sighyoung wrote:1) Yes, incarceration rates are too high, although the man gets the incarceration percentage wrong, and conveniently neglects the soaring incarceration rates in the country as a whole since 1970 (as opposed to 1964) due to a host of policies, including mandatory sentencing guidelines and the war on drugs, and the impact of those on communities;
2) I've heard occasional people say that African Americans were better off a) in slavery because of a supposed harmonious religious society governed by divine law, or 2) in the teens and twenties, despite lynching, race riots, and state-sanctioned discrimination because of the same thing. As luke points out, you have to blame a lot of what has happened in the last half-century on civil-rights legislation to believe it was a net negative, rather than something that wasn't going to be a solution to broader problems. Why on earth would having a stake in the political system be a bad thing? How does this legislation relate to broader changes in the global economy that have impacted American communities in general?
Frankly, I think I'm very privileged in terms of background and education, and would be the first to say so. But I have many more opportunities than my parents did, and I don't see how anyone could say otherwise.
Cowbell, my response for your question is very similar to what sigh had to say.
Here's why I think what my friend's dad said was so egregious: I asked him if he really thought African Americans weren't better off now than they were back then (and of course, it was in the context of ethics and morality). You're basically comparing two groups of people:
a) "back then" -- the
entire African American population being enslaved/segregated on the basis of having a certain skin color, vs,
b) "now" -- a subset of present-day African American population allegedly committing a lot of crimes.
Some statistics claim that one-in-three black men will go to prison at some point in their life. That's a lot. However, that's still only a third of the black population. What's worse: an entire group of people being preemptively segregated and being denied free will, or a third of those people with free will abusing the privilege and suffering consequences? [And I didn't say the crime rate isn't a problem, this is a comparative discussion]. For me, that question is so lopsided that it may as well be rhetorical.
If you want to argue that they're both sobering concepts, so be it. And yes, a high prevalence in crime suggests questionable ethics or morals... but enslaving or segregating everyone preemptively before they've done anything at all? Well, that indicates a complete and utter absence of ethics and morals. A lot of people committing crimes and paying the price is disheartening; but an entire group of people suffering because of society's prejudice and ignorance is far worse. I don't care how great he thinks things were when he was younger -- saying that African Americans are worse off now is nothing short of indefensible.
