Trump's Impossible Dream for Detroit

By any measure, the city of Detroit is a perfect example of the failure of Democratic rule in many of our major cities.  Run by Democrats for decades, the Motor City has the highest black population of any city in America. 81.6% of Detroit is African American.  Unfortunately, it is also the most violent. At its peak, it had 1.8 million residents.  By 2013, only 689,000 could claim residency.  Worse yet, 47% of Detroit's residents are functionally illiterate and can only read at a fourth grade level or below.  It is the poorest big city in the country with 40.1% living below the poverty line.

Illiteracy and crime will not bring good jobs and businesses back to this town. It will take decades of reform to improve the educational system sufficiently enough to attract hiring by well-paying businesses, and, the high crime rate will just continue to cause people to leave the city in fear.

In light of all these problems, it may seem that there is no way that anyone can put this town back together.

However, in the short term, Trump could attract new businesses to the Motor City by declaring Detroit an enterprise zone.  In other words, give tax breaks for every new job a business creates.  He can also provide substantial tax breaks for any company who relocates to, or starts a  new business there.

Another way to help rebuild the city would be to start a revitalization program.  Using federal funds from the Department of Education, they can take unskilled and unemployed men and women, and train them to rehab properties while learning trades such as painting, carpeting, dry walling, etc.  A program like this would help gentrify entire neighborhoods and attract people back to the city; while preparing many  for new careers.

Sadly, because Hillary will be elected, Detroit will never see any movement towards the rebuilding of a once vibrant city.  There are only so many "green" jobs Hillary can create to get Detroit and America back on its feet.  Sorry for the sarcasm (Not really!).  At least, Trump's trip to Detroit has focused a bright light on the condition of many black lives in America.

References:

Detroit mayor slams Trump's visit to black church: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/294420-detroit-mayor-slams-trumps-visit-to-black-church

At Least A Few Black Churchgoers Liked Trump's Detroit Speech: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-detroit-black-voters_us_57cb60c6e4b078581f13559f

Blackest Cities in America: https://www.google.com/search?q=detroit+blackest+city+in+america&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Census bureau: Detroit is poorest big city in U.S. - Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/09/16/census-us-uninsured-drops-income-stagnates/32499231/

Detroit Population 2013: https://www.google.com/search?q=detroit+population&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

US Cities With The Highest Violent Crime Rates: https://www.google.com/search?q=most+dangerous+city+in+u.s.&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

Nearly Half Of Detroit's Adults Are Functionally Illiterate, Report Finds: https://www.google.com/search?q=detroit+literacy+rate&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

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Recidivism's Role in Mass Incarcerations

A big part of Hillary Clinton's campaign to woo the black vote is to end mass incarcerations; especially for black youth.  On her webpage titled "Criminal Justice Reform" she makes this comment:

What she doesn't seem to understand is that all too many criminals in this country are locked behind a revolving door.  Once released, the rearrest rate is very high.  Note these statistics from our National Institute of Justice:

• Within three years of release, about two-thirds (67.8 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested.
• Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6 percent) of released prisoners were rearrested.
• Of those prisoners who were rearrested, more than half (56.7 percent) were arrested by the end of the first year.
• Property offenders were the most likely to be rearrested, with 82.1 percent of released property offenders arrested for a new crime compared with 76.9 percent of drug offenders, 73.6 percent of public order offenders and 71.3 percent of violent offenders

Most of what contributes to such a high recidivism rate is the lack of any prisoner reform while incarcerated and, at the same time, joblessness when released.   Perhaps some crimes are over-charged, but the fact remains that the crimes were committed and some amount of time must be served.  If prisoners keep getting rearrested, the prison population will remain high.   At the same time, high rates of black unemployment and poverty are just as responsible for high crime rates among this racial group, and that has nothing to do with the criminal justice system.

Simply, much of the crime problem in this country could be solved with better jobs and better standards of living for those now locked in too many low-income and no-income ghettos.  Hillary Clinton has no solution for these realities and their impact on society; just as President Obama has not improved these critical aspects of black communities in this country.

References:

Criminal Justice Reform: https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/criminal-justice-reform/

Office of Justice Programs: National Institute of Justice: Recidivism: http://www.nij.gov/topics/corrections/recidivism/pages/welcome.aspx

Is Black Lives Matter Killing Blacks?

