Now he faced his own all-white jury, that he derisively asked, “This is a jury of my peers?” In his closing statement, his defense attorney tried to flip the race card, drawing up a vivid picture of the attack on the daughter.
He paused and delivered the punch line, “Now imagine she’s white.”
It is an admittedly cartoonish portrayal of the justice system that works in Hollywood. But the reality is that the real world in America still has a huge discrepancy between black and white.
There have been some interesting commentaries on the subject with regards to Casey Anthony’s trial.
As one of my Facebook friends noted, “I felt like all the Blacks and Chicanos are saying: if she were (insert) she would have gotten more than a year.”
One person noted that they are saying it “out loud, letting it be known.”
Someone, of course, was quick to point out that the case had nothing to do with race.
Except it did, because everything in this country, whether we like it or not, revolves around race. People of color, even today, are more likely to be arrested, convicted and incarcerated longer for committing the same crimes as white people.
A Washington Post column written by Keith Alexander asked, “If Caylee Anthony had been black, would you know her name?”
“Aja. N’Kiah. Tatianna. Brittany. Caylee,” Mr. Alexander writes. “All five girls, authorities said, were killed by their mothers. Yet it’s likely that, besides their family and friends, not many people remember sisters Aja Fogle, 5, N’Kiah Fogle, 6, Tatianna Jacks, 11, and Brittany Jacks, 16.”
Mr. Alexander then told the story of Banita Jacks who was the mother of four girls found dead in Washington, DC, and unlike Caylee Anthony, Ms. Jacks was convicted and setenced to 120 years in prison.
He wrote, “Prior to Jacks’s conviction, she was known by few outside Washington. A Google search revealed about 26,000 hits for stories mentioning Jacks, vs. more than 73 million hits, and growing, for Anthony.”
“How is it that the tragic death of one little girl could attract so much more attention than the tragic deaths of four sisters?” Mr. Alexander asked, “The easy answer is that the disparity in coverage is about race and class. Media critics argue that if Caylee had been black, her disappearance and death would never have received as much attention.”
We see a sharp contrast between the two. “Caylee, white, from a middle-income home in suburban Orlando, in the shadow of Disney World; the Jacks sisters, black, from a lower-income Southeast Washington neighborhood besieged by drugs and crime, just blocks from the Capitol.”
In 1993, the disappearance and murder of Polly Klaas from the white suburban community of Petaluma ignited public opinion, despite the fact that these crimes occurr all of the time in urban communities and barely register on the screen of most media and members of the public.
But, as Mr. Alexander pointed out, there were other critical differences that explain both the media attention and the outcry. After all, this started not as a murder but as a missing persons case, with thousands of volunteers in the summer and fall of 2008 looking for the little girl.
On the other hand, “Although family members had not seen the [Jacks] girls in about a year, including over the holidays, they never reported them missing or appealed to the media for help.”
As with most things in society, the lines, even between black and white, are never black and white.
As we know, the criminal justice system is filled with disparities in the population of blacks and whites. For instance, a high proportion of those in prison are black and are there for drug offenses, despite the fact that five times as many drug users are white.
Prior to last year, the punishment for the possession of crack cocaine was about 100 times longer than the penalty for the possession of the same amount of powder cocaine. You guessed it, black people are more likely to use crack while white people are more likely to use powder cocaine.
The Fair Sentencing Act passed into law last year reduces the 100:1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses to 18:1.
Another issue in racial disparities is the construction of juries. In many cases, research has shown that prosecutors will use their peremptory challenges to strike a potential juror based solely on race or gender, preferring white jurors to comparable black jurors when the defendant is black, and lawyers tend to prefer male jurors to comparable female jurors.
One attorney noted to me this week that in the Casey Anthony trial, despite the death-qualification process, there were actually two African-American jurors, and that would not happen in Yolo County.
It is not just jurors that are subjected to this type of racial disparity. While this is old data from 1998, the racial breakdown of district attorneys in the US, in death penalty states, was found to be 1794 white DAs, 22 black DAs, and 22 Hispanic DAs.
Another 1990s study found that, “even after controlling for case differences, blacks in Philadelphia were substantially more likely to get the death penalty than other defendants who committed similar murders. Black defendants faced odds of receiving a death sentence that were 3.9 times higher than other similarly-situated defendants.”
While people may dismiss these studies for being a bit outdated, a more recent 2007 study of death sentences in Connecticut conducted by Yale University School of Law revealed that African-American defendants receive the death penalty at three times the rate of white defendants, in cases where the victims are white.
A 2008 Washington Post Article reported on “whether race could have influenced the imposition of the death sentence for Artemus Rick Walker, a black Georgia man convicted of killing a white bank vice president.”
