20 Questions You Should Ask Yourself If You Believe There is No Racial Bias In America’s Economic and Judicial Systems?
By: Lathania Brown
Since I have chosen to speak out about the violence experienced by black people in our contemporary times, I have been accused of race baiting and being overly sensitive. Somehow, though I have tried to avoid it, it seems as if the “mad black woman” title is being thrusted upon me. Before I address that reality in a public article, I wanted to facilitate some introspection on the part of my accusers.
I am posing these 20 questions. Each set of questions will be preceded by a fact (except the last 5 that are meant for more introspective thought). If you know for a fact that you have no racial bias and the American systems are completely fair, this is not the article for you. If you are in that place of certainty, this article will only infuriate you and that is not my intention. Also, the purpose of this article is not to guilt or shame white people, it is to help you to see the realities that exist for black people and to encourage you to use your political and social powers to correct these injustices.
Fact: In 2010, 27.4 percent of blacks and 26.6 percent of Hispanics were poor, compared to 9.9 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 12.1 percent of Asians.
- Do you think black people want to be economically prosperous?
- Why do you think they experience more poverty?
- Do you think black culture glorifies behaviors that lead to poverty? If yes, did they develop this culture without white influence? If no, reconsider questions 1 and 2.
- Are black people naturally less industrious? If so, how was it that they were able to build their own civilizations pre-slavery and how were they able to survive slavery? (Were they industrious as slaves only because they were whipped?)
Fact: The existing body of social science research shows that black people have significantly less educational attainment than their white counterparts.
5. Are black people naturally less academically gifted than white people?
6. Do you think that black culture leans away from education? If so, did they develop that culture independent of the influence of white people? If not, reconsider question 5.
Fact: 70% of all men imprisoned are black or Hispanic even though they do not commit crimes at a higher rate than white men.
7. If black and Hispanic men do not commit crimes at a higher rate than white men, is it just by accident that they make up 70% of the prison population?
8. Are white people smarter at committing crimes without getting caught? If yes, how did they gain that knowledge? If not, think about question 7 again.
Fact: A black man’s jail sentence is 20 to 50 times longer than a white male convicted of the same drug crime.
9. Do black men need more time of “rehabilitation” for the same behavior? If so, why are they in need of more time? If not, why are they given more time?
Fact: When whites are informed of racial disparities in the justice system, they are MORE likely to support policies that increase this disparity.
10. Why are white people more likely to support policies that increase racial disparities in the justice system if they know that these disparities already exist?
Fact: Black and Hispanic people are more likely to be stopped and searched (even if they are in the same types of communities as white people) and the likelihood of finding a weapon is less than 1%.
11. Why are black and Hispanic people stopped and frisked more?
Fact: Black people are more like to experience a traffic stop than white people (for this fact, I simply provided a link to my google search because the studies are so numerous)
12. Why are police officers significantly more likely to stop black people?
Fact: Whites had all political and economic power during and after the time of slavery. Whites had all political power during and just after state-endorsed segregation.
13. Were all white people happy about the freedoms that they were giving to black people? If they were unhappy, did they have the power to arrange institutions in ways that would make black people’s lives harder?
14. If the institutions had been arranged in ways that were disadvantageous to black people, have those arrangements been changed significantly? If so, how so? If not, why not?
15. Do you think that these institutions that were arranged in accordance with the resentment of some are strong enough to influence the decisions of black people?
Five Questions For Additional Introspection
16. Are present circumstances independent of historical circumstances?
17. If black people are hurting, will calling them cry babies help them to heal?
18. Am I open to listening to the experiences of black people before accusing them of “race baiting”?
19. If a black person brings up the issue of race, am I inclined to see them as obsessive, overly angry, or resentful? If so, why?
20. What can I do to increase justice in our political, social, educational, economic, or judicial systems? Is there something that I can do today?
References
Poverty: http://www.npc.umich.edu/poverty/
Police Stops: https://www.google.com/search?q=racial+disparity+in+police+stops&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
