So, I was in traffic court yesterday (over a misunderstanding :) ) and saw myself in a room with 50 seats. Within those seats, I counted 48 people of color (blacks) in them. Blacks make up only 13% of the US population but 98% of the courtroom seats were filled by blacks. Technically there should have only been 6.5 seats filled with blacks. I find this very sad and interesting!!
1. Are blacks some evil rebel race of people that always break the law and get caught?
2. Though blacks are only 13% of the US pop, do they make up 87% of the crime?
3. How come proportionally there isn't 13% of the judicial system to represent the black race?
Frankly speaking, its clear there is a "design" flaw and a clear objective within that design to sustain a holding pattern for blacks. When will responsibility be taking by those that control and govern said inequities?
I've always been a proponent of the conspiracy theory. Our government has for so long strategized to keep black and brown people on the bottom. But it isn't just our government. It is a world wide phenomenon. Crime, poverty, education; we often times walk unknowingly into the traps set up specifically for us. But how can you heal generations of cyclical deprivation? A people who have been stripped of their land, language and culture, sent to the corners of the world and taught to believe that we are inferior. Our communities broken, families broken, distinct lines drawn, and limitations enforced... Divided. Conquered. Clearly the court system is just one of the consequences of centuries of European indoctrination; standards of beauty and civilization. Mis-educated indeed. And despite this, pockets of consciousness are found woven between the swarms of ignorance and apathy. The beautiful thing about the mind is that unlike the body, it is difficult to confine (loosely, Huey Newton). But it will take a lot of fighting to undue the mental damage inflicted over time... Even for those who consider themselves revolutionaries. But of course you know, it starts with us. Self-love must manifest first. If we don't love and appreciate our own people, why should anyone else? Once we get that together, we can't do anything but rise. Hell, we're obviously already deemed as a threat, otherwise they would not try so hard to keep us down.
ReplyDelete@ Vic,
ReplyDeleteSometimes I wonder how you arrive at such perceptions. Counting to talk around the issue and to look at "my" observation and arrest that to a skewed statistic seems juvenile..
1. There is no "WE" if "THEM" keep "US" in the judicial system.
2. What the hell does the medium of resolution have to do with the real fact that blacks flood the judicial system as defendants and are over represented in that regard? Online, in person, on the phone etc...the point is that more black people are prosecuted and persecuted than whites and black are the smallest population group - period.
3. Statistical analysis is NOT skewed. The point you failed to see has nothing to do with ones physical presence or choice of resolution. The charge is irrelevant as well. The point is that in ANY courtroom across America you will find more black people in there than whites - proven fact!
I was clear in my point and you contentions do not correlate to my overall point at all. So let me better articulate for you and provide some hard data so that I'm not told my "view point" is skewed. My personal observation of the courtroom was a real and valid cross section of what "is" within the fallace justice system.
* There are 3 times as many black people in jail than in college
* Blacks make up 13% if the US population but blacks make up 65% of the US prison population
* 1 in 9 black men are in prison
* 1 in 3 are on probation or parole
* 1 in 100 white males
With all of the above expressed, I restate my point and questions:
1. Are blacks some evil rebel race of people that always break the law and get caught?
2. Though blacks are only 13% of the US pop, do they make up 87% of the crime?
3. How come proportionally there isn’t 13% of the judicial system to represent the black race?
The apex of all my post was saying is that the system is flawed by those who control it - whites and done so with clear intention, precision and design.
@ Taj,
ReplyDeleteYou are right, if as a culture blacks could gain some symmetry and cohesion it wold be easier to attack this issue. It will take that and other cultures to take responsibility and help "fix" whats been broken.
Also, yo made some excellent points about why its hard to swallow "we"...
Wow!!!! You are so narrow in your scope that there are times you get in your own way, Dimitri!!!
ReplyDeleteI was not disputing what you wrote. Go back and read that, first.
I should be surprised, but I'm not. At all. To be honest, its not just "them". Its "us" as well. We as a people, seem to never really respect or have an understanding of the law, and how to navigate through the game of life that is largely set up and controlled by "them".
ReplyDeleteAnd we suffer because of it. How do we as a people foster respect for laws when "they" encourage, prompt, promote and pay for images "us" to keep "us" submissive by calling our women bitches, by calling each other niggas, by making our people think that being cool entails bottles of hennessey, rap careers and being surrounded by hottentot venuses?
We feed into their biases and stereotypes of "us" and it makes "them" see us as nothing more than criminals or miscreants.
We used to be a people that took care of our own, that valued and respected the images that were portrayed of us, but we are so lacksadaisical in making our own lives successful, that we are often left with no choice than to be what "they" want us to be.
That said, "they" have been in power for so long, that it the odds are seemingly always stacked against us. We get processed in a justice system where few of our defense attorneys, prosecutors, wardens, guards, police officers accurately represent the number of "us" incarcerated or flowing through the system. And we flow through a system where too many of those chosen to represent us are so over-worked and over-burdened that without the highest amount of money, or someone to back us and push our cause, we are left unshielded and defenseless, which can make even the most innocent appear to be undeniably guilty.
I know I kinda went off on a tangent, but w/e.
One of my favorite quotes is rather applicable here, I think -- insanity is continuing to do the same things and expecting different results. How is it any different to continue to point out the obvious, the issues, the stats with no offer to beginning a new path?
ReplyDeleteWhen I state 'we', I don't mean in a way that I, you, they get lost...rather in initiating a different mindset to pull people together to hear what it takes to begin change. If we continue to talk about them and us, there is no we and people don't believe in the possibilities. Change begins with a vision and continues through hope, passion, commitment and knowledge.
I'm not arguing with you....I choose to use my energy in setting a different course. I'll continue to do what I believe is necessary to impact change with an open mind, a clear mind, recruiting those who choose to walk with, and set a course.
Getting lost in the finger pointing blame as a sole exercise perpetuates the very issues you point out, and fails to change anything. To me, a waste of time without a plan.
Exactly...
ReplyDeleteso "we" as in "us" have to control our own images, mend our own communities, fix the intra-racial biases inflicted on each other, educate ourselves and each other academically and intellectually, teach our youth how to think for themselves, how to save, the importance of reading, maintaining an open mind, learning from others' mistakes, not letting failure defeat our spirit, self-respect, self-love, teamwork, and how to be knowledgeable and skillfully navigate a system set up to keep us on the bottom and dependable. Controlling our own image is huge, Shashi. It speaks volumes to the way our youth are portrayed and adhere to popular culture!
It all starts with education. And not that bullshit, one-sided nonsense our youth are fed in textbooks, but in addition to it! I think sharing the statistics is an amazing way to start the dialogue. Never too young!