Is Mexico Dumming-Down the U.S.

President Obama, as well as many other Democrats, continually tell us that immigration makes America stronger.  But not if those immigrants are so poorly educated.

The 1980 Census Bureau data said that the U.S. Hispanic illiteracy was 14.7%; with those of Mexican origin having a 26% higher illiteracy rate of 18.5%.  So, inversely, U.S. Mexican literacy was 81.5%.  What's interesting about the latter number is that it closely matches the literacy rate in the country of Mexico which stood at 82.9% in that same year.  In other words, Mexico had a 17.1% illiteracy rate.

Now, fast forward to today.

In this country, Hispanics now have a 41% illiteracy rate.  Under the assumption that Mexicans have a 26% higher rate in 1980 than other Hispanics, this means that this country's Mexicans just might have an illiteracy rate as high as 52% in isolation from other Hispanics.  While, at the same time, in Mexico, that country's illiteracy rate has fallen to just 5.8%.  So, this begs the question.  How is it possible that the population in Mexico is so much smarter today than it was in 1980? Similarly, why is it that our Mexican population has gotten so much dumber? Is it possible that the influx of Mexicans are the least literate and least employable of Mexico's society?  If so, this country is not being strengthened by immigration and Obama is just plain wrong.

References:

Obama: 'Immigration makes America stronger' - USA Today: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/07/obama-immigration-makes-america-stronger/1#.VcOZ2_mS-Ng

Race, Genes And Intelligence: http://www.rense.com/general79/dut.htm 


Mexican literacy from 1980 to 2012: http://www.statista.com/statistics/275443/literacy-rate-in-mexico/

1980 Latino Illiteracy in the U.S.: https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&hl=en&q=hispanic+literacy+1980#safe=off&hl=en&tbm=bks&q=hispanic+illiteracy+1980

Illiteracy Statistics from U.S. Department of Education: http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/ 

Really? The Baltimore Cops are the Problem?

When it comes to crime, the Baltimore police have their hands full.  Baltimore is a city of just 623,000 people.  Yet, every year, they have more than 40,000 crimes. That's one crime for every 15-1/2 residents. Theoretically, that means that each resident will experience one crime every 15 years.  That 1-in-15-1/2 also creates  a helluva lot of suspects within that population; and may be why so many residents think they're being harassed by the cops. 

Based on the murder rate per 1,000 people, Baltimore's is 9-1/4 times higher than the national average.  The rape rate is twice that of the nation as a whole.  The robbery rate stands at 6 times higher, and assault is almost 3 times the norm. All together, the violent crime rate per 1000 residents is nearly 4 times higher than the U.S. average. 

According to the U.S. Attorney General and the Baltimore Mayor, the city has a civil rights problem within its police force.

To that, I say that the city -- which is 63% black and has a police force that is nearly half black -- has a civility problem.  Not a civil rights problem.  Police don't cause crime. They enforce the law and protect against it.  When you have 438 crimes per square mile each year, something is seriously wrong and it isn't the police.  They are simply being scapegoated for other more politically relevant problems; such as a 24% poverty rate and very high unemployment. Just 42% of the working-age adults in Freddie Gray's neighborhood have a job. Overall, young black men have a 37% unemployment rate in that city.  Also, 36% of Baltimore's adult population are functionally illiterate and can't read at even a basic level. High poverty, unemployment, and illiteracy have all been linked to higher crime rates. Baltimore has them all.

References:

After Freddie Gray death, U.S. starts civil rights probe of Baltimore police: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-justice-announce-20150508-story.html#page=2

Baltimore Quick Facts: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/24/24510.html

Baltimore Police Department: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore_Police_Department

Just 42 percent of the residents in Freddie Gray’s neighborhood are employed: http://fusion.net/story/127163/just-42-percent-of-the-residents-in-freddie-grays-neighborhood-are-employed/

Baltimore's economy in black and white: http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/29/news/economy/baltimore-economy/

The Relationship between Crime and Unemployment: http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1069&context=parkplace

Poverty and Crime | National Dialogue Network: http://www.nationaldialoguenetwork.org/poverty-and-crime/

Baltimore Literacy Rate: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-04-19/news/9904170418_1_adult-literacy-literacy-rates-welfare-recipients

Two-Thirds of Students Who Can't Read by the Fourth Grade Will Either Wind Up in Jail or on Welfare: http://www.begintoread.com/research/literacystatistics.html

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

Better Policing Won't Solve High Rates of Black Crime

In the wake of Ferguson, President Obama has called for better education for the police so they can find their softer side when dealing with the black community.  But, at no time is this President willing to admit that we have a serious problem with black crime in this country that results in too many confrontations with the police.

Currently, blacks make up 13.1% of the population.  Yet, 37.4% of the prison population is black.  Meaning that they are nearly 3 times more likely to have to deal with the police. In defense of the high black prison population, many point to the fact that they are being disproportionately arrested for holding, using, or selling drugs.  However, this flies in the face of FBI statistics that show blacks commit 51% of all murders, 69% of all robberies, and 32% of all crimes, while only committing 23.5% of all drug violations.  Obviously, drug arrests are disproportionately lower when compared to other black crime rates.

In 1991, a Lehigh University study found that 70% of prison inmates came from single-parent (broken) homes.  It's not surprising then, that the black prison population is so high. Blacks had a single-parent percentage of 67% in 2013.  That's double the all-race average of 35% in that same year.  Also, that same Lehigh study found that 80% of all inmates were in some way learning disabled; including 50% of all minorities who were functionally illiterate.  Obviously, there is a direct correlation between low rates of education, low literacy rates, and high rates of crime.  In 2009, President Obama's own Department of Education found that 50% of 4th grade African Americans were illiterate, and by the 9th grade things worsened with 56% being illiterate.

As the first black President, Barack Obama was in the unique position to focus in on black literacy and family unit problems as a means of reducing black crime.  Because, if crime rates among blacks more closely matched their population levels, police confrontations with blacks would be significantly fewer.  Instead, Obama constantly focuses on cops as the problem.  We had a sense of this in July of 2009, when a friend of his, a black Harvard professor, was arrested by two Cambridge, Mass police for breaking into his own home.  He wasn't arrested for the break in but instead, for his belligerence at the scene.  Yet, the President attacked the actions of the white police by saying they "acted stupidly". 

Simply, every problem is a result of some cause.  If you want to improve policing in black communities, lower the crime rates.  In doing so, attitudes by cops towards blacks would also improve and blacks would be targeted less for arrests.

References:

Obama Calls for Changes in Policing After Task Force Report: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/obama-calls-for-changes-in-policing-after-task-force-report.html

Federal Bureau of Prisons: Inmate Statistics: http://www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_race.jsp

FBI: Crime Statistics by Race: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2012/crime-in-the-u.s.-2012/tables/43tabledatadecoverviewpdf

70% Of Criminals Are From Broken Homes, Expert Says: http://articles.mcall.com/1991-11-15/news/2826825_1_inmates-psychology-professor-raymond-bell

Children in single-parent families by race: http://datacenter.kidscount.org/data/tables/107-children-in-single-parent-families-by#detailed/1/any/false/36,868,867,133,38/10,168,9,12,1,13,185/432,431

The Drug War And Mass Incarceration By The Numbers: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/08/drug-war-mass-incarceration_n_3034310.html

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

Obama: Police who arrested professor 'acted stupidly' - CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/07/22/harvard.gates.interview/

Henry Louis Gates arrest controversy: Go to:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Louis_Gates_arrest_controversy Police report and 9-1-1 dispatcher recordings:

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/