The Black Lives Matter movement grew out of the belief that police were specifically targeting and killing unarmed blacks across the United States.  As a result, there has been public and federal pressure for police to pull back on policing activity.  Less traffic stops.  Less confrontations with blacks in general.  Adding to the problem, Police Officers are now so afraid of being charged with a crime that they are hesitating to effectively do their jobs.  As a result, less guns and fewer potentially violent criminals are being taken off the streets.

In Chicago, police traffic stops are down 90%, while gun violence is skyrocketing.  Murders, alone, are up 72% from last year, and it is estimated that the city is trending to have 700 murders this year, or approximately 1/20th of all the murders in the United States. More importantly, 71% of the murders in Chicago are of blacks. While, as of this writing, there have been 105 blacks murdered out of the 151 total in the city, the number of police-involved homicides is just 2 (races unknown).

So, this begs the question;  Are reduced policing activities killing more blacks?  You be the judge.  Is the Black Lives Matter movement actually killing more blacks than saving their lives?

References:

Chicago Police Stops Down By 90 Percent As Gun Violence Skyrockets: https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160331/bronzeville/chicago-police-stops-down-by-90-percent-as-gun-violence-skyrockets

Chicago Gun Violence stats: http://heyjackass.com/

Chicago's Murder Rate Soars 72% In 2016; Shootings Up More Than 88%: http://nation.foxnews.com/2016/04/03/chicagos-murder-rate-soars-72-2016-shootings-more-88

Yes, Republicans Have a Minority Problem

I live in the Centennial Hills section of Las Vegas, Nevada, but my caucus location was at a somewhat nearby High School in the City of North Las Vegas. 

According to census data, North Las Vegas is 38% Latino and almost 20% Black. Both higher percentages than in Las Vegas proper.  So, in theory, that caucus site, even if divided equally with voters from both Las Vegas and North Las Vegas, should have seen a high number of Latinos/Hispanics and Blacks in attendance.  But, that was not the case.  While, there were a some Latinos; very few Blacks showed up.  It was clearly obvious that the vast majority of caucus goers were white.  And, this is a problem.

While Trump can claim getting a higher percentage of Hispanics than both Cruz and Rubio combined; having a high percentage of a low turnout is not a win for anyone.  Similarly, Trump winning the highest percentage of Blacks with so few attending the caucus is also nothing to write home about.

Seriously, if the Republican nominee can't attract Blacks or Hispanics in the 2016 November Presidential elections, that candidate won't win.  It is simple mathematics when you consider that some states have a high population of Latinos and Blacks.   California is 39% Hispanic.  Nearly 40% of the population of a state having the highest electoral votes in the country that most likely won't turnout for the Republican nominee; especially if its Trump.

References:

North Las Vegas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Las_Vegas,_Nevada

California QuickFacts: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06000.html

Hollywood -- Home of the Liberal Hypocrites

I find it almost laughable that there is a big flap over the fact that the Oscars -- for the second year in a row -- didn't nominate a single Black person to win their coveted award.  It's not laughable that a Black didn't get nominated, but that Hollywood -- the most liberal bastion of Democratic ideals and the strongest supporters of Democratic candidates -- once again displays its rampant liberal hypocrisy.

When Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama take money from Hollywood, they seem to turn a blind eye to the fact that it consistently pays male actors more than female actors, or that there are few female directors, or as mentioned above, that the predominately white Academy doesn't recognize any Blacks worthy of being nominated. It must be difficult to rise to those lily-white standards.

References:

Calls for Oscar boycott over lack of non-white nominees spark debate: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2016/01/19/calls-for-boycott-academy-awards-are-growing-over-oscars-second-straight-year/

Everything You Need To Know About The Hollywood Pay Gap: http://www.forbes.com/sites/maddieberg/2015/11/12/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-hollywood-pay-gap/#2715e4857a0b438be58a1fe5

Feds Officially Probing Hollywood’s Lack Of Female Directors: http://deadline.com/2015/10/female-directors-hollywood-federal-investigation-eeoc-1201568487/

Hillary Clinton Returns for Hollywood Fundraisers | Variety: http://variety.com/2015/biz/news/hillary-clinton-returns-for-hollywood-fundraisers-1201524181/

President Obama Arrives for Hollywood Fundraisers | Variety: http://variety.com/2015/biz/news/president-obama-chuck-lorre-tyler-perry-fundraisers-1201523360/

Our Broken Educational System Is Feeding Our Prison System

In a recent speech at Columbia University, Hillary Clinton addressed the Baltimore rioting by saying that there is something "profoundly wrong" with our justice system.  Then she gave a litany of likelihoods that face black males.  Things like higher rates of incarceration and longer sentencing and that statistics on black incarceration and employment, are an embarrassment to this country. What she doesn't seem to understand is that our justice system exists as a result of crime; not the other way around.  So, the objective in improving crime statistics -- especially for blacks -- is to go after the root cause and not apply a band aid after the fact.

