Blacks in Madison and Wisconsin

It is no surprise to Madisonians that a black youth has a thirteen times greater chance of being arrested than his white peer. We know that there are some in our state who look at that number and simply respond, "So? Blacks commit more crimes."

A number of leaders from Madison's black community called for action, as The Capital Times reported:

Coalition wants Madison to face race issues

A coalition of leaders in the African-American community called today for a renewed assault on the disparate conditions that separate Madisonians by race...

..."The State of Black Madison 2008: Before the Tipping Point," a report unveiled at a news conference Tuesday, summarizes data on criminal justice, education, economic development, health, housing and political influence. The report was commissioned by the State of Black Madison Coalition, whose members include Gray; Robert Wynn, Asset Builders of America; John Odom, Charles Hilton Houston Institute; Richard Harris, Genesis Community Development Corporation; Ray Allen, publisher of The Madison Times; and Kenneth Black, 100 Black Men.

When I took up this issue last fall, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute: Milwaukee Can Tolerate More Black Murders Part II, one of the antagonists finally muttered, "Some of those proposed ideas for reducing black crime sound good to us (strengthen families and reintegrate fathers into communities, bringing people to God), and some sound like more of the same things that have failed (more spending on education, jobs programs).

Wrong. Read their report, read the well documented study I referenced:

Effects of a School-Based, Early Childhood Intervention on Adult Health and Well-being

A total of 1539 low-income participants who enrolled in the Child-Parent Center program in 20 sites or in an alternative kindergarten intervention...

...For preschool participation, by age 24 years, the preschool group relative to the comparison group had significantly lower rates of felony arrest (16.5% vs 21.1%, respectively; P = .02; a 22% reduction) and incarceration (20.6% vs 25.6%, respectively; P = .03; a 20% reduction). They also were less likely than the comparison group to be found guilty of a crime both overall and for a felony (15.8% vs 19.9%, respectively; P = .03; a 21% reduction)...

... That the impacts of intervention extend beyond educational performance is not surprising given the well-documented links between education outcomes and adult health, mental health, and social behavior.^{25-26,36-38 ..}

^{...This study provides evidence that established early educational interventions can positively influence the adult life course in several domains of functioning. The scope and magnitude of intervention effects reveal not only the benefits to participants in fundamental indicators of health and well-being but also the potential returns to society for investments in early educational programs.} 

Prayer is nice but just like abstinence, it does not work. what works is education, education, education, job training and family enhancement. Not necessarily in that order. Spending on education and jobs programs that are properly managed work. Spending money on education and jobs programs that are not properly managed  do not work. That is not the fault of the recipients.

Comments

[JOhn Hyland]

The real problem is twofold. Parents and single families. 40% of all and 70% of Blacks are now single family homes. When one looks at the consequences of the above and the statistical results it almost says it all. More money is not the answer. We all know that now. Solving the moral problems is a difficult task but the only remedy. Get rid of the liberal secularists and the agnostics and we may have a chance.

[End PC Now]

All too often today's parents allow their children to be "managed with a cell phone", allowing them to run the dangerous streets at all hours and don't take an interest in the children's schoolwork and education. The sad part is many of these “families” (almost always headed by a single mother) are so delusional as to believe they did nothing wrong in the way they raised these violent thugs. Why they are not held accountable for their children’s criminal tendencies is beyond me. They are pretty much raising criminals and unleashing them on society, and probably shouldn’t be having kids in the first place. You can try to cover up their criminal tendencies with political correctness and rhetoric but facts are facts. The black community must take personal responsibility and deal with the problems of teen pregnancy, drug abuse, and black-on-black crime instead of the traditional rhetoric of blaming these pathologies on white oppression. REAL black leaders and PARENTS need to encourage responsible male involvement in parenting, prevent unplanned pregnancies, support young single mothers, and the like. Typically in black culture people do not want to be viewed as “snitches” and very often refuse (or are afraid) to help with crime investigation. This must change. The primary vehicle for empowerment is individual action, the need for self-discipline, and the commitment to take the moral high ground. James Baldwin once observed, "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

[dorkey]

There is a black crime epidemic in this city. They are out of control!!! They are coming here from the Chicago and destroying our schools, our neighborhoods and our quality of life. We can't even afford to plow our roads because we need to spend millions on community centers on Allied Drive and section 8 housing vouchers for these beasts.

dorkey
Addiction Recovery Wisconsin

I don't think people should be making these comments unless they have actually read the report "The State of Black Madison 2008". Please people, just put aside your assumptions and prejudices and spend a few minutes reading this report and then post a comment.

Thank you

[sos]

thats bullshit white people comitt just as many crimes as black people gosh the people in america are so racist and dumb yall need to get out of ur stupid conclusion tht black people are lower then black people