Blacks, Bennett and the crime rate

I've already made some inelegant observations on the Bennett's incredibly inappropriate remarks here and here in Detroit. I didn't find out until this morning that some bloggers in Leftopia have actually excused his remarks. I can sit with those who think he should be allowed to spew this hateful crapola on the basis of the First Amendment. He's a jerk but as Bob Cesca points out, he should be fined and ignored, not fired. However, I cannot sit with those who excuse his remarks on the basis of their substance.

Garance Franke-Ruta aptly dispatches the excusers and I urge you to read the response in full but I want to add one point that seems to be missed in the debate. All those on both sides of the debate who use the crime statistics to "prove" blacks commit more crimes miss the greater point. Blacks do not commit more crimes, they are just arrested and jailed in greater numbers, disproportionate to the their contribution to the crime rate.

Much of this can statistically be explained by the war on some drugs. Because our government makes it a crime to choose what one ingests into their own body, a great percentage of inmates of color are in prison for non-violent offenses. It's unequal enforcement of the laws that cause the statistics to be thus skewed, not a greater propensity for black men to commit crimes.