Stat of the Day: Being Searched By the Police

According to the US Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2005, whites, African Americans, and Hispanics were essentially equally likely to be stopped by police for a traffic stop.

However, once stopped, blacks and Hispanics were more likely to be searched or to have their cars searched.

• 3.6% of whites were searched
• 9.5% of blacks were searched
• 8.8% of Hispanics were searched

This report does not provide information on what percentage of searches, disaggregated by race, produced illegal contraband. However, according to the Drug War Chronicle past reports which have included this information have shown that whites are more likely to have illegal contraband. This pattern is born out in various statewide studies, which, hopefully, will be included in future "Stat of the Day" features. The Drug War Chronicle also points out that a political powers sought to suppress information on racial profiling in a past report.

Read the full Bureau of Justice Statistics report for 2005 (pdf)
Read the full Drug War Chronicle article

From what I can see, there is at least a reason to suspect an intentional suppression of data that may reveal flaws in the so-called War on Drugs. This data would be a severe blow who are reluctant to condemn police action when it comes to race. Many argue that it's appropriate that blacks and Latinos make up a disproportionately high number of persons searched, as evidenced in the data above, because we're the ones with the illegal stuff to be searched for. However, the data seems to suggest that this is untrue. Whites are actually more likely to have contraband. This undercuts the rational used for racial profiling.

Now, of course blacks and Latinos make up a greater proportion of the persons searched, arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to prison, and we tend to receive harsher prison sentences than whites who commit the same crimes. So if you judge who has more contraband or commits more crime by simply looking at conviction rates or prison populations, of course it will appear that minorities commit most of the crimes in America. However, the data cited above and that I will continue to post in the near future, suggest that this may not be true.

An earlier "Stat of the Day" stated that only 13% of drug users are black, but 35% of the those arrested, 55% of those convicted, and 74% of those sent to prison for drug possession. It's easy to see how this could happen when blacks are more likely to be searched.

So, what should the take away be from this?

1. There are racial differences in the likelyhood of being searched.
   
2. Racial profiling is ineffective. What sense does it make to more frequently search a demographic that less frequently has contraband?
3. Considering all this, how can anyone refute the fact that there is still oppression of minorities and white privilege in the United States?
   

Stat of the Day: Hate Crime Increase

So, obviously, I'm not going to be able to do these EVERY day.

Also, feel free to submit a stat, and you can even submit one to counter one that I've posted, just be sure to include a source.

In 2006, the FBI reports a 7.8% increase in the number of hate crimes from the previous year.
Source: Human Rights First

As I can gather, this is the most recent information available.

After reading the Human Rights First analysis and then thinking about what has been going on over the past few years that could cause such an increase, the following comes to mind.

1. Persistent anger about 9/11. There's still a lot of people out there who are angry about the terrorist attacks and blame all Muslims or Middle-Easter persons.
2. Immigration. In 2006, people were hot about this issue. I suspect that the recent economic crisis doesn't help things. (side note: does this make anyone else think about about then Senator and candidate Obama's "bitter" remarks?). I fear that many Latinos have and will continue to fall victim to hate crimes because they are associated with illegal immigration, even if they themselves are U.S. citizens.
3. LGBT Rights. As this has become a more publicly contested issue, I suspect that more violence has been committed against members of the LGBT community. It was September of 2005 that NBA star Shaquille O'Neal helped arrest a man accused of attacking a gay couple (he does everything but shoot free throws well).

Overall, this is a disturbing trend, because it suggest not only that hatred is on the rise, not the decline, in this country, but that it is increasingly manifesting itself in violent and criminal behavior. While Latinos make up an increasing share of the U.S. population, they face increased violence. While members of the LGBT community gain more rights, they also face more violence. And, while we have a black president, we also have a population that has generated more threats on his life than for a typical president.

I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Stat of the Day: Incarceration Rates

Nationwide, black men are sent to prison on drug charges at 13 times the rate of white men.

Source:Human Rights Watch, "Racial Disparities in the War on Drugs" (Washington, DC: Human Rights Watch, 2000)

Stat of the Day: Racial Violence?

Ever hear people talk about how it's really black people who are so racist because they are so much more likely to commit violent crimes against white people then the other way around? Conservatives often use this argument to paint a picture of white America under attack from blacks. This is an image in which blacks are some great threat to the white community.

Well, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, withes are about 5 times more likely to be attacked by another white person than by a black person.

So, maybe instead of [some] white people being so afraid of blacks, instead of conservatives use this to argue that white racism isn't really that prevalent and "reverse racism" is the real problem, and instead of people trying to justify the over representation of blacks in America's prisons and jails, people should look a t the actual facts.

