation based on a description. They should be mad at the group of black attackers that caused the heightened sense of alarm. Police are not going to waste their time investigating groups of blacks if the description of the attackers is red haired Irish kids.
An honest and open discussion on race relations begins with honesty and openness, not some politically correct concept of protecting racial identity so as not to appear prejudiced. The Tribune online edition has a section of Chicago Police mugshots from recent arrests. I took a look at the latest 100 booking photos. The number of minorities was about 5 to 1 over whites. You can say it’s because police are focused on minorities but that doesn’t say that the minorities didn’t actually commit the crime. Look at the minority population in prisons, look at the number of minorities in the court system, look at the minority rate of high school drop outs, look at the minority rate of unwed pregnancy, look at the minority rate of single parent households, look at the minority rate of drug abuse, look at the minority rate of welfare recipients, all of these factors hopelessly binding them to a system of government handouts designed to keep them dependent and poor. All of this matters if we are going to actually be honest about race relations and move the discussion forward.
Or are we really just looking for more of the same.
We’ll bring this discussion to a head tomorrow.