Judge John Paul Stevens “issued an eight-page statement saying he found the case ‘troubling’ because it ‘involves a black defendant and a white victim.’ ” Stevens criticized the Georgia Supreme Court, saying it carried out “an utterly perfunctory review” to ensure that racial disparities were not a factor in Walker’s sentence.
“The Georgia Supreme Court . . . must take seriously its obligation to safeguard against the imposition of death sentences that are arbitrary or infected by impermissible considerations such as race,” wrote Justice Stevens.
Of course, racial discrepancies do not end in the courtroom. The ACLU makes a provocative note on the link between racial segregation and deaths from lack of access to health care, among other disparities.
They write: “Each year, 176,000 Americans die as a result of racial segregation, according to a study reported in The New York Times this week. That’s more than the number of people killed by strokes or in accidents each year. While the study does not describe precisely how segregation — defined as living in a neighborhood with more than 25 percent African-American population — kills, other research has noted that segregation is linked to inferior health care, inadequate access to healthy food, substandard housing, environmental conditions and lower quality schools, all of which can contribute to health problems that ultimately lead to early death.”
In this country, discussion of racial issues is enough to send us over the edge. But until people are willing to address these factors, they will persist.
Ultimately, in the Casey Anthony trial, the jury was willing to overcome a lot, I think, rightly to come to the verdict of not-guilty, based on the fact that there was no proof that Ms. Anthony intentionally killed her daughter. But I think there is a point to be made that a jury would not have given an African-American the same benefit of the doubt.
We will never know, but the fact that this is still a realistic possibility should be troubling. Unfortunately, too many people reading this will likely not be able to overlook the fact that I even brought up race to discuss whether or not this is a realistic possibility.
—David M. Greenwald reporting
Some 30+ years back, my bandmate,”Clubhand” and I began to have extremely frank discussions of race relations in this country, between each other and with anyone else determined enough to stay in the room . Our band was ethically and culturally diverse Clubhand and I had known each other and played together for years and to us this was part of our normal conversation . It was odd to us when others became uncomfortable . As I have stated before, the time for this conversation is long overdue, I just don’t think most Americans are ready to look at ourselves and our culture honestly with one another ! I hope that I am wrong !
To dmg: How you can play the “race card” in the Casey Anthony case is beyond me…
Making racial bias an issue in situations where it is clearly not even remotely any kind of a controversy just cheapens the argument that there is racial bias in our criminal justice system. It is much like crying wolf too often, so when someone does have a legitimate case of racial bias, the chances are it won’t be listened to because charges of racial bias have been overused in situations where it was not warranted…
What would have been more appropriate to complain about is some of the aftermath/fallout/behavior in regard to the Casey Anthony trial/verdict. Fox News was taking a poll of its listeners as to whether they thought Anthony was guilty – POST VERDICT. Whatever happened to the PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE? This poll was clearly the wrong thing to do. Also some of the villification of the jurors by the media has been appalling. Or the book companies and porn industry offering Casey Anthony multi-million dollar deals, so she can capitalize on the death of her daughter. That would have been worth commenting on…
“Except it did, because everything in this country, whether we like it or not, revolves around race.”
David, it seems like most things in your world revolve around race. Ever heard of OJ?
ERM, I saw that post verdict poll where it showed that 90% said Casey Anthony was guilty. David, where’s the racism there?
Biddlin ” As I have stated before, the time for this conversation is long overdue, I just don’t think most Americans are ready to look at ourselves and our culture honestly with one another ! I hope that I am wrong !”
I think most Americans are tired to death of hearing the crying about the race issue. It’s time to move on, that horse has been beat to death.
For those who think the race issue has been beaten to death, I would remind you that race issues are still very much in the forefront of our society. Consider the ridiculous accusations, claims, and expectations coming from both extremes of the political spectrum with regard to
Barack Obama’s candidacy and presidency. Perhaps most Americans are tired of “hearing the crying about the race issue” but there are many
on both sides who are not above using the issue if they think it will promote their goals
I think medwoman is exactly right.
The race issue is alive and in the forefront of some people’s worldview because
“there are many on both sides who are not above using the issue if they think it will promote their goals”
Should have been”ethnically”, although in the music business the other works too.
“[i]Prior to last year, the punishment for the possession of crack cocaine was about 100 times longer than the penalty for the possession of the same amount of powder cocaine. You guessed it, black people are more likely to use crack while white people are more likely to use powder cocaine.[/i]”
Black civic leaders strongly supported the tougher sentencing laws. The crack sentences were the legislative result of the panic that resulted from the media coverage of crack cocaine, and the genuinely epidemic-like spread of crack cocaine and related crime in the inner cities, in the early 1980’s. The drug literally seemed to have come out of nowhere, was unbelievably addictive, and clearly had a link to increased inner city crime. Political leaders had to be seen as doing [i]something[/i], so they enacted draconian determinate sentences for crack-related crime. It is a stretch to say that they enacted those laws because “black people are more likely to use crack.” There were clear societal differences between the impacts of crack vs powder cocaine in terms of crime and addiction.
