Tuesday, May 09, 2006

A sign of illness in a culture

A study by King's College found the following:

The United States has the highest prison rate in the world, some 714 per 100,000 of the national population.

In this the US is "ahead" of Russia (whom VP Cheney recently criticized for authoritarianism) with 532 and Cuba (a police state) with 487. Of a world prison population of approximately 9 million, the US has about 2.1 million.

Worthy of note, not from the King's College study, that African-Americans are about 8 times as likely as whites to be incarcerated. (Source: Human Rights Watch)

Why are so many Americans turning to crime?

Give the high rate of African-American incarceration, I suspect that the answer lies, in part at least, in the fact that many are left behind in the "land of opportunity." A look at America's schools, with their great disparities in resources and quality, largely influenced by geography and race, is ample evidence of this.

We need to do better.

Love one another as I have loved you.
John 13:31-35
[Jesus said,] Never be glad except when you look at your brother or sister with love.
Gospel of the Hebrews 7

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