Black people twice as likely to be charged with drugs possession – report

[GGT]

You forgot to mention age and gender, relative to individual or group behavior, are more important than race.

[Loki]

Only if you ignore every post that said "young black male"...

[GGT]

http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/pa/philadelphia/crime/

Violent crime = 12 per 1,000 = 1.2%
Property crime = 3.9 per 1,000 = 3.9% (typo in previous post)
Combined = 5.1% chance of being the victim of a reported crime (many crimes aren't reported)

Both are annual statistics

As I said, using that source, my town's stats are 'worse' than Philly. Crime Index = 7. Chances of becoming a victim of violent crime = 1 in 61. Chances of being a victim of property crime = 1 in 25.

[Loki]

I bet you neither reside in nor frequent the parts of town that are most responsible for that crime rate.

[sheadunne]

As I live in Maine, the teens that are dangerous are white, thus when I see a group of unruly teens I keep an eye out for trouble...thus I must hate white people. It is unreasonable for me to ready my self for trouble.

In Maine, the only dangerous places are the 7-Eleven on Riverside and the Denny's on Congress.

Although if you're worried about middle-aged drunk white men, the old port has its moments.

[Veldan Rath]

In Maine, the only dangerous places are the 7-Eleven on Riverside and the Denny's on Congress.

Or between you and a coed.

Trust me, in the days before I had a car, and walked from the theater to my apartment in Portland after midnight, there were a few nights of trepidation...and I had to either cross streets or take even different streets.

[GGT]

I bet you neither reside in nor frequent the parts of town that are most responsible for that crime rate.

Wrong. I live between two college campuses (drunken fights or property crimes) that are close to the city's low-income housing, but also the medical campus with high-income housing. Most of the drug busts (meth and heroin) are in rural areas.

[EyeKhan]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...rug-possession

I can think of at least one possible explanation that doesn't have to do with racism and prejudice but i haven't yet gone through the report or the relevant laws to test that hunch

Independent of all other factors, hockey players wearing dark colors get penalties at a higher rate than players wearing lighter colors. You have to wonder if dark skinned people in majority white societies get singled out this way in every country. Do blacks in England, for example, get charged with crimes at a higher rate than whites? Does anyone even bother to look at that data anywhere else besides the US?

[Loki]

Using that logic, why are Indian-Americans and Indian-Brits far less likely to get charged with crimes? Why are literal African-Americans (recent immigrants from Africa) succeeding at roughly the same rate as whites?

[Aimless]

Using that logic, why are Indian-Americans and Indian-Brits far less likely to get charged with crimes? Why are literal African-Americans (recent immigrants from Africa) succeeding at roughly the same rate as whites?

The appropriate comparison to the hockey-player situation would be, I think, to see if dark-skinned people get more negative attention than do white people in the same situations. Indians keep their heads down

[EyeKhan]

Using that logic, why are Indian-Americans and Indian-Brits far less likely to get charged with crimes? Why are literal African-Americans (recent immigrants from Africa) succeeding at roughly the same rate as whites?

Who, me? I was asking questions, not answering them.....

[EyeKhan]

The appropriate comparison to the hockey-player situation would be, I think, to see if dark-skinned people get more negative attention than do white people in the same situations. Indians keep their heads down

It can't simply be the skin tone - though it would be interesting to see if very dark African Americans are charged with more crime than the lighter. Around where I live Indians sometimes look Arabic and so are probably disproportionately feared as terrorists. Sometimes? That comes down to dress, I think.

[GGT]

Independent of all other factors, hockey players wearing dark colors get penalties at a higher rate than players wearing lighter colors.

I don't know much about hockey, but doesn't the jersey color depend on whether they're home or visiting team? If the home team usually wears whites, it'd be hard to tell if penalties are colors or "home advantage".

[Loki]

For once, I am in agreement with GGT. It's an interesting fact that in most major sports, referees are nicer to the home team.

[GGT]

Sounds like some kind of anthropological phenomenon inherited from ancestors....when nighttime was pitch black and boogie man scary. Black Hat/White Hat syndrome? Interesting to note that many sports referees wear both black and white, in even and symmetrical stripes.

Not sure what that meant for B & W striped prison garb though.

[EyeKhan]

I don't know much about hockey, but doesn't the jersey color depend on whether they're home or visiting team? If the home team usually wears whites, it'd be hard to tell if penalties are colors or "home advantage".

I didn't look at the study itself, only heard the reporting on it, and the reporting said "home team advantage" was corrected for.

[EyeKhan]

Sounds like some kind of anthropological phenomenon inherited from ancestors....when nighttime was pitch black and boogie man scary. Black Hat/White Hat syndrome? Interesting to note that many sports referees wear both black and white, in even and symmetrical stripes.

Not sure what that meant for B & W striped prison garb though.

I find black spiders in my house much more frightening than the creamy colored ones. And the tiny black and white striped jumping spiders don't scare me at all.