As for the rest of your essay, this is one of those arguments that isn’t particularly provable or falsifiable.
“To dmg: How you can play the “race card” in the Casey Anthony case is beyond me.”
Elaine: how is mentioning and talking about race, now considered playing the race card?
Rusty:
“David, it seems like most things in your world revolve around race. Ever heard of OJ? “
Yeah let’s look at OJ, because he is actually the exception that proves the rule. First, wealthy, probably bought the best defense team of all time or at least in the latter part of the 20th century. Second, he was tried in front of a mostly minority jury rather than a mostly white jury. So yes, exceptions do happen, but…
“ERM, I saw that post verdict poll where it showed that 90% said Casey Anthony was guilty. David, where’s the racism there? “
You’re missing the point. You cannot compare the reaction of the public primed by the media on this issue to a jury which is shielded from such effects.
“I think most Americans are tired to death of hearing the crying about the race issue.”
That’s an interesting statement. I suspect by most Americans, you mean most white and conservative Americans. For a majority in California, and a sizable minority in this country, race is not an abstraction, but something dealt with on a daily basis. A good friend of mine likes to say that the only people who think that race is behind us are white people.
[i]”… everything in this country, whether we like it or not, revolves around race. People of color, even today, are more likely to be arrested, convicted and incarcerated longer for committing the [u]same crimes[/u] as white people.”[/i]
Never mind that statement is patently false. It’s the fantasy statement of those who wear race-goggles and see everything in distortion.
David, sorry, but this column reminds me of why we never should have created the Human Relations Commission: It was founded to prove that Davis was a bastion of racism, even though it was not back in 1983 and is less so today. Yet the commission went on for years trying to prove it needed to exist, until ultimately the commissioners drove off the cliff in their witchhunt against the Davis police department. (Ironically, the stake driven through the heart of the HRC involved a Vietnamese immigrant police officer put up as the evil racist, against a white girl of extraordinary wealth who happened by chance to be a Muslim.)
Pretty much the same thing here: A jury of many races, including blacks and Latinos, men and women, and a black judge with a heavy southern accent, and an immigrant Latino lead defense attorney and a number of non-whites on the prosecutor’s team are the key players in a trial of a sociopathic white mother of a white child. She gets away with murder–an outcome praised by the columnist–and thus this is supposed to prove American justice is racist?
Wow.
You almost make me think this country could never elect a non-white president. Almost.
Rich:
The statement is based on years of research, I defy you to show me that it is patently flase.
Secondly, this is the second time you have made these ridiculous charges about the HRC. It was not founded to prove that Davis was a bastion of racism. That is complete and utter hyperbole.
It was founded to help improve race relations. It’s nice that a white man such as yourself thinks there is no race problem in Davis. But countless people in the minority community disagree with you and have personally experienced things that you have never had to endure as a white man. I’ve offered numerous times to show you a different view of things and have you meet some people, but you have never once taken me up on the offer.
As for the stake in the heart, there was never a witch hunt against the Davis police department. There was a few incidents that caused concern, the HRC issued a report and made a recommendation. The police chief decided to launch a political campaign against teh commission and its chair (my wife). I have an email trail that shows this using city computer and city time. Once the police chief leaves, everything suddenly goes back to normal. Meanwhile, Antioch becomes a subject of controversy after controversy. Oh and he takes shots at the Davis police department himself.
You completely misread my column if you think that I’m arguing the Caylee Anthony case proves American justice is racist. The Caylee Anthony case was decided based simply on the fact that there was no proof that she had killed her child. That was the correct verdict. The question raised here is whether an african american would have been given the same benefit of the doubt that Ms. Anthony was. On the other hand, would a black child have received the same outpouring of coverage that Caylee received.
“You almost make me think this country could never elect a non-white president. Almost. “
And look at all the racist crap he has had to endure. Look at the controversy on whether he was an American citizen, pure xenophobia right there and it dealt with a wink and nod from even respectable mainstream conservatives. Amazing indeed.
[quote]”But I think there is a point to be made that a jury would not have given an African-American the same benefit of the doubt. We will never know, but the fact that this is still a realistic possibility should be troubling.”[/quote]Okay, I told you before: this is just why the [u]Vanguard[/u] shouldn’t be finding a racial component in every justice situation. Or, at least, make sure the examination is thorough and the charge justified before tossing out an unprovable theory to such a knowledgeable readership for response.[quote]”Unfortunately, too many people reading this will likely not be able to overlook the fact that I even brought up race to discuss whether or not this is a realistic possibility.”[/quote]I’m not sure whether this charge/challenge encourages serious discussion or similar, reactionary response.
