For all three types of violent crime, most of the racial disparity is due to blacks committing crimes at much higher rates. You might think this is obvious, but many liberals think the gap is due to a racist criminal justice system. Some of the difference in convictions is due to a greater black risk, given a crime, of being arrested. Some of this might be due to lower average black intelligence which leads to riskier crimes.
Finally, little or none of the racial gap is due to blacks being more likely to be convicted of a felony (which is likely to land one in prison for at least a year). In fact, given an arrest for rape, a white man is more likely to be convicted than a black man. This might be, in part, due to less willingness of African American jurors to put a fellow black behind bars for a crime that can be difficult to prove. Or perhaps victims of black offenders--often black themselves--tend to be less reliable.
Overall, if liberals are bothered by the racial disparity in prison (myself, I care about punishing bad guys), the data suggests that they should focus on black criminality, not the system.
Great tables, thanks.
ReplyDeleteOne problem with HBD is that of free will. Liberals presently disbelieve in biological determinism, but genetics is based upon that principle. Stephen Hawking in The Grand Design argues that causality fits all features of reality but we can exercise options even if causality rules.Genetic differences in aggression and criminality-if accepted publically by science- would encourage even more excuses by liberal lawyers using the " had to do it" explanation. Naive white beliefs about blacks play into much mayhem but acceptance of biological determinism could undermine the criminal justice sytem.That human brains work very differently in different cultures is a supreme reason for preventing absorption of diverse peoples. It could lead to weak, ineffectual legal systems like much of Europe or systems excusing violence for genetic reasons. Diversity is best viewed from a distance.
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