A radical difference in interpretation: It makes as much sense for men to cry "unfair!" and "sexism!" since statistically they commit more rapes than women

It [Charles Mudede's argument below] makes as much sense for men to complain that because compared to women there is a statistically greater chance of their committing a robbery [or rape, etc.] that they [men] are the victims and are forced unfairly by society to commit these crimes.

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Charles Mudede in The Stranger (September  25-October 1, 2013) this week brings up the following statistics:

Now, some facts: 30 percent of black male dropouts are behind bars; only 17 percent of all blacks complete college (it's more than 30 percent for whites); 20 percent of active-duty soldiers in the army are black (but blacks make up only 13 percent of the total population); and, as Ivory Toldson, a professor at Howard University, pointed out on NPR recently, there are 1.4 million black males in college and 840,000 in prison.

He views the above as proof of racism in the United States.

I beg to differ:

30 percent of black male dropouts are behind bars.

To me this means that blacks commit more crimes because their families and communities fail in inculcating basic values, including recognizing the difference between right and wrong, respect of other human beings...

He states earlier on in this article that  

If you [as a black] fail to obtain a high school diploma, you will not be allowed to enter the first two institutions, and the remaining options for your future will be either entry-level positions at the very bottom of the job market or committing crimes that'll most likely land you in the third institution.

He seems to be implying that crimes are involuntary acts, ones that are caused by a self-evident statistical iron, one that is a result of racism rather evidence of a set of self-defeating, destructive beliefs engendered generation after generation within a racial group that believes that pointing the figure at others and wallowing in self-pity, simmering resentment, rage, and defiance is the solution to low achievement and overall lower income.

That's tantamount to saying that

If a black man murders someone, that that's incontrovertible demonstration of racism (that drove him to do it), and that the black man is made a victim once again, since blacks disproportionately commit murders (and other violent crimes) at an alarming rate compared to other racial groups.

I don't think that African, Hispanic,  or Asian immigrants have bought the argument that there is a statistical inevitability that they commit violent crimes, not get a good education, or remain forever poor, even if they arrive on these shores practically penniless.   (That's not to say that it doesn't require considerable sacrifice and hard work in a capitalistic system that is rigged towards the rich and super-rich).

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/race-trouble/Content?oid=17779686

What about the failure within the African-American community itself (civic and religious leaders, sports and entertainment celebrities, parents, and teachers) to roundly condemn violence at school, in the home, on the street, etc.?

What happened to the place of individual choice rather than inexorable statistical law (which says and decides that you must break the law and have no choice in the matter) in the lives of African-Americans?

God knows how much sympathy there is for African-Americans in places like Seattle and how affirmative action allows them to have an edge in educational opportunities (often or usually lagging 300 points or more behind their counterparts on the college board entrance examination*) and in careers, especially in government?

At 12 percent of the total population, African-Americans are not exactly under-represented in politics (President, Attorney-General...), entertainment (Oprah, Will Smith, Denzel, Jamie Fox, Beyonce, etc.), or sports.

(Can we have a little more balance in our discussions of race in this country?)

For some racial/religious/ethnic groups or communities, a much higher rate of criminality would be a cause for shame, not for indignation aimed at society and its ostensible "racism."   

As in If Anthony's in trouble with the law [again], we must not be doing our job [of raising him] well.  We've got to do a better job and take more responsibility, providing a better role model for him.   

It's our responsibility, primarily,--and not society's--to teach him the difference between right and wrong.  Violence does not make a man a man.

The self-pity and belly-aching of Mr. Mudede and others is truly disappointing.   They seem to be making excuses and justifying those who break the law in such a fashion as to wind up in prison, which, in a way, encourages such actions, as "I am not to blame.  I am a victim, as I'm statistically far more likely to murder someone than a white person."



* To take another example, at one selective Northeastern liberal arts college, the admit rate for whites is about 1 in 10.   That of blacks, 1 in 2.5.  The college is clearly highly desirous to find black students even if it disadvantages whites and Asians.