American Civil Rights Institute Blog

The Disproportionate Minority Contact Conference

…a lofty conference title to go with the lofty goal of “examining” racial disparities between blacks and everyone else. (Source)

I mentioned racial disparities last week and earlier today, a hot topic in the wake of the historic election of a biracial man as president of the United States of America. The burning question is how to close wealth, income, education, health care, and all kind of gaps between blacks and other Americans. What’s the problem, exactly? Do we blame white racism, the so-called legacy of slavery, black people themselves, or a combination thereof?

Well-meaning bureaucrats and dreamers and pragmatists have logged thousands of hours discussing, dissecting, and examining disparities. I contend that unless and until you get individuals involved in solving their own problems, such discussions don’t solve much.

The University of Iowa will try as it hosts the seventh annual Disproportionate Minority Contact Conference this week to “offer strategies for reducing these racial disparities.” The conference’s theme is “Fair and Equal Treatment Under the Law.” The implication is that blacks are treated unfairly and unequally under the law.

I’d like to be a fly on the wall to hear the “strategies” for reducing gaps. What was accomplished, one wonders, during the previous six conferences? Did the suggested strategies result in narrowed gaps?

Let’s look at the numbers. Black men make up about seven percent of the American population, yet account for over half of violent crimes. Blacks are disproportionately represented in the prison population, in juvenile detention, in school suspensions, and among out-of-wedlock births and abortions. In Iowa alone, blacks are jailed at 13.6 the rate of whites, although they make up a mere 2.5 percent of the state’s population. Five percent of Iowa’s students are black, yet black students account for 22 percent of school suspensions. What gives?

No one wants to hear “poor impulse control” or “unstable home life” or “lack of residential fathers” or “failing to value education.” They’d rather hear “institutionalized racism” and “unequal justice” and other such things.

Solutions should be directed toward individuals, not institutions and organizations.

Monday, December 1st, 2008, by La Shawn Barber and is filed under "General ". Both comments and pings are currently closed.