According to the President's own Education Department, 70% of prison inmates in this country can't  read at a basic level.  So, obviously, much of all criminal behavior can be traced back to functional illiteracy.   When blacks make up 40% of the prison population, also understand that nearly 1-in-4 (24%) are functionally illiterate.  So, then, what is the solution to race and the justice system?  Better policing and lighter sentencing?  Or a better educational system?

Also, high black illiteracy rates also lead to higher unemployment rates, lower wages, and higher rates of poverty.   More importantly, high rates of poverty and unemployment are also linked to higher rates of crime.  Thus, if black unemployment and poverty is high, higher crime rates will also follow.  In Baltimore, for example, the black unemployment rate for ages 20 to 24 was 37%. 

The bottom line is that, if we want to lessen the frequency by which blacks have to interact with the police and, in doing so, lessen the possibility that they will die at their hands, we need to improve black education and black attitudes towards being educated.

One of the most disturbing statistics from the Department of Education is that almost 1-in-5 (19%) of all high school graduates can't read.  So, then, how is one who can't read able to test and graduate from high school?  The only way something like that can happen is if we have a lot of teachers who are willing to push students out of the doors of their high school without an education.  Until that changes, black crime and overall crime will remain high in this country.

As far as Hillary Clinton is concerned...her trashing of the justice system is simply telling blacks what they want to believe and not the truth.  

References:

Hillary Clinton: 'There Is Something Profoundly Wrong' In Our Criminal Justice System: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/hillary-clinton-baltimore_n_7170668.html

Hillary Clinton: It's time to confront 'hard truths' about race and justice: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/hillary-clinton-justice-race-baltimore-reaction-117466.html

Illiteracy Statistics: http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/

The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn't Changed In 10 Years: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/illiteracy-rate_n_3880355.html

Breaking Down Mass Incarceration in the 2010 Census: State-by-State Incarceration Rates by Race/Ethnicity: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/rates.html

How Baltimore’s Young Black Men Are Boxed In:  http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-baltimores-young-black-men-are-boxed-in/

Poverty and Crime: Breaking a Vicious Cycle of Discrimination: http://www.poverties.org/poverty-and-crime.html

Because Obama Is Black?

Recently, a number of polls have been taken to see if race relations have improved since President Obama took office.  Polling that was mostly driven as a result of two Grand Jury decisions following the shooting of two unarmed black men.  A recent Bloomberg poll showed that 53% of Americans sampled believe that race relations have deteriorated since Obama was sworn in.  In a CBS poll, 46% of blacks and a total of 36% among all races thought race relations have worsened.

But, don't think that race relation have just recently turned downward because of the Grand Jury decisions. In 2013, an NBC/Street Journal poll found that, among whites, the belief that race relations had gotten "very bad" in this country has gone from 4% in January 2009 to 13% in July 2013.  In that same poll, the opinion among whites that race relations had become "fairly bad" went from 13% to 32% in the same relevant time frame.  Among blacks, the "very bad" answer went from 12% to 33% and, for the "fairly bad" question, the percentages rose from 18% to 25%.

So, why have race relations gotten so bad in just 6 years?  Obama was supposedly our first "post racial" President; thus implying that racism had to be pretty much nonexistent in America.

Well, I firmly believe that you can blame four words, "because Obama is black", for the deteriorating situation between the races.  Ever since Obama took office, his supporters, and he himself, have attempted to nullify any opposition to his policies by saying those four words.  If you don't believe it, just Google "because Obama is black" (link below) and you will finds hundreds, if not thousands, of links to stories where any number of Democrats, black leaders, celebrities, or the President himself, claim that any difference of opinion regarding everything from ObamaCare to Immigrant Amnesty is based on Obama's skin color.

Ultimately, this makes everyone angry. Blacks are angry because they believe the first black president is being unfairly treated because of his race, and whites are angry because they are being unfairly labelled as racists if they oppose Obama on anything.  

So, simply, the people who claim to want to improve race relations in this country are the ones hell-bent on destroying them by scapegoating the President's skin color, and are just using it as a political tool in the battle of left versus right in everyday Washington, D.C. politics.