I’d be interested seeing the statistics DMG cites re-done in terms of social class by $ income/assets rather than by race. For example, if crime rates were broken down into categories including $ income level and whether they have a father at home, the significant difference in crime rates between blacks and whites would disappear.
It seems to me one product of breaking down everything by race, whether intended or not, serves the interests of both distracting and dividing the population into bickering about these issues; the real name of the game is about accumulating more and more money into the hands of those who already have most of it; racial politics and the wedges it creates plays into their hands of those politicians who exploit this, and into the hands of the moneyed powers that be.
[quote]”I’d be interested seeing the statistics DMG cites re-done in terms of social class by $ income/assets rather than by race. For example, if crime rates were broken down into categories including $ income level and whether they have a father at home, the significant difference in crime rates between blacks and whites would disappear. .”[/quote] [b]jimt,[/b] maybe so, but who knows?[quote]”The ACLU makes a provocative note….Another 1990s study found….a more recent 2007 study….A 2008 Washington Post Article reported…The statement is based on years of research….”[/quote]It would add a definite educational component if you’d provide links to cited studies and original source materials. Is it difficult to do under your current webmaster’s rules?
jimt: Generally a good statistical study would control for SES, when I was in political science it was a fairly standard practice. My impression without analyzing their methodology is that most of these effects are over and above any SES effect.
JS: Try google, it’s not that hard to find. I generally post from my phone, at least comments, and that makes linking difficult.
DMG: “Except it did, because everything in this country, whether we like it or not, revolves around race.”
Except it really did not. And no, not everything , like it or not, revolves around race just because you say it is so. Maybe in your own ultra-liberal world it does, but not on planet earth.
DMG: ” But I think there is a point to be made that a jury would not have given an African-American the same benefit of the doubt.”
you don’t know that. that is pure speculation on your part.
when the vanguard writes articles like this one, it is cold proof the vanguard is reaching for ideas.
[i]”The statement is based on years of research, I defy you to show me that it is patently flase.”[/i]
It is false (not flase).
The differences found in sentencing for the “same crimes” don’t account for priors. Sentences are determined by sentencing guidelines federally and in most states. If the convicted has prior criminal history, he gets a worse sentence. If no history, a lighter sentence.
Prior to federal guidelines, this was not always the case in all states, especially in the South. But since sentencing guidelines took almost all authority away from most judges in most states and in the federal system, it is patently false that there is still a race pattern in sentencing, once you account for the prior records of the defendants.
Because crime rates are so much higher–the difference is dramatic–in majority black communities, the likelihood of priors is also much higher among black convicts for “the same crimes.”
[img]http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/recidivism/2001/ccage.GIF[/img]
There is also a much higher recidivism rate for black males than other convicts. However, the difference may be due to factors other than race.
Sorry: that graph above is irrelevant. I put in the wrong URL.
Rich,
Good clarification with your text; it seems than when racial issues come up it is very difficult to find even-handed treatment, among academics as well, since the topic has been so politically charged and rewards don’t accrue to those who seek a balanced treatment of the topic.
Rich: You make an interesting point except that there is not a much higher recidivism rate for blacks over other convicts (the study I look at does not analyze males and females separately).
This is from the 2010 CDCR Adult Institutions Outcome Evaluation Report ([url]http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Adult_Research_Branch/Research_Documents/ARB_FY0506_Outcome_Evaluation_Report.pdf[/url])
[img]/images/stories/recidivism-by-race.png[/img]
As you can see here, there is not a significant different in black recidivism rates (73) from white (69), it is a bit higher than Hispanic (61) – which is perhaps accounted for by deportations after release. The difference between white and black I doubt achieves statistical significance. Moreover, sentencing studies would undoubtedly account for variances in offenses since they control for similarity of crimes and number of offenses would be a key variable.
David Musser: “you don’t know that. that is pure speculation on your part” – That’s why my statement started with “I think” – ” But I think there is a point to be made that a jury would not have given an African-American the same benefit of the doubt.” By starting the sentence with “I think” which acts as a modifier, that tells the reader, that I do not know something but rather am, as you put it, “speculating.”
“Over-speculating” is more like it…
I would suggest you return to some fairy tales with simple morals, The Boy Who Cried Wolf and Chicken Little. The more you cry “racisim” when it clearly is not there will cheapen the claim when it is there…
Or perhaps a better way to put it is we should be concentrating our efforts on “credible racism”… not “incredible racism”…
[quote]The race issue is alive and in the forefront of some people’s worldview because “there are many on both sides who are not above using the issue if they think it will promote their goals” [/quote]
Nicely said!
