back in uni, i took a course called sociology of crime. i don’t claim to remember much from it, but one of the things that really stuck in my head was when we started to examine the statistics of race and crime. my professor explained that there were two ways of looking at the disproportionately high number of people of colour represented in arrrests/convictions/incarceration figures, as compared to the proportion they make up of the general population. a) the first, is to assume that people of colour engage in more crime. b) the second is to examine whether people of colour are disproportionately scrutinised due to beliefs grounded in previous assumption a.

which is why this is a perfect example of why examining perceptions about race and crime are so important.

Black community in crime ‘crisis’. Parts of the UK’s black community face a “serious crisis” with young people becoming involved in crime, MPs say.

The Commons home affairs committee said the number of black men in the criminal justice system was “unacceptable”.

It blamed social exclusion, absent fathers, lack of positive role models and real or perceived racial discrimination by the authorities.

…

Committee chairman John Denham said there was no evidence young black people committed more crime than other groups.

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The report said there was “evidence to support allegations of direct or indirect discrimination in policing and the youth justice system”.

But it added: “The perception as well as the reality of discrimination has an impact.

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Black people make up 2.7% of the UK population aged 10 to 17, but represent 8.5% of those in that age group arrested in England and Wales, the report said.

…

And it found that three in four young black men would soon be on the national DNA database.

…

“This is not only a crisis for the black community, its a crisis for the whole of society,” said a CRE spokesman.

y’know, that last sentence is the smartest thing in the whole article.

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