Williams, Check Your Facts
Yes, our country has a race problem. To move forward, we must grapple with the facts about race and crime and take a hard look at the realities of the War on Drugs, the prison industry, racial profiling, and police brutality. To carry on a constructive dialogue, however, statistics must not be falsified either intentionally, or through sheer stupidity. I speak in response to Stephanie Williams' March 6 letter to the editor. In it, she attempted to put a positive spin on certain crime statistics regarding race. Unfortunately, she is dead wrong.
It is simply not true that for blacks and whites "the overall homicide rates of the two groups fall within 5 percent of each other." The percentages are in this range, but the per capita RATES most certainly are not. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (which she cited): "Blacks were seven times more likely to commit homicide than whites in 1999." Don't take my word, or Ms. Williams' word for it. See for yourself at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm Perhaps instead of making up false statistics to show that things are not so bad, we should be trying to actually make things better.
James Anthony
Seattle, via The Daily Online
Break the stereotypes!
I was totally appalled by the way Steve Woodard and Dana Herberholz completely missed the point of Omari Taylor's article and put forward the notion that blacks commit more crimes than whites as validation for the media's stereotypical portrayal of blacks (and actually Hispanics also) as criminals.
I'm not convinced that blacks do commit more crimes than whites - although I wouldn't be surprised to hear that they are investigated and charged with crimes at higher rates. Even if the fact were true that blacks did commit more crimes, all one has to do is ask the question why, and they might understand that at the root of the problems largely faced by the black community, is the victimization faced by blacks through slavery and through various discriminatory acts committed against them in the years since. Consider this: If blacks commit crimes at higher rates than whites is it a) because blacks are genetically predisposed to commit crimes, or b) because something has happened to blacks that has put them in a position where they are now more likely to commit crimes. I would tend to argue b) and white America needs to wake up and recognize the fact that the consequences of what white people have done to blacks in previous generations continues to have a powerful impact on this current one.
Marcus Pimpleton
senior, music education
More on Maynard
I am writing in response to Hilary Maynard's "Every day is a 'White Day'? Oh Please!" (March 5). I feel as though Maynard's analysis of race relations in this society was extremely superficial and not very thoughtful. I was personally glad to hear that Maynard thinks that diversity is important and acknowledges that there is still "racial prejudice" and that "some individuals in society are still prejudiced against minorities." Critical observation.
Frankly, I was disgusted with the lack of thought in the article. The very fact that people are privileged in any society means that there are people who are being systematically and institutionally oppressed. I am not arguing that all white people have the same amount of privilege, but one cannot deny that there is a set of societal rules and institutions that reward white people more than people of color. Moreover, simply acknowledging one's privilege is a good first step but if anything is to change, privileged people have to move beyond their guilt.
I also wanted to ask exactly what Maynard meant when she made the statement that "America is more accepting of minorities than most countries, due to the very way our country was founded." Last time I checked colonizers of this country committed genocide against an entire nation of people and enslaved people from Africa. I do not get the feeling of acceptance when I look at the history of the United States. I also wanted to say that moving beyond racism is not only about magically making "stereotypes and bitterness" disappear. It is about fundamentally changing the way people think in this country, especially people who occupy a place of privilege. It is about questioning the very nature of how America works and operates.
Ely Olson
senior, sociology
Is Seattle Schell Shocked?
White guys hitting black guys. Black guys punching white guys. White guys kicking white guys. Black guys stomping black guys. Girls hitting guys. Girls punching girls. Guys smacking girls. Purple guys hitting green guys. Policemen - oh wait, they weren't there.
During the roughest moments, the armored officers didn't even budge. Only at the end of the brawl did they move in with their pepper-spray and tear gas. But can we really blame them? After the tactics the cops employed during the WTO riots of November 1999, the SPD probably thought that isolation instead of intervention was a more logical plan. Talk about a lose-lose situation. As far as following orders goes, Seattle cops are the best. They've displayed this honorably quality during the WTO, WTO II, and the recent Fat Tuesday 2001. Yet it is not the fault of the officers themselves, the blame lies with Mayor Paul Shell and Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. It was a convenient move for Shell to cancel next year's celebration; it saved him the trouble of containing next year's Mardi Gras and shifted the blame for this year's tragic ending elsewhere. So how do we hold him accountable? Election day is nearing, friends, and I think that the WTO flop and the Fat Tuesday mess will be the end of his career in Seattle.
Adam Baldridge
Sophomore, political science
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