Reddit reviews Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America

> You could make the argument that the real racism was not in enforcing the law enough in black neighborhoods. But that is not the argument that liberals like Coates usually make.

Well it's the argument they should make.

See [here] (https://www.amazon.com/Ghettoside-True-Story-Murder-America/dp/0385529996/). Leviathan should have a monopoly on violence in a country. Where it doesn't, where people cannot lean on big brother to keep them safe, it becomes rational, even necessary, for people to cultivate an image of toughness, to have violent propensities, to fight extremely seriously over silly insults and who insulted whose momma and slept with whom. Add guns, add drugs, add drug war, and you have Chicago or Baltimore.

If you don't fight and have the right image, you look weak and will be picked on. A high bullying + draconian punishment for a few randomly chosen perpetrators equilibrium is stable. So is a low bullying (lower policing too) state where it's taken for granted even small infractions will be reported and lead to trouble.

On this view, black America's problem is not excessive policing. It's that the state has ceded its monopoly over violence, and needs to gain it back, by increasing the probability of conviction and sentencing given black-on-black crime.

IMO that argument is a lot more persuasive than BLM, though it does well to keep BLM points about the perception of brutality / impact upon the innocent in mind, if only to improve its own effectiveness at policing.

I'm not going to disagree with you. I think it is incredibly counterproductive to ignore the fact that the assaults are mostly being committed by a specific demographic, but I also think it's disgusting to use these attacks to justify racism. People on both sides get so sensitive and emotional that actual productive discussions constantly get thwarted.

The annoying truth is that it is an incredibly complex problem with no one solution. Over the years an innumerable amount of really smart people, from doctoral-level researchers, to experienced police, to political and community leaders, have spent countless hours trying to figure out solutions to this kind of violence with rather unimpressive results. So I'm not going to sit here and tell you I know the answers either. One thing I will say is that history has shown that in environments without adequate law enforcement and lack of respect for the law, an alternative order is established through lawlessness. There are many aspects to this but one common theme through the ages is that honor and respect take on a new level of importance for many people in these situations.

If you are interested in learning more I would highly recommend the following books:

Slugg by Tony Lewis Jr.
This is an autobiography by the son of a D.C. drug kingpin whose father was sent to jail for life when the author was still young. He recounts his own experiences growing up in the streets, being part of a neighborhood set, and even committing random acts of violence on strangers. Takes place during the 90s in Shaw.

Ghettoside by Jill Leovy
Literary journalistic look at black on black violence and homicide in urban communities. She fuses personal narratives with statistics and history in a very interesting, readable, and unbiased way.

It is a paradox, but the way it works is the cops mainly only focus on drug crimes, and not the theft and violence. these communities want the murderers and thieves locked up, but the police arent doing it.

who in their right mind would testify in one of these communities when you know the cops wont protect you? highly recommend the following book:

https://www.amazon.com/Ghettoside-True-Story-Murder-America/dp/0385529996

There's a book called Ghettoside by Jill Leovy. Basically, the idea is that high crime areas like inner city Baltimore don't suffer from overpolicing, but underpolicing.

There are so many murders that just go unsolved in the ghetto that it becomes more and more common. Basically, as it becomes harder to solve a murder, it simultaneously becomes much more important to do so.

This is excellent, excellent outreach; I'm so glad to know that this is happening. For "law and order" to be effective, I think it's imperative that police officers become part of the fabric of the community - and that they live that community's experience right along with its residents. I recently read an AMAZING book called "Ghettoside" (link here!) about detectives in Los Angeles trying to work against the history of systematic oppression and neglect of impoverished, mostly African-American communities that has contributed to the violence and senseless murders found in inner-city areas. And those detectives do exactly this: be present in the community. Interfacing. Being part of the police force apart from the "policing" shown on TV. While you may not ever be a detective in inner-city LA, I thought it was an incredible book and highly recommend it - to you or anyone reading this thread!

And THANK YOU for your service :)

Read Ghettoside. The historical policing, or lack thereof, in African-american communities is the thesis of the book.