Category | Op Ed

The new face of Jim Crow

Published on April 21, 2009 by Matthew Cole

Crime in black communities linked to single-parent homes
Obama has stated that a goal of his administration will be government assistance to poor Americans. He surprised me when he identified single motherhood as one of the primary causes of systemic poverty in America, having personal experience with that himself. Making a series of bad decisions is the best way to stay poor, while making a series of good decisions is the best way to get rich. There is a strong correlation though for many poor people, especially poor black people, between making unsuccessful choices and being born into a single-parent household.

Since Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty began in 1964, the rate of children born outside of marriage has risen from 7% to 38%. Among black children, that figure is 69%. This is a problem that disproportionally affects black communities and keeps them in a perpetual cycle of poverty, crime and dependency. If you take the single motherhood factor out of the equation, then the statistical differences between white crime and black crime virtually disappear. An effective anti-poverty strategy will be aimed at addressing these kind of systemic problems, but the federal government seems to be more interested in magnifying those same root problems. By imbedding anti-marriage penalties into the welfare system, the federal government ensures that single mothers receive a great deal more in benefits than a mother who chooses to marry the father of her baby. This is essentially the government paying women to get pregnant out of wedlock. Contrary to popular myth, the vast majority of out-of-wedlock births aren’t accidental.

The welfare state disproportionally targets black communities, and has created a dependent class to be exploited by the political class. Since children born out-of-wedlock are more likely to have children of their own out-of-wedlock, this has become a generational problem. The black family was able to survive centuries of slavery and segregation, but was unable to withstand the assault by the federal government’s welfare state. After seeing the destructive effects that trap generations into perpetual poverty, why would the government continue to target black communities in this way? The answer is very Machiavellian. Just as the feudal lord could count on the perpetual loyalty of his serfs, so can the political class depend on the loyalty of the neighborhoods they destroy. Government policy ensures that people born into the wrong community are pushed toward Section 8 housing, thus solidifying their serf status.

Since crime is a problem associated with poverty, the government has ensured that the justice system is especially repressive against black neighborhoods. You can blame the War on Drugs for this. Crack-cocaine is cheaper than powder cocaine, and is more prevalent in black communities. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act is reminiscent of the Jim Crow laws in the South, which intentionally repressed black communities. Under this law, five grams of crack-cocaine (the “black” drug) carries a mandatory sentence of five years. The same five-year sentence doesn’t become mandatory for powder cocaine (the “white” drug) until it is at least 500 grams. More than two-thirds of crack users are white or Hispanic, but over 80% of those actually prosecuted for crack possession are black.

The Drug War puts a disproportionate emphasis on non-violent drug offenses relative to violent crimes. The federal government then floods poor black neighborhoods with DEA agents, ensures that those convicted of non-violent drug crimes have no chance of ever becoming successful, and ultimately further solidifies the federal government’s power over them. Police in cities with disenfranchised black populations are too often tempted by federal Drug War money to aggressively target these people. Take the case of Tulia, Texas for an example. The NAACP alleged racial profiling after the Tulia police rounded up 17% of the town’s black population on drug charges, and ultimately had to release most of them due to lack of evidence. The police knew that by making as many drug arrests as they could, they would get more money from the federal government.

Whether it is democrats with their War on Poverty or the republicans with their War on Drugs, it seems that black Americans are victimized by both. The famous author Ayn Rand once wrote: ”The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities.” The best way to combat racial inequalities in America is to identify people as individuals, rather than members of a group. Collectivism is a mindset that government uses to divide and conquer its citizens, saying it’s “for their own good.” Only individual rights, not group rights, can create true equality.