This isn’t necessarily an interesting read, but it’s an update. I’ve written before about my family’s struggles with race in MLK’s Birthday and One Family’s Race Journey. L is nearing the end of her journey. L is now staying at her daughter’s apartment so she can be closer to her family for this last month that the doctors say she has. Her family is devastated, of course, and so are we, having been a sort of extended family for her since Hurricane Katrina. But as much as it hurts, I wouldn’t give it up. L has been such a blessing to us all.
Jena 6 commenter Elle suggested I read this paper on white privilege. I’ve scanned through it, but I’m going to read it again more slowly before I consider commenting on it. Anybody else read it, and have comments?
Engram at Back Talk has some interesting commentary on Two Americas. He points out that half the murder victim’s in the country are black, although black folks don’t even come close to being half the population of America. Why is that? He doesn’t answer, but has some interesting comments on it, and will be studying it further.
A reasonable question to ask is how much of this difference is attributable to the income differences between blacks and whites. That is, how do the murder rates compare for whites and blacks with the same levels of income? I have not been able to find the relevant numbers, but I suspect that a huge difference will remain even after making this adjustment. I’ll let you know if I find out otherwise, but the basis for my current inference is that Table 4 from this report shows that the rate of violent crimes (not including murder, unfortunately) is about double for those making less than $15,000 per year compared to those making more than $75,000 per year. By contrast, the murder rate for blacks in America is 6 times that for whites.
The same problem on a smaller scale – New Orleans specifically has a problem with murder of black folks by black folks. L’s grandson’s father was just murdered – shot in his driveway – last month. NOLA blogger forgotston frequently posts on this topic. Everybody’s disgusted and furious, but nobody seems to have a solution or a plan.
Somewhat related – Cobb’s post on Internal Black Culture Wars:
Community Battle: Cops vs Crooks I don’t have to tell you that blackfolks don’t trust cops. But blackfolks don’t trust black cops either. I think black cops are tolerated, and I think black crooks are tolerated. When ten crimes go down people get fed up. When one cop messes up, people get fed up and show up at protests. The protests get noticed, and by and large black communities are not appreciably safer today than they were 20 years ago. How can 20 years of policing a community produce no results? What we have here is a failure to communicate, and for a clear majority to choose law & order. I am tempted to blame the Coalition of the Damned and write off many black communities as part of Sherwood Forest. I am at a loss to explain this dynamic. It’s not a particular focus of mine.
And on the war – the surge is working. But the army is worn out, and when they get home they’re not getting the support they need. Congress allocates billions of dollars for pork. What would army recruitment look like if we took that money, paid the troops what they’re worth and gave them the support to which they are entitled? The fact is that people choosing to enlist are by far not poor kids with no options. They’re upper middle class young men who have plenty of choices. So money is not the key factor. But support and appreciation would help. As would taking the trouble – which the Bush Administration has scarcely bothered to do – to explain why Iraq and Afghanistan are worth American blood and treasure.
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