DG: [i]” there is not a significant different in black recidivism rates (73) from white (69), it is a bit higher than Hispanic (61) – which is perhaps accounted for by deportations after release.”[/i]
My source ([url]http://tpj.sagepub.com/content/89/3/309.abstract[/url]): [quote]Overall, the study findings show that White releasees have the lowest levels of recidivism and Black releasees have the highest levels of recidivism, net of important legal factors associated with recidivism risk; Hispanic recidivism levels are between those of White and Black releasees. [/quote]
Rich: [i]”Yet the commission went on for years trying to prove it needed to exist”[/i]
This hits on a issue that I have raised before. The rise of the professional activist. It used to be that people would agitate for a cause and then go back to their career after achieving some defined goal. Thanks to another socially-destructive invention of the baby boomers, now people make careers out of causes and their goals become perpetual. They can never admit to achievement because they would lose their professional identity (what would Al Sharpton do?). They have trained themselves to see the world through racism-tinted glasses, and they will not be able to see things differently until they change careers to something completely removed from their role as activist.
The problem with the racism activist is that they steer the debate away from root cause analysis and problem solving. If racism does not exist to a level that warrants continued activism and media attention, then maybe our civil rights movement has reached another level of consideration. For example, how much of the black community’s inability to reach economic parity are endemic and internal versus caused by the white man?
Rich: Our studies seem to yield different results. That said, it would appear that comparisons on length of arrest would account for priors since that is a major factor in determining length of length.
“I would suggest you return to some fairy tales with simple morals, The Boy Who Cried Wolf and Chicken Little. The more you cry “racisim” when it clearly is not there will cheapen the claim when it is there… “
Of course I could respond that you’re simply burying your head in the sand… but I don’t think that would be productive either.
It is instructive to note that I never claimed racism, never used the term racism. Nor did I use the term racist. I simply discussed race and whether there would be differences in the outcome and coverage had we been talking about a black girl and a black defendant.
“Of course I could respond that you’re simply burying your head in the sand… but I don’t think that would be productive either.”
let me get this straight, we’re burying out heads in the sand if we don’t agree the jury would have convicted Casey if she were black?
or are we burying our heads in the sand because we don’t believe everything including the price of m&m’s revolves around race?
“It is instructive to note that I never claimed racism, never used the term racism. Nor did I use the term racist. I simply discussed race and whether there would be differences in the outcome and coverage had we been talking about a black girl and a black defendant.”
you are calling the jury racist if you claim they would have convicted her had she been black. you cannot interpret that any other way. sorry.
but I think there is a bigger issue here than whether you think people are racist or not. Based on your statements here and some of your statements in other articles, I get the impression the vanguard has a low opinion of people in general.
perhaps one has been on the blog too long?
[i]”… whether there would be differences in the outcome and coverage had we been talking about a black girl and a black defendant.”[/i]
One thing we can probably agree on … the media, meaning here the cable TV channels which relentlessly cover sensational cases and by covering them make some sensational which otherwise would not be, probably would not cover this case if the mother was an unmarried black woman who had killed her child the way Casey Anthony killed hers.
If that is true, is that because we are a racist country? I don’t think so. But that is not to say that race itself is no factor. I think it is.
I think the dynamic has to do with catering to a largely female, largely housewife, largely white TV audience who can at once relate to the victim and can build up endless hatred for the accused. If the victim or the accused is already a celebrity, race plays no factor. There is an audience that wants to see Wynona Ryder on trial or Michael Jackson on trial or OJ Simpson on trial or whoever the celebrity of the moment happens to be. But when the daytime cable TV audience is following a trial of a non-celebrity, the victims tend to look a lot like the kids of the housewives who love those TV shows: middle-class or higher whites, or at least good-looking whites.
I cannot recall any case which got a ton of TV coverage where the victim was poor, no one in the case looked like a soap star or a celebrity was not involved. Yet as victims of crime go, a large percentage are poor, not great looking and not white. None of those sells to the Yentas at home watching TV at 1 pm.
I need to finish this sentence: “None of those sells to the Yentas at home watching TV at 1 pm. … who have enough disposable income to buy the clothes, make-up, jewlery, etc. which is being advertised.”
DMG: “The movie “A Time To Kill” I saw for the first time as a new graduate student in the Chemistry Building, back in 1996. It featured the story of a black man in Alabama, whose 11-year-old daughter was brutally raped by two white men. Rather than leaving their fate up to an all-white jury, the father shot and killed both men.
Now he faced his own all-white jury, that he derisively asked, “This is a jury of my peers?” In his closing statement, his defense attorney tried to flip the race card, drawing up a vivid picture of the attack on the daughter.
In his closing line he said, “Can you see her? Her raped, beaten, broken body, soaked in their urine, soaked in their semen, soaked in her blood — left to die. Can you see her? I want you to picture that little girl.”
He paused and delivered the punch line, “Now imagine she’s white.”
It is an admittedly cartoonish portrayal of the justice system that works in Hollywood. But the reality is that the real world in America still has a huge discrepancy between black and white.”
I saw “The Delta Force” with Chuck Norris back in 1989, and it forshadowed our military problems with the middle east.