References:

Bloomberg: Most Americans See Race Relations Worsening Since Obama's Election: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-07/bloomberg-politics-poll-finds-most-americans-see-race-relations-worsening-since-obamas-election

CBS: POLL: Race Relations in U.S. at Low Not Seen Since 1990s: http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/12/10/poll-race-relations-in-u-s-at-low-not-seen-since-1990s/

IBD/TIPP poll: Obama Poisoned Race Relations In America: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/110314-724708-new-ibd-poll-shows-obama-poisoned-race-relations-in-america.htm

July 2013: NBC/Wall Street Journal poll: Page 14: Question: In general, do you think race relations in the United States are (ROTATE) very good, fairly good, f airly bad, or very bad?: http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/A_Politics/_Today_Stories_Teases/130724-July-NBC-WSJ-poll.pdf

Post-racial America - Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-racial_America

Google search: because Obama is Black: https://www.google.com/search?q=because+obama+is+black&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=because+obama+is+black&safe=off&start=30

Why The Ferguson Police Force Is Too White

All too often, since the Michael Brown shooting, I've heard the media and activist blacks question the racial makeup of the Ferguson Police Department.  The City of Ferguson is more than two-thirds black.  Yet, despite this, the police force is made up of 50 whites and only 3 blacks.  Of course, this would imply that the Michael Brown shooting would never have occurred if only African Americans patrolled those primarily black neighborhoods.

However, the racial disparity in Ferguson is indicative of all too many minority cities and neighborhoods through the country.  As a New York Times study reported, white police dominate black police an average 30 percentage points higher in nearly all predominately black communities.

But, no one seems to want to analyze why there aren't more black police officers; especially when a city has a black mayor and a black police chief.  For example, Dellwood, Missouri is 84% black and the police force is 94% white.  They have both a black Mayor, Reggie Jones, and a black Police Chief,  Lt. Norman Campbell.  Yet, no one is talking about the disparity between the racial makeup of the police force and the community. This is because it would expose the reasons why these neighborhoods, in general, have low black police participation rates and, why blacks, have high rates of unemployment and low pay.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, one of the main requirements for becoming a police trainee is having a high school diploma.

In light of that, blacks fall well short.  First of all, only 68% of blacks graduate from high school; the lowest rate among any other ethnic group.  As a result,  one-third can't even apply to take the police academy exam.  But, having a high school diploma means nothing if the person holding it is functionally illiterate.  That is a big problem. Studies have shown that by the ninth grade, less than 44% of black children are literate relative to that education level.  This is down from a 50% literacy rate for those tested in the 4th grade.  So, essentially, blacks tend to fail police academy tests because all too many are illiterate.  After all, one of the major duties of any policeman is to write up a police report to be used as a legal document in a criminal court.  If you can't effectively write, you can't be a police officer.  But, instead of recognizing this deficiency and addressing it on an educational basis, Eric Holder's Justice Department is trying to increase the number of blacks in heavily minority neighborhoods by dumbing down the written Police Academy entrance exams.  All that means is that there will be less quality policing these communities.  In my opinion, this is what Holder will do with the Ferguson Police Department when he completes his Department of Justice investigation.

Another problem standing in the way of potential black candidates entering the force is the high rate of those having criminal records.  Nearly one in three African American males, aged 20 to 29,  are under some form of court supervision.  Meaning that, again, another third of blacks are automatically disqualified from entering any police academy.

Lastly, I think that the supposed distrust of police is another reason that some blacks don't want to become police officers.  Why would anyone who distrusts an organization want to become a part of it?  Of course, the opposing argument there, is that a more racially balanced police force in minority communities would ultimately aid in dispelling that distrust.

To me, black leaders -- including Barack Obama and Eric Holder -- need to stop focusing in on what is wrong with white America and start focusing in on what is wrong with black America in terms of education, literacy, and criminal behavior.  Only then will minority policing by blacks increase. In a city like Ferguson, that same leadership needs to understand that the police are doing their jobs to primarily protect blacks.  While, at the same time, never knowing if their life could end at any moment while on duty. They are not there to just protect the one-third that is white.  To this last point, please view the Milwaukee Sheriff's video commentary in the link below.

