The President had some remarks today about the Baltimore anti-police riots -- riots that have turned into a festival of destruction