The reality is we have needed to lay the smack down for decades.
Tonight I found this story about all murder victims in L.A. County from Jan. 1, 2007 to June 27, 2011 ([url]http://projects.latimes.com/homicide/map/[/url]). Here is a salient fact which ties into this discussion:
Latino 1,791 51.9%
Black 1,120 32.4%
White 394 11.4%
Asian 108 3.1%
[u]Other 39 [/u] 1.1%
Total 3,452 100.0%
Compare that to the 2010 Census numbers for L.A. County ([url]http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06/06037.html[/url]):
Latino 47.7%
Black 8.7%
White (non-Latino) 27.8%
Asian 13.7%
[u]Other 2.1% [/u]
Total 100.0%
1:1 means that the race or ethnic group is equally represented by murder victims. Higher than 1:1 means overrepresented. And lower than 1:1 means under represented:
Latino 1.09:1
Black 3.7:1
White (non-Latino) 0.41:1
Asian 0.22:1
[u]Other 0.52:1 [/u]
Total 1:1
This likely correlates with crime and has a reverse correlation with educational attainment. That is, blacks are much more likely to be killed and they have the least success in the educational system. I think the two are tied together, due to their family circumstances.
A summary David’s long, slow, hard-hitting assault on racism’s cancerous role in the American justice system (without using the words “racist” or “racism” but with Anthony case tie-in:[quote][b]”Race and Caylee Anthony”[/b]
[i]”Whites=Life & Colored=Death Row” (illus.)[/i]
“But the reality is that the real world in America still has a huge discrepancy between black and white. There have been some interesting commentaries on the subject with regards to Casey Anthony’s trial.”
“I felt like all the Blacks and Chicanos are saying: if she were (insert) she would have gotten more than a year.” One person noted that they are saying it “out loud, letting it be known.”
“Someone, of course, was quick to point out that the case had nothing to do with race. Except it did, because everything in this country, whether we like it or not, revolves around race.”
“If Caylee Anthony had been black, would you know her name?”
“Each year, 176,000 Americans die as a result of racial segregation.”
“Another issue in racial disparities is the construction of juries.”
“A good friend of mine likes to say that the only people who think that race is behind us are white people.”
“It’s nice that a white man such as yourself thinks there is no race problem in Davis.”
“The question raised here is whether an african american would have been given the same benefit of the doubt that Ms. Anthony was. On the other hand, would a black child have received the same outpouring of coverage that Caylee received.”
“And look at all the racist crap he has had to endure.”
“The statement is based on years of research, I defy you to show me that it is patently false.”[/quote]
A summary of David’s slippery, rapid retreat when challenged on data and conclusions”[quote]”Elaine: how is mentioning and talking about race, now considered playing the race card?”
“You completely misread my column if you think that I’m arguing the Caylee Anthony case proves American justice is racist.”
“You’re missing the point. You cannot compare the reaction of the public primed by the media on this issue to a jury which is shielded from such effects.”
“It is instructive to note that I never claimed racism, never used the term racism. Nor did I use the term racist. I simply discussed race and whether there would be differences in the outcome and coverage had we been talking about a black girl and a black defendant.”
“Rich: Our studies seem to yield different results.”
“By starting the sentence with ‘I think’ which acts as a modifier, that tells the reader, that I do not know something but rather am, as you put it, ‘speculating’.”[/quote]What we’ve got here is…failure to communicate. I’m thinking a big part of the problem here is the packaging of unrelated or barely related cases along with cherry-picked articles and studies stirred with a very public bias–all in an effort to support some preconceived and enormous universal truth. And all reported with with a testy, authoritative air (until picked at by readers).
Everything about this write-up screams “racism in our justice system” Yet, when readers question the facts or conclusions, they’re charged with misreading or misunderstanding the points raised in the article. At some point, the editor needs to assume more responsibility for repeated “misreading” episodes.
The stream of consciousness nature of this piece further encourages misunderstandings about what the point is. What should we make of such a batch of cases, undocumented studies and varied opinions?
To Just Saying: Nicely said!
[quote]I cannot recall any case which got a ton of TV coverage where the victim was poor…[/quote]
I can – the little girl that was abducted from her father’s mobile home while she was in bed asleep; and the abductor took her to his mobile home and kept her in a closet for a few days while he repeatedly raped and then killed and buried the child…
I just want to clarify something:
“let me get this straight, we’re burying out heads in the sand if we don’t agree the jury would have convicted Casey if she were black? “
No I was just responding to your mother’s comment that I thought crossed a line with a suggestion that equally crossed a line.
Just Saying:
The problem is that the first part is describing what I would call racial disparities, most of them artifacts of the system that exists in the first two hundred years of this nation’s history. In the second, I made it clear that I never did use the world racism.