References:

Ferguson, Mo., has 50 white police officers, three black: http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/aug/17/andrea-mitchell/ferguson-police-department-has-50-white-officers-t/

New York Times:  The Race Gap in America’s Police Departments: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/03/us/the-race-gap-in-americas-police-departments.html?_r=0

Dellwood, Missouri:  A Message from the Mayor: http://www.cityofdellwoodmo.com/908/A-Message-from-the-Mayor

Real median household income by race: http://migrationfiles.ucdavis.edu/uploads/rmn/2013/10/16/real-median-income.png

Requirements to becoming a Police Officer: http://education-portal.com/articles/Police_Officer_Educational_Requirements_for_Police_Officers.html

Study: Record High School Graduation Rate On Track for 2020 But low-income and minority students still lag behind, the study finds: http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2014/04/28/high-school-graduation-rates-reach-record

What’s up with African American literacy rates?: http://ourweekly.com/news/2013/oct/03/whats-african-american-literacy-rates/

Dumbing down police recruitment exams - World Magazine: http://www.worldmag.com/2011/03/dumbing_down_police_recruitment_exams

Statistics of incarcerated African-American males:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics_of_incarcerated_African-American_males
 
Crime rate in Ferguson, Missouri (MO): murders, rapes, robberies, assaults, burglaries, thefts, auto thefts, arson, law enforcement employees, police officers, crime map: http://www.city-data.com/crime/crime-Ferguson-Missouri.html

 David Clarke, black Milwaukee sheriff: Eric Holder has ‘disgusted’ me: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/3/david-clarke-black-milwaukee-sheriff-eric-holder/

Why Democrats Don't Deserve the Black Vote

Recently, The Drudge Report posted the following video made by three activists who were railing against Democrat policies and how they always want the Black vote but do nothing to benefit African American communities:



I, for one, have always been perplexed as to why Democrats think they deserve the Black vote.

It was a Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, who lead a Civil War to free Blacks from slavery.  Following the Civil War, so-called Radical Republicans fought for things like voting rights for Blacks in the Reconstruction era.  Then, in 1964, it was white Southern Democrats such as Robert Byrd and Al Gore Sr. who filibustered trying to block civil rights legislation.  Republicans voted for civil rights by 80% in both Houses of Congress. Democrats only voted to approve 61% in the House and 66% in the Senate.

Now, in the above video, these three Black activists appear to be complaining about just one thing: Jobs.

So, to that I need only present one chart that appeared on the CNN Money site in 2011:

 

Thanks to the policies of Democrat President, Jimmy Carter, Black unemployment rose to over 20% in the early 1980's; and the disparity between Black and White unemployment was high.  Then, thanks to the policies of a Republican President by the name of Ronald Reagan, Blacks, as well as all Americans, enjoyed one of the longest stretches of lower unemployment since World War II.  To be fair, the policies of Bill Clinton also benefited Blacks in the 1990's, though much of that success was done by building on the policies of Reagan.

Today, under Obama, Blacks are again hurting; just as the video above points out.  They, as of this writing, have an unemployment rate of 11.4% as compared to 5.3% for Whites, and the disparity between Black and White unemployment has returned to the days of Jimmy Carter where Black unemployment was more than twice as high as it is for Whites.

So, then, why should any Black think that only Democrats will benefit them in terms of jobs and a better life?

References:

Black unemployment: Highest in 27 years: http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/02/news/economy/black_unemployment_rate/

Civil Rights Act of 1964: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964

Radical Republican: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radical_Republican

Reconstruction Era: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstruction_Era

The Ferguson Missouri Shooting: We Need Calm Not Violence

On the Monday following the shooting of an unarmed 18-year old black male by a white cop, I was listening as an angry black male called into a radio talk show.  His simplified accounting of what happened in Ferguson, Missouri was that the police officer involved, shot Michael Brown because he and another black man wouldn't get out of the street. Sadly, this is how the situation in being portrayed and this can only inflame the community further.  Certainly, the mere presence of Al Sharpton in Ferguson only intensifies the anger because, if he's there, its assumed that the shooting must have been a racist act.

Then, Jesse Jackson felt obligated to write an opinion piece for USA Today entitled: 'There's a Ferguson' near you' where, in the very first sentence, he writes:

"Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old African American male in suburban Ferguson, Missouri, who had just graduated from high school and planned to start college, has joined a long line of blacks, especially black males, who have recently been gunned down, wrestled down and killed by white men and/or white police officers who claim "reasonable fear" or "self-defense" as their defense."

So,  again, racism is being implied in the Ferguson shooting, Additionally, there is also the implication that blacks are being shot at random by both white men and white cops.

