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Sen. Tom Cotton Is Extremely Concerned That We Aren't Sending Enough Black People to Prison

  

Category:  News & Politics

Via:  tessylo  •  3 years ago  •  9 comments

By:   Michael Harriot, The Root

Sen. Tom Cotton Is Extremely Concerned That We Aren't Sending Enough Black People to Prison

S E E D E D   C O N T E N T




Sen. Tom Cotton Is Extremely Concerned That We Aren't Sending Enough Black People to Prison



Michael Harriot





Wed, April 7, 2021, 4:45 PM











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America is racist.

When I invoke the word racism in this context, I am not referring to a self-concocted, liberal definition that excludes Black people and progressive white people who work in underprivileged communities with their LatinX nephew-in-law. I’m talking about the classic, white definition of   racism —the “belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.”

I’m talking about the belief.

A belief can never be disproven because beliefs don’t require proof to justify their existence. It’s why people can believe in an invisible God, American exceptionalism and the inherent superiority of whiteness. Beliefs are bulletproof, indestructible, and immune to logic or facts.

And yes, America believes in racism.

There is overwhelming proof that   white people use   more illegal drugs . Yet, the only way anyone can explain why Black people   are arrested for possession at three times   the rate of whites is the racist   belief   that there is a huge drug use problem in Black communities. Racism is the only way to explain why the   largest policing project in world history   revealed “Black drivers were searched about 1.5 to 2 times as often as white drivers, while they were less likely to be carrying drugs, guns, or other illegal contraband compared to their white peers.” It is necessary to believe that race is a “fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities” if one wants to understand why Black men receive prison sentences that are, on average,   nearly 20 percent longer   than white men who commit the same crimes.

And racism is the only thing that can explain this tweet from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.):


To be fair, Cotton doesn’t specifically mention Black people, he just linked to an article about crime in “major cities.” You know... where immigrants and Black people live.  It’s like me tweeting about America’s major under-seasoning problem.


Let’s be clear: Incarceration does not reduce crime.  It does not make communities safer. It does not rehabilitate human beings. It targets poor and minority communities. This is not a belief. Every large-scale study shows it. Like the   one that shows   “imprisonment is an ineffective long-term intervention for violence prevention.” Or the study   that proves   “higher incarceration rates are not associated with lower violent crime rates.” There’s also an entire book by the   National Research Council   that concludes “the incremental deterrent effect of increases in lengthy prison sentences is modest at best,” but “the effects of harsh penal policies in the past 40 years have fallen most heavily on blacks and Hispanics, especially the poorest.” There’s also the   U.C. Berkeley economics study   that found that any benefit from harsh sentencing “is outweighed by the large fiscal costs of incarceration.”

Secondly, Tom Cotton already knows that crime rose in 2020 because of the largest economic collapse in U.S. history. To be fair, Cotton may not have read the numerous studies and government reports by   economists ,   psychologists ,   sociologists   and   criminologists   that show that crime rates correspond to economics and education but I haven’t read most of these reports either. However, there’s a magical fairy godmother who lives on the internet and helps me understand things. Her name is Google. I can get Tom Cotton her email address. Cotton also understands that, aside from the recent uptick, crime has dramatically declined for years.


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And if you’re wondering why I’m so confident about what Cotton knows, allow me to explain by switching to all caps. You know what? I think I’ll just put this in italics.


Tom Cotton is the   ranking member   of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism!

As a powerful politician, Cotton understands—perhaps more than me or you—that people erroneously   believe   crime can be solved by arresting people and sending them to prison. Tom Cotton is aware that Black people are arrested and incarcerated at higher rates than they commit crimes. Cotton knows that the dog whistle of “under-incarceration” means that not enough Black people are behind bars. Tom Cotton knows there is no scientific or logical validity to his premise. But he also knows that most Americans tend to   believe   that crime is up   and white people   believe that   imprisoning more Black people   will solve the crime problem.

Tom Cotton is not stupid. He’s an educated person who also has more access to current data on crime and criminal justice than perhaps any other human being alive. So, if he knows   why   this relatively small uptick in crime happened and that incarceration could not solve it, then why would he hit send on such a racist tweet, stupid tweet?

Because America is racist.

And Tom Cotton is as American as they come.





Article is LOCKED by author/seeder
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Tessylo
Professor Principal
1  seeder  Tessylo    3 years ago

Black Lives Matter is off topic

Anti-Fa is off topic.

President Biden is off topic.

President Obama is off topic.

The Clintons are off topic.

I am off topic.

America is racist.

When I invoke the word racism in this context, I am not referring to a self-concocted, liberal definition that excludes Black people and progressive white people who work in underprivileged communities with their LatinX nephew-in-law. I’m talking about the classic, white definition of      racism   —the “belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.”

I’m talking about the   belief.

A belief can never be disproven because beliefs don’t require proof to justify their existence. It’s why people can believe in an invisible God, American exceptionalism and the inherent superiority of whiteness. Beliefs are bulletproof, indestructible, and immune to logic or facts.

And yes, America believes in racism.