I think we need to be able to discuss racial issues because they are still there and they will still be here for the foreseeable future. What concerns me is the small part of my audience that chooses to post here does not see racial issues because for the most part they are white middle class people who live in Davis.
It is amazing to talk to two different groups of people about Davis – one white, and one minority. Very worlds in the same community. If that happens in Davis, imagine the rest of the country.
[i]”It is amazing to talk to two different groups of people about Davis – one white, and one minority. Very [different] worlds in the same community. If that happens in Davis, imagine the rest of the country.”[/i]
David, there are two ways to remedy this:
1 – Stop spending so much time talking to minority complainers and start observing events from a more global perspective.
2 – Start considering that economics and not race is the larger issue. For example, I doubt that you hear anything close to the level of claims of black racism from affluent blacks. And, I’m certain you would hear plenty of complaints about the treatment from law enforcement of poor whites.
In addition, I urge you to pay a visit to any large IT department and note the diversity of the employees and how race is not a factor to register a blip of justified concern. The reason is that they all have shared goals and a shared work culture.
Much of the racial tension I see is simply demonstrated distaste for the worst kinds of minority culture on display. More specifically the gangsta garb and the mannerisms that go along with it. My son was discriminated against by the high school jazz band instructor for his baggy and sagging jeans, his too-large T-shirts and his sidewise baseball cap. What probably allowed him to recover is that he didn’t talk like an inner-city thug and he didn’t have mannerisms like a street rapper. If you want to argue that this should have nothing to do with how these people are treated; note that Asian Americans in this country don’t have their own music, their own clothing, and their own way of distorting the English language. If they too adopt the gansta style, In general, they also tend to end up on the wrong side of the law.
Somewhere along the way in celebration of multiculturalism we forgot to teach kids that they need to practice conforming and fitting in as part of their recipe for success. Rebels better have something they can rely on, because human nature is to be wearier of outliers. When they appear to not share the goals and culture of the majority, it causes a backlash.
And don’t apply for a job with tattoos on your forearms and neck until more people with tattoos on their forearms and neck are hiring managers.
All I hear is blah, blah, blah from a bunch of white people who have never had to face a day of prejudice in their life. It is extremely easy for you to quote “research” from “experts”. Why don’t you go talk to some of your neighbors who are not white and ask them with all sincerity what their experiences are here in Yolo County?
I know a family who lives in a nice neighborhood in Davis and had a handy man doing repairs for them who happened to be black. The police came on three different occasions to their house, unsolicited by them. One time the police knocked on the door and actually told them do you know there is a black man in your front yard. I’m not kidding. All three incidents were as ridiculous as the one I mentioned.
True knowledge about your surroundings is best sought by direct experience. Ask someone who might have experienced the prejudice. Do your research on the ground before you make off the cuff remarks.
lyah:
[i]”The police came on three different occasions to their house, unsolicited by them. One time the police knocked on the door and actually told them do you know there is a black man in your front yard.”[/i]
Are you quoting those words, or did the cops say: “do you know the man in your front yard, he is African American about 6 ft. tall?” Because that is what they are more likely to be trained to do. In any case, I don’t understand how this demonstrates prejudice. Should the cops not bother to ask the question after the neighbors called… just because the cops notice the man in the front yard is black? Or should they not use desciptive language to describe what the man looked like?
I think looking for evidence of racism in Davis is like looking for your lost quarter today at the sunny park… after having lost it years ago in the dark cellar. I am not denying that some prejudice exists… especially older generations of people that are still stuck in their ignorant past. However, at some point it is just what happens when people of all colors live together.
Question… don’t you think a white guy milling about a house in a 92% black neighborhood might cause some attention from the neighbors? Or, how about a white male hanging out around a playground?
Maybe we should all be a little less hyper-sensitive to simple encounters of difference and assessments of risk. Did anyone really get hurt in this story of yours?
[i]”All I hear is blah, blah, blah from a bunch of white people who have never had to face a day of prejudice in their life.”[/i]
Note… I think I just had to face it as one of those white people being bunched together.
Also, I have faced prejudice many, many times. I used to play in a local rock band and drove through Davis late after gigs and got pulled over more times than I can could because I looked like a (tired) stoner and the cops saw the potential that I was driving under the influence. They didn’t know I was a bank manager by day. It was irritating but understandable.
Jeff:
This illustrates the exact problem.
“Start considering that economics and not race is the larger issue. For example, I doubt that you hear anything close to the level of claims of black racism from affluent blacks.”
First, all effects that have been observed, exist even when income, education, etc. have been controlled for.
Second, even at the upper levels, a race effect is observed.
Third, even wealthy individuals in this community who are African-American complain about things like racial profiling and other forms of discrimination. I am talking about people who drive nice cars, wear nice suits, and make six figure salaries. I don’t hear more complaints from people who are lower level, I hear the same complaints across the spectrum and the biggest group are UC students, most of whom come from middle class backgrounds or above.