The first problem with all of the above is the accounting of the event.  From the Cafemom website, here is the most concise report of what is currently known to have happened:

"Apparently, around noon on Sunday, an officer approached Brown (who was walking to his grandmother's home, according to his parents) and another man. As the cop exited his vehicle, one of the men allegedly pushed him back in the car and assaulted him. During the struggle, a shot was fired inside the car. As Brown left the scene, the officer shot him about 35 feet way. The report noted that several shots were fired from the cop's gun. "

To me, this seems to be a more logical explanation of what happened than the belief that Brown was simply shot for not getting out of the street. Then too, the real truth may lie somewhere in between and only a thorough investigation will uncover the facts.

The other problem I have is Jesse Jackson's implication that there is a "long line of blacks" being killed by white cops and other white men claiming "reasonable fear" or "self-defense" as their defense.  The problem with that claim is that statistics don't support it.  First, a decades long study found that 94% of all black deaths as victims of shootings were committed by other blacks.  The remaining 6% is made up of not just whites but, also, Hispanics.  So, if Mr. Jackson has a problem with blacks being killed, it should be directed at his own ethnic community.

Additionally, in 2011 it was determined that there were a total 1,146 officer involved shootings that year.  Of that there were 607 deaths.  When taken against a base of roughly 780,000 officers in the U.S., that's less than two-tenths of one percent of all officers who where even involved in any shooting and less than one-tenth of one percent that were involved in a shooting death.  Now, what is true is that about half of those deaths were black. But, then too, one out of every three black men is expected to be involved in a crime that results in imprisonment during thei lifetime.  So, with the higher rate of criminal activity, there is also going to be a higher rate of officer involved shootings and deaths.

What Mr. Jackson also neglects to mention after he tells us of Ferguson being 70% black, is the fact that violent crime in that St. Louis suburb is 25% higher than the national average and total crime is 58% higher.  Yet, the police force is relatively small compared to the national average.  This fact alone serves to keep tensions high between the police and the community, and the higher percentage of lawlessness is probably why there is all the looting and violent protests.

We need black leaders to stop stirring the pot and fomenting violence.  We need calm to allow the investigation to go forward and determine the truth.  If it is true that the officer killed without cause then, let him be tried in our courts for murder.  If he isn't brought to justice; only then should the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson get involved.

References:

Cop Shoots & Kills Unarmed Teen for Reason Many Aren't Buying: http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/175891/cops_shoot_kill_unarmed_teen

Jesse Jackson: There's a 'Ferguson' near you: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/08/12/jesse-jackson-ferguson-riots-column/13957197/

A Black Man is Killed in the U.S. Every 28 Hours by Police: http://www.occupy.com/article/black-man-killed-us-every-28-hours-police

The Trayvon Martin Killing and the Myth of Black-on-Black Crime:  http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/15/the-trayvon-martin-killing-and-the-myth-of-black-on-black-crime.html

Police Involved Shooting Statistics: A National One-Year Summary:  http://jimfishertruecrime.blogspot.com/2012/01/police-involved-shootings-2011-annual.html

The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in the United States: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/03/13/11351/the-top-10-most-startling-facts-about-people-of-color-and-criminal-justice-in-the-united-states/

List of countries by number of police officers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_number_of_police_officers

Ferguson, Missouri Crime Stats: http://www.areavibes.com/ferguson-mo/crime/

Ferguson, MO Crime by Year and Type: http://www.usa.com/ferguson-mo-crime-and-crime-rate.htm

With More Than 50 Years Of Affirmative Action, Have Blacks Benefited Economically?

To those on the political left, the recent decision by the Supreme Court to side with the will of the Michigan voters to ban Affirmative Action quotas for college admissions is tantamount to promoting state-wide racism.  But, to many others, Affirmative Action unfairly uses racial discrimination to fight racial discrimination; especially in college admissions where some well qualified non-Blacks can be denied enrollment because the college must meet a Black enrollment quota.  So, in theory, by broadly forcing quotas for education and employment, African Americans should have greatly improved their economic stations in life.  But, is this the case with more than 50 years of active Affirmative Action behind us?  To that question, one need only look at this chart:

Click on Chart to Enlarge

What this clearly shows is that, while all median incomes by race have improved since 1965, Black  incomes have consistently remained at roughly 65% of what all races, combined, are being paid.  Of course, some would argue that this only proves that racism still exists in America. On the contrary, this just proves that Affirmative Action is a complete failure.  A failure because Blacks are still falling behind in their incomes.  As I have written before, education is the only true key to erasing income inequality. 