There is overwhelming proof that      white people use      more illegal drugs   . Yet, the only way anyone can explain why Black people      are arrested for possession at three times       the rate of whites is the racist      belief       that there is a huge drug use problem in Black communities. Racism is the only way to explain why the      largest policing project in world history       revealed “Black drivers were searched about 1.5 to 2 times as often as white drivers, while they were less likely to be carrying drugs, guns, or other illegal contraband compared to their white peers.” It is necessary to believe that race is a “fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities” if one wants to understand why Black men receive prison sentences that are, on average,      nearly 20 percent longer       than white men who commit the same crimes.

And racism is the only thing that can explain this tweet from Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.):

We have a major under-incarceration problem in America. And it's only getting worse.
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The US saw significant crime rise across major cities in 2020. And it's not letting up
Major American cities saw a 33% increase in homicides last year as a pandemic swept across the country, millions of people joined protests

To be fair, Cotton doesn’t specifically mention Black people, he just linked to an article about crime in “major cities.” You know...  where immigrants and Black people live.   It’s like me tweeting about America’s major under-seasoning problem.
 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
1.1  Paula Bartholomew  replied to  Tessylo @1    3 years ago

America is racist

I am part of America and I am not racist.  I was raised not to be.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
1.1.1  seeder  Tessylo  replied to  Paula Bartholomew @1.1    3 years ago

I don't believe your name was mentioned.

 
 
 
Paula Bartholomew
Professor Participates
1.1.2  Paula Bartholomew  replied to  Tessylo @1.1.1    3 years ago

No it wasn't, but as a member of America, I am included in the statement.

 
 
 
Tessylo
Professor Principal
2  seeder  Tessylo    3 years ago

Let’s be clear: Incarceration does not reduce crime.

It does not make communities safer. It does not rehabilitate human beings. It targets poor and minority communities. This is not a belief. Every large-scale study shows it. Like the      one that shows       “imprisonment is an ineffective long-term intervention for violence prevention.” Or the study      that proves       “higher incarceration rates are not associated with lower violent crime rates.” There’s also an entire book by the      National Research Council       that concludes “the incremental deterrent effect of increases in lengthy prison sentences is modest at best,” but “the effects of harsh penal policies in the past 40 years have fallen most heavily on blacks and Hispanics, especially the poorest.” There’s also the      U.C. Berkeley economics study       that found that any benefit from harsh sentencing “is outweighed by the large fiscal costs of incarceration.”

Secondly, Tom Cotton already knows that crime rose in 2020 because of the largest economic collapse in U.S. history. To be fair, Cotton may not have read the numerous studies and government reports by    economists  ,    psychologists  ,    sociologists    and    criminologists    that show that crime rates correspond to economics and education but I haven’t read most of these reports either . However, there’s a magical fairy godmother who lives on the internet and helps me understand things. Her name is Google. I can get Tom Cotton her email address. Cotton also understands that, aside from the recent uptick, crime has dramatically declined for years.

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
2.1  Ender  replied to  Tessylo @2    3 years ago

Imo incarceration perpetuates crime.

One can go in for a minor drug offence and come out worse.

 
 
 
FLYNAVY1
Professor Participates
2.2  FLYNAVY1  replied to  Tessylo @2    3 years ago

Incarceration also lines the pockets of owners and shareholders.....

 
 
 
Ender
Professor Principal
2.2.1  Ender  replied to  FLYNAVY1 @2.2    3 years ago

Nothing like private for profit prisons...

 
 
 
Ronin2
Professor Quiet
3  Ronin2    3 years ago

The premise is as false and fake as the author. First off Cotton didn't say one racist thing- other than what the author read into the comments. 

Some graphs that were left out because it proves how full of shit the author is.

The majority of gang members are African American or Hispanic. 

Race/Ethnicity of Gang Members

Respondents provided information regarding the race/ethnicity of gang members in their jurisdictions.

  • Law enforcement agencies report a greater percentage of Hispanic/Latino and African-American/black gang members compared with other race/ethnicities.
  • The most recent figures provided by law enforcement are 46 percent Hispanic/Latino gang members, 35 percent African-American/black gang members, more than 11 percent white gang members, and 7 percent other race/ethnicity of gang members.

Demographics-5.png

Race/Ethnicity of Gang Members, 1996–2011
Year Hispanic or Latino Black or African American White All Other
1996 45.2 35.6 11.6 7.5
1998 46.5 33.6 11.8 8.0
1999 47.3 30.9 13.4 8.4
2001 49.0 33.7 10.3 7.0
2002 47.0 35.7 10.4 6.9
2004 48.7 37.8 7.9 5.7
2005 50.1 32.6 9.5 7.7
2006 49.5 35.2 8.5 6.8
2008 50.2 31.8 10.5 7.6
2011 46.2 35.3 11.5 7.0

Violent crimes the same exact thing.

You will have to forgive the FBI in this table- they just couldn't seem to bring themselves to separate Hispanic or Latino from White. So the results for White are skewed to the heavy side

Offender Race

Black or African American 228,454
White 224,720
Unknown 44,953
American Indian or Alaska Native 5,669
Asian 4,270
Native Hawaiian 0
Offenders w/ reported race 508,066
download.svg   Download

But incarceration is not the answer for gang members and violent offenders. Time for the Democrat throw money at the situation and create a whole class of people that are dependent on government welfare. It always works out so damn well./S

 
 

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