What does it mean…

April 10th, 2007

…that 48 of the 50 NFL players arrested this year pictured on the front page of the USATODAY sports section were black?

I’m not trying to imply anything, viagra sales unhealthy but it must mean something. Are blacks (even professional football players) being unfairly targeted by police? Does it have something to do with sports or with African-American culture in general?

We’re facing the same question here in Wisconsin. Are blacks just committing more crimes? Or are they being unjustly singled out because of their color?

Damned if I know.

Entry Filed under: Observations

3 Comments Add your own

  • 1. Jim Spice  |  April 10th, 2007 at 4:23 pm

    Or are they being unjustly singled out because of their color?

    The acedemic literature on the subject is pretty clear cut; race-based policing is real. For those that distrust the pointy headed liberals in acedemia, here’s a literature review by Brian L.Withrow from Sage Publications, a group respected for its neutrality by right and left alike.

  • 2. Tim  |  April 10th, 2007 at 5:43 pm

    I believe that prejudice may play a small part but it is actually the high rates of crime among blacks that leads to this disparity. Is the police only biased toward blacks? Why isn’t the police biased toward Asian people or any other ethnic group? Perhaps the better question is why is their such high levels of crime in black society?

  • 3. tee bee  |  April 12th, 2007 at 2:50 pm

    Couldn’t you ask an easier question, like why the sky is blue or what holds up the moon?

    Roundups, for one, happen in sting zones. If it’s a black neighborhood, you’ll net black people. It’s left to the police and other crime statistics (drug-motivated crimes like drive-bys) to determine where to run a sting.

    The other side of the coin is descriptions of perps by victims of other crimes that may or may not be drug-related, such as robbery. Do you go looking for Aaron or Sean or Kevin or Lance or Elliot Whitebread if the perp is described as a black person?

    I think it’s much more complex than simply saying profiling is at fault. Culture, in which some are led to exalt criminal behavior, violence and general disrespect or value for life, has to be held accountable at some point (not that Jesse or Al or Oprah will get on board with Cosby there).

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