To that point, one need only to look at a few statistics.  When it comes to race and educational attainment rates, 84% of Blacks hold a high school diploma and 19% hold a college degree.  Compare that to Whites statistics of 87.6% and 30.3%; respectively.  Then, too, when Blacks do go to college, the graduation rate is only 32% as compared to 50% for Whites.

Forcing colleges to enroll less qualified students, who are more likely to not graduate, while rejecting more qualified applicants, who are more likely to graduate, is not only unjust but a waste of our country's limited college education availability.  To solve income inequality among Blacks, we need to address why there are higher percentages not graduating from High School. At the same time, we need to improve the quality of education so that Blacks, entering college, can have a reasonable expectation of graduating.  Otherwise, simply sending them to college without the proper educational background is a totally fruitless endeavor.

To me, the Supreme Court's decision may actually turn out to be a positive for African Americans because no longer can they depend on Affirmative Action to get them into college.  As a result, if they truly want to go, they will have to seriously work harder to achieve that goal.  Thus, a better educated Black America should emerge with more sharing in the American Dream.

References:

U.S. top court upholds Michigan ban on college affirmative action: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/22/us-usa-court-race-idUSBREA3L0Y820140422

Median Income Falls For 5th Year, Inequality At Record High: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/median-income-falls-inequality_n_3941514.html

Failing Education: The True Cause Of Income Inequality:  http://cuttingthroughthefog.blogspot.com/search?q=income+inequality

Education Attainment By Race: https://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0229.pdf

U.S. College Graduation Rates By Race: http://edpond.blogspot.com/2012/04/us-college-graduation-rates-by-race-by.html

My Take On The Romney Veep-Stakes

With Mitt Romney well on his way to the Republican nomination, the media and pundits have been busily trying to predict who his running mate will be.

At the top of everyone's list is Florida's U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio.  The thinking is that he could help Romney win Florida and help reel in some of the much needed Hispanic votes.  But, to me, Rubio is young with limited experience. What Romney needs more than the Hispanic votes, themselves, is to present a ticket that is stronger and more capable in all aspects than Obama-Biden.

The rest of the people on the so-called short list are almost all persons with domestic, budgetary, and state governance experience.  Basically, all or in part, somewhat weaker copies of Romney himself on an overall basis. But, the job of being President is not just limited to domestic responsibilities; and, an obvious weakness on Romney's part is the fact that he lacks foreign policy experience.  I think the strongest ticket that Romney could present to America is one that is solid in its ability to handle both domestic and foreign policy issues.

In my opinion, that pick would be George W. Bush's former Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice. First of all, Rice was extremely popular while Secretary of State; always polling higher than every other top politician in Washington.  She's fairly current on world affairs; having only left her job in 2009 when Obama and Hillary Clinton took office. For that reason, she has personally interacted with most of the existing world leaders.  And, as an obvious bonus, she is both black and a woman; two other areas of known weakness for Romney.  As the former Provost at Stanford, she actually has some administrative experience.  As far as domestic policy and the economy is concerned, she is a Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover institute.  She is also a professor at Stanford's Graduate School of Business and a director of that university's Global Center for Business and the Economy.

Probably, her greatest weakness as a Republican is her position on abortion; saying in an interview that she is mildly pro-choice.   While she is definitely against late-term abortion and abortion without parental notification, she understands that abortion is the law of the land and she believes the conversation should be shifted away from trying to overturn Roe v. Wade and, instead, aimed at highlighting the psychological impact that a mother goes through when having an abortion. But, I know very well that some would refuse to vote for a ticket with her on it because such  a vote would compromise the religious stand on abortion.  How much of an impact that would be, I just don't know.

Anyway, that's my pick for VP.  And, one has to wonder that, if Romney did pick Condoleeza, would Obama then counter that by dumping Biden and choosing, instead, Hillary Clinton as his running mate.

Who's The Real Racist

Yesterday, an NBC reporter, Ms. Kelley O'Donnell, singled out a Black person at one of the many Tea Party rallies and asked, on camera, if he was "uncomfortable" in attending that rally - implying that, somehow, a black wouldn't be accepted by a bunch of white, racist Tea Partiers (Click to See Video).

But, who's the real racist here? A bunch of Tea Party members who will readily accept any like-minded person and who could care less what color they are? Or, the white liberal journalist, Kelley O'Donnell, who lives in a world, like so many other Democrats, where Blacks have been stereotyped and pigeon-holed as having only one place in life as a Progressive Liberal? And, apparently, find it unbelievable and, I assume, unacceptable for any Black to step outside this box that the Democrats have so self-servingly put them in. Thus casting Blacks as abunch of mindless automatons of the Democratic Party.

