August 9, 2009

Let's talk frankly about crime in America

By Bob Weir
About six months ago, US Attorney General Eric Holder said America is a nation of cowards when discussing race. He said Americans are afraid to talk about race, adding that "...certain subjects are off-limits and that to explore them risks at best embarrassment and at worst the questioning of one's character." Now, the country's top law enforcement official says there are too many people in prison. Yet, in his 3000 word speech to the American Bar Association in Chicago on Monday, Holder never said a word about the overwhelmingly large disparity that exists between the percentages of crime committed by blacks, when compared to whites. Did the first African-American Attorney General feel too embarrassed to mention the fact that blacks, who represent about 12 percent of the population, commit about 40 percent of the crime?  Of the 2.3 million people in prisons and jails in the United States, roughly 140,000, or 6 percent, are serving life sentences. These severe penalties...(Read Full Article)