News, More blacks, Latinos in jail than college dorms. (Hispanic, government, state)
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The fact of the matter is that Blacks and Latinos are on average poorer than whites and hence they make up the largest portion of the prison population. Prison populations are made up mostly of the poor. Since a larger precentage blacks and latinos make up the underclass in our society they will make up the bulk of the prison population. It's not that hard of a problem to figure out.
Being poor does not make someone a less moral person. Being poor does not make you more inclined to murder, rape, rob, etc.
It's not the size of their bank accounts, it's the high illegitimacy rates, the drop out rates.
Also the worst thing for youth is to be unemployed and massive levels of immigration keep our own inner city youth unemployed. Businesses find it more profitable to bring in box cars of illegals to work dirt cheap and make no effort to recruit and train inner city youth.
What percentage of those blacks in college are females as opposed to males? I'd expect the percentage to be extremely skewed in favor of women. Prove me wrong.
Heres some stats:
Quote:
[SIZE=-1]A new study from the Justice Policy Institute (http://www.justicepolicy.org), a Washington, DC-based think-tank that advocates for alternatives to prison, has found that after two decades of harsh criminal justice policies, there are more black men in jail or prison than in college. At the end of 2000, 791,600 black men were behind bars and 603,032 were enrolled in colleges or universities. By contrast, in 1980 -- before the prison boom -- black men in college outnumbered black men behind bars by a ratio of more than 3 to 1, the study found.[/SIZE]
What percentage of those blacks in college are females as opposed to males? I'd expect the percentage to be extremely skewed in favor of women. Prove me wrong.
The numbers in question from the Justice Policy Institute report come from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics. The report indicates that there were an estimated 791,600 black men in jail and prison in 2000 and a count of 603,032 in college in 1999. Mr. Morton agrees with the jail and prison number but asserts in his blog that the more reliable U.S. Census Bureau reports that there were 816,000 black men in college in 2000. In the film, he makes comparisons using the same data sources for 2005 and states this number to be 864,000. Furthermore, he argues that it is bad practice to use the entire age range of black males when making these comparisons, because the age range for college-going males is generally 18 to 24, not the 18 to 55 (and up) range of the jail and prison population. Viewed this way, the ratio of black men in college compared with jail and prison is 4-to-1.
Quote:
The best evidence thus indicates that as a whole, there are more black men in jail and prison than in college – but there are more college-age black men in college than in jail and prison. It doesn’t make for a great sound bite; complex realities rarely do. But perhaps the primary focus of the discussion can now turn to why there are so many black men in jail – and what society can do about it.”
So, in summary, if you jump through hoops and exclude black males at community colleges, or include black males from all age groups, despite that fact that 18-22 is the most common college age(Duh there are going to be more older black males in jail than college, because after a certain age there'd be few people of any population group still in college), then yes, the statement works. But that's a lot of mental gymnastics just to have a convenient factoid, and even then it leaves out a lot of information.
So I maintain that it is Yellow Journalism. A hint of cinnamon here, a dash of salt there, subtract some contextual facts, fan the flames and stir the cauldron, and voila, I have a headline that will surely impress the editors!
It would be nice if one day we could discuss this issue [race relations] without every other post being "All Blacks/Latinos are ghetto and criminal" or "Whitey is evil", which seems to be the common conclusion of 99% of C-D posts on the topic
You guys keep on talking about blacks and Hispanics who are low-income and whose young men are disproportionately in prison...but you all forget to mention Native Americans, who (just like blacks and Hispanics) are on the whole more in the low-income category. In fact, some of the poorest areas in the United States are on Indian reservations (e.g. Pine Ridge, South Dakota). So don't just mention blacks and Hispanics...mention blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans. Just like whites but also Asians are overall in the higher-income bracket. (Then again, many, many more blacks and Hispanics live in the big cities than Native Americans, with the possible exception of Minneapolis.)
There are more black men in college now than prison.
An oldie but a goodie.
I'd be surprised if there were fewer Native American men in prison than in college.
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