A WHITE RACIST CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM ?

A recent study by the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based think tank, found that blacks in the Unided States are imprisoned at more than five times the rate of whites, although they make up less than 20 percent of the population. Latinos are jailed at nearly double the white rate.

In Iowa, the rate for blacks was more than 13 times that of whites. Vermont, New Jersey and Connecticut incarcerate blacks at 12 times the rate of whites. In Wisconsin, our most liberal state, the rate was more than 10 times that of whites. Texas, my home state, imprisons blacks at nearly five times the rate of whites, with 667 whites and 3,162 blacks locked up for every 100,000 people in the state. Surprisingly, Georgia and Mississippi only had a black-to-white ratio of 3.3 and 3.5 respectively.

These ratios beg the question - are black and latino prisoners the victims of a white racist criminal justice system? The answer will depend on who you ask. Marxist academics, white liberals, and Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and other black activists will say these disparaging statistics are further proof that minorities in this country are the victims of white racism. Conservatives and criminologists will say that minorities commit a disproportionate amount of crime, hence the disparaging rates.

The Sentencing Project study concluded that these ratios "reflect a failure of social and economic interventions to address crime effectively." Marc Mauer, the think tank's executive director, added that there is racial bias in the justice system.

One can argue all day long whether the federal government, the states, and local communities are doing enough to intervene socially and economically in the plight of poverty stricken minorities and whether or not such interventions would result in a dramatic reduction of minority crime rates. The sad fact is that the poor commit a disproportionate amount of crime and a disproportionate number of blacks and latinos are poverty stricken.

School drop outs, teen pregnancies, fatherless families, drug addiction, peer pressure to join street gangs and unemployment, conditions which are prevalent among the poor, are significant factors contributing to a continuing life of poverty and a high rate of crime. Simply put, there are a lot of latinos, and even more blacks, committing a disproportionate amount of crime with the result they will end up in prisons at a greater rate than whites.

Is there racism in the justice system? I would say, by and large no. Are poor blacks less likely to get probation than affluent whites? Yes, but not because of racism. Poor whites are also less likely to get probation. Concern for the public's safety is, and should be, the determining factor as to whether or not a law breaker is granted probation.

What about the disparity in sentencing for drug offenses? Fewer whites are caught with powdered cocaine than blacks selling crack cocaine, thus there are more blacks in prison for cocaine offenses. Is this the result of racism? No, it is not. Drug enforcement agencies find it much more difficult to make cases against powdered cocaine dealers than against crack cocaine dealers. Powdered cocaine offenses take place out of public view, while crack cocaine is sold openly on every street corner in every poor black neighborhood.

If blacks are the victims of a white racist criminal justice system, how does one explain the incarceration ratios of two deep-Southern conservative states, each with a huge poor black population? If the justice system is racist, why are blacks imprisoned at less than four times the rate of whites in Georgia and Mississippi, while in almost all-white Wisconsin, a state which prides itself for enjoying good race relations, the rate is more than 10 times that of whites?

There is only one logical explanation - blacks commit a disproportionate amount of crime. So, one would have to conclude that, despite appearances and allegations to the contrary, the criminal justice system is not racist.