Source: United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Criminal Victimization in the United States, 2004, Statistical Tables, (U.S. Department of Justice, 2006)
*** Based on analysis of tables 40 and 42; originally found here; Justice Department tables here

Stat of the Day: Black Vote in Presidential Elections

I was thinking about how everyone complained during the election that blacks were being racist by voting for Obama. I decided to look at the previous Democratic nominees, who, surprise, surprise, were white, and see how their share of the black vote compared. What I found was that Obama did perform better than them, but not by much. Democrat's also managed to win more than half of the Latino vote in the past three presidential elections, with Obama gaining a higer percentage than either Gore of Kerry.

source: CNN.com

So, based on this, I have to conclude that African Americans, and to a lesser extend Latinos, just like voting for Democrats. Did the race of the candidate play a factor in the past election? Likely it did for many voters, but there were so many other factors (the quality of campaigning, the state of the economy, and the approval rating of the sitting president, among them) that to call minorities who voted for Obama racism would be inappropriate.

It could also be pointed out that McCain won 55% of the white vote. I wouldn't call all whites who voted for McCain racist.

Stat of the Day: Minority Enrollment in Public Schools

From the National Center for Education Statistics:

From 1993 to 2003, minorities increased as a percentage of total public school enrollment, from 34 percent to 41 percent.

You can read more about this trend and other trends in the area of public education here.

Stat of the [Tues]Day: Rise in Hate Groups

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the number of hate groups in the United States is on the rise. Here are the stats:

• 926: number of active hate groups identified by the SPLC in 2008
• 54%: the rise in the number of hate groups from 2000 to 2008
• 4%: the rise in the number of hate groups from 2007 to 2008
• 40%: the rise in hate crimes against Latinos from 2003 to 2007, according to the FBI

As explanation for the rise in hate groups and hate violence, the SCLC cites the immigration debate, the economic crisis, and the election of Barack Obama.

You can read more about the SCLC's findings here.

Stat of the [Mon]Day: Employment Discrimination

A study conducted by Princeton University Professors Bruce Western and Devah Pager found the following disparities in employment opportunity:

• "White males with criminal records were just as likely as blacks with no criminal history to find employment"
• "Having a criminal record reduced the number of positive responses from employers by 57% for black applicants but only by 35% for their white counterparts"

Here's some more info on the study:

As part of the study, which began in February 2004, 13 applicants went on nearly 3,500 job interviews with 1,470 private companies. All jobs were entry level.

The men were given the same qualifications and experience, while criminal history was randomly assigned.

You can read more about this study here.

Stat of the Day: Minorities in the Senate

In the history of the United States Senate there have been:

6 African American Senators
(1 currently serving - may soon be zero)
5 Asian American Senators
(2 currently serving)
6 Hispanic American Senators
(2 currently serving - one set to retire)
3 Native American Indian Senators
(zero currently serving)

Since it's inception in 1789, nearly 1,900 individuals have served as United States Senator.

This means African Americans and Latinos each make up approximately 0.32% of all senators in U.S. history. Asian Americans account for 0.26%, and Native Americans 0.16%.

Of all U.S. Senators in history, 98.9% have been white.

Sources:

• Senate.gov - History of Minorities & Chronological History of Senators
  

Stat of the Day: School Spending in Philadelphia Area

Today's stat of the day looks at the per-pupil spending for the Philadelphia school district in relation to surrounding districts.

$10,189: 2005-2006 per-pupil spending for the School District of Philadelphia. This places the district in the LOWEST quintile for all school districts in the five-county Philadelphia.

Surrounding school districts by comparison:
$19,543: Lower Merion
$15,093: Colonial
$15,687: Springfield Township
$14,757: Cheltenham
$13,125: Abington

Remember this when you hear conservatives insist that black inner-city children don't learn because they're lazy brats born to single-parent, welfare-queen, crack-whore mothers who think that being smart is bad because it's acting white. Remember this when you hear the argument that money doesn't matter in public schools. If you can't remember the text above, remember the chart below:

Now, if money doesn't matter, let's see how quickly those other school districts give up theirs.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer School District Report Card

Stat of the Day

Each day (hopefully), I'll bring in a new statistic that is in one way or another related to issues of race. For our innagural "stat of the day," we'll start with the criminal injustice system, where blacks and latinos are overrepresented.

Blacks constitute 13 percent of all drug users, but 35 percent of those arrested for drug possession, 55 percent of persons convicted, and 74 percent of people sent to prison.

Sources: Drug Policy Alliance Network / Human Rights Watch Report: Punishment and Prejudice: Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System, May 2000 Vol. 12, No. 2 (G).