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Who Is And Who-ism?
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Who Is And Who-ism?
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by Sean Gonsalves
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In a recent column, I used the phrase "white-skin privilege." What is "white-skin privilege", Sean? And why do so many blacks think America is a racist society? I'm not a racist, and I don't think most white people in America are racist. I don't intend any harm to blacks. I mean, I believe we should live and let live. The Constitution is color-blind. Or at least, it should be.
I propose that black folks stop calling white brothers and sisters "racist" unless they are Klan members or something like that. I'm serious. It's getting us nowhere in the dialogue. They've made their minds up: no white person is a racist unless they intend to harm a real live black person based on a feeling of racial superiority.
According to that definition, most Americans are not racist. Most white people do not intend to  harm blacks. OK, now I think we can move on to the next question, which is: Despite the fact that most white Americans are not racist, are black people still - today - affected by present-day racism?
In other words, is there such a thing as white-skin privilege, what some people call institutional racism?
If you're truly interested in that question, I suggest you read a report released last week called: "And Justice For Some." It was commissioned by the Building Blocks for Youth initiative, a national campaign to address injustice in the juvenile justice system. It was prepared by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency, the oldest criminal justice think-tank in the country.
"Our message to state and federal leaders is clear: address this problem now. This report shows that youth of color are over-represented at each point in the system and that this disadvantage accumulates as they move through the system," says Michael Jones, co-author of the report and senior researcher at NCCD.
"Minority youth are more likely to be referred to juvenile court, be detained, face trial as adults and go to jail than white youth who commit comparable crimes. This makes kids of color much more likely to spend their formative years behind bars," Jones adds.
The report unveils alarming racial components in the juvenile court process. For example, in every offense category - person, property, drug, public order - a substantially greater percentage of African-American youth are detained than white youth. (Minority youth were over-represented in the detained population in 43 of 44 states studied).
Black youth are more likely to be formally charged in juvenile court than white youth, even when referred for the same offense. Minority youth (African-American, Native American, Latino and Asian) are much more likely to be waived from juvenile court to adult court than white youth, even when charged with the same offense. And this is true in every offense category.
In 1993, when controlling for current offense and prior admissions, incarceration rates to state public facilities were higher for black and Latino youth than white youth. In 1997, 7,400 new admissions to adult prisons involved youth under the age of 18. Three out of four of these youth were minorities.
Criminologists even have a name for this. They call it "disproportionate minority confinement", or "DMC." It's discussed in the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act!
"Representation of minority youth can be examined as a series of critical decision points as youth progress through the system," the report says. "This systemic approach views the overall process that creates over-representation rather than focusing only on the end result of confinement."
Now, studies that look at this stuff attribute the disparities to either one of two things: racial bias against minority youth within the system or more serious and/or more frequent offenses are being committed by minority youth. However, to determine which is more likely to be the case you have to analyze detailed data and information on specific offense classifications, criminal history, and other components to the decision-making process.
"Studies such as this suggest that processing decisions in many states and local juvenile justice systems are not racially neutral. Minority youth are more likely than white youth to become involved in the system with their over-representation increasing at each stage of the process," the report says.
This, my friends, is just one example of white-skin privilege or institutional racism. Incidentally, it's also a big reason why there aren't many black conservative Republicans. I mean, where's the integrity in a political stance that opposes affirmative action but supports, with silence perhaps, policies that keep institutional racism alive and thriving?
Sean Gonsalves is a Cape Cod Times staff writer and syndicated columinist.
Copyright © 2000 Cape Cod Times
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