“I think looking for evidence of racism in Davis is like looking for your lost quarter today at the sunny park… after having lost it years ago in the dark cellar. I am not denying that some prejudice exists… especially older generations of people that are still stuck in their ignorant past. However, at some point it is just what happens when people of all colors live together. “
I have made this offer to Rifkin, he has never taken me up on it. If you want, I can introduce you to some folks and you can talk to them about their first hand experiences and then you can decide for yourself, I think it will change your view of the world.
Jeff Boone-Same thing happens to my bass player every time we pass through Davis after dark . Except since he’s African-American, he gets put against the trunk or hood and then interrogated for thirty minutes or so until they run out of data bases to browse and have to let him go . A couple of years back, an over-zealous, under-skilled officer dropped a 1954 Fender bass, theretofore undamaged, after insisting on search for drugs in the trunk (He later claimed he saw a “roach” tossed from the vehicle , though no drugs or paraphernalia, or even a lighter or cigarettes were present}. Sorry, as I said before, looks like we’re just not ready to deal with race and racism .
biddlin: sorry to hear that… especially the damaged 1954 Fender bass! But this experience really does not sound any worse than what I experienced in the early and mid 1980s. Thankfully my Strat and Les Paul are still in good shape today.
I once asked my son’s black teenage friend if he felt like he was treated any different than other kids in Davis. Other than looking very uncomfortable that I would even ask that question, he said “sometimes people look at me differently… kinda’ like they do the skateboarder kids.” It was almost like I had just planted the seed of consideration in his head… and prior to that he hadn’t even noticed it.
Now, I get that race is not a choice and it would great if we lived in a perfect world without our media pop culture training prejudicial ignorance into the masses… but the fact is a pretty blond girl is going to be considered dumb before she proves otherwise, and a group of skateboarders are going to be considered vandals before they prove otherwise. Musicians are going to be considered drug users before they prove otherwise. And in a town where only 2.35% of the population is black and 9.6% are Hispanic and we are over-represented by racial minority criminals from outside of the area looking to exploit our soft liberal Davis underbelly, it is logical that minorities of the same race are going to be considered a risk for criminal activity before they prove otherwise. If this is racism, then because it is no different than these other types of prejudice, I say it is considered racism because people with race colored glasses want it there. However, I consider it “risk identification prejudice”, but certainly made more convoluted by our media pop culture.
We have a two-tiered black society, and it is a shame that the lower tier is so over-represented in crime and punishment… because it is this more than anything that contributes to ongoing unwelcome and unnecessary prejudice experienced by upper tier blacks.
One more consideration biddlin, if your black bass player has the same kind of attitude about the Davis police that you seem to have, I would expect him to have an edge or a chip on his shoulder and that would tend to make his encounters with the cops that much more difficult.
When considering the behavior of others, we should always consider motive. I would like to hear your ideas for what motivates Davis cops for treating blacks so much worse than whites in this town.
What’s fascinating, David, is how far we’ve come since you attached “Race and Caylee Anthony” (a non-existent tie) to this story.
JustSaying: I never said there was a tie to race in this story other than by way of comparison. But I’m not following you here, “how we’ve come” meaning what?
Jeff Boone-I don’t care what their motives are, their behavior needs to change ! Imagine having to worry about that treatment in every “mostly white” town you travel through at night for 54 years . It has happened to him as recently as last year . How many times would you put up with it ? BTW You don’t have a clue what my attitude toward the Davis police or any other PD, but you might be surprised to know I have worked closely with local and federal law enforcement over the years and have nothing but respect for the law and those who uphold it, whatever their political views . I despise those who abuse their power . In law enforcement and out !
Following the comments above; there are many good points drawn.
In my own experience, much of what is called racial prejudice is really more cultural prejudice; very few people I have known have more than a mild racial prejudice; however many have moderate to strong cultural prejudices (in favor of their own culture).
If a group dresses differently and talk differently and act differently than our own group of family & friends, we tend not to be as comfortable with them.
I would like to see these issues framed in cultural terms, not in racial terms.
Culture is something you can do something about; your skin color is not.
bidlin: [i]”I don’t care what their motives are”[/i]
Too bad. Understanding what motivates behavior is the first step to truly understanding how to change behavior.
[i]”I despise those who abuse their power . In law enforcement and out”[/i]
We agree on that biddlin.
[i]”In my own experience, much of what is called racial prejudice is really more cultural prejudice.”[/i]
Agreed jimt. It certainly still can be a social problem worthy of discussion and correction, but it is more fundemental and rational human response to be a bit irritated at people that speak, dress and act differently. It is not the same as racial descrimination.
Jeff Boone-The DPD and all other public agencies have policies and procedures for changing such behavior . They may not have the will or desire to do so .