You Can Speak Black But You Can't Wear Black Face

Apparently, any Democrat can mock Black speech patterns without having to suffer a backlash from the likes of Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson or the NAACP. Bill and Hillary Clinton have done it many times while speaking at Black Churches. So did Al Gore when he was running for President against Bush. Now we have the Los Angeles' Latino Mayor (another Democrat) doing the same thing:



It's just amazing to me how parodying Blacks in "Black Face" is considered horribly derogatory but, Democrats mimicking "Black-Speak" is totally acceptable. Can you imagine the political pain that any Republican would have to endure if he/she did the same thing?

The Dream Has Come?

On August 23, 1963, Martin Luther King gave his most famously remembered speech. That speech, "I Have A Dream," looked to a time, in the future, when Blacks and Whites would peacefully live together. Today, we celebrate Martin Luther King's birthday (relatively). Tomorrow, Barack Obama, as a black man, will assume the job of President of the United States. I don't quite think the premises contained within the "I Have A Dream" speech will simply be achieved by what happens in the next days to come. There still will be racial tensions in this country. And, just so we understand, those racial tensions aren't just restricted to Whites against Blacks and Whites against other races and religions. There are tensions between Blacks and Hispanics and vice-versa. Between Blacks and Koreans and other other Asians. For sure, some amount of Blacks are practitioners of reverse discrimination against Whites in anger over years of racial hatred.

Racial tensions will always exist in this country and in the world. It is exists in Darfur and in the streets of Paris with the burning of cars every night. Just look at the total history of the Jews. It is something that humans can't seem to dispense of. It is an attitude that can be passed on from parents to their children. New hatreds are always being brewed in the cauldrons of human groupings and within changing attitudes in our society. Absolutely, the hatred of Muslims by many Americans was set to brew as a result of 9/11. I am sure that the senseless and brutal beheading of Nick Berg, and others, just festered that hatred. It absolutely angered me to some level of hatred at the time it happened. And, to be truthful, I still feel hostility because of those events. Mostly, because of the sheer brutality of the acts and the cheering by other groups of Muslims over those acts. I also think back to 9/11 and those Palestinians and other Muslims who danced in the streets at the deaths of thousands of Americans. In many ways, Al Qaeda's hatred for us and their attack of 9/11 just conversely created the basis of a new hatred for many Muslims by many Americans. There are some Americans who are alive today who absolutely hate Japan and the Japanese as a result of the brutality that they saw while fighting in World War II. I know a couple of those people and, in theory, that hatred will only die when they do.

Tomorrow will go a long way to help heal this country's White/Black race relationships. But, it isn't the panacea that some would espouse. It will not, by any stretch of human imagination, bring an end to racism in America. Abolishing racial hate and racial tensions of any kind will always be a work in progress. Mostly, it is time, and time alone, that washes away hate. Christianity and other moderate religions go a long way to help reverse hate. But, make no mistake about it, new tensions and new hatreds will always take the place of those that have been been moderated by time and religion. And, moderation is the best we can every hope for from our imperfect human race.

Progress

The first Black President, Bill Clinton, was all White. The next Black President will be Barack Obama and he's half White. Someday...

Poppycock B.S.

According to James Clyburn, the House Majority Whip, Global Warming will disproportionately affect Blacks. He has proposed a commission (See Full Story).

I hate to tell Mr. Clyburn that the poor, in general, are also being hurt by his Party's "failure" to drill for more oil in this country. If he believes that higher temperatures (as a result of Global Warming) amid higher energy costs will disproportionately kill Blacks, then more energy from our own drilling might be able to keep the air conditioning on a lot longer and avoid some of those deaths. This is just poppycock B.S. at it's max.

All the poor, in the whole world, are suffering the most due to high oil prices. It doesn't matter if it is poor Black; poor Whites; pure Arabs; poor Asians; or, poor Latinos. The least able to afford high energy prices are going to suffer the most. A 1 or 2 degree increase in the earth's climate over the next 100 years is going to have less of an impact on poor Blacks than a $4 price per gallon of gasoline that eats into their food bill. A food bill, itself, that is rising faster and faster as corn is diverted to ethanol production. And, the poor, more than anyone, generally live the farthest from where they work and are the least able to afford a shiny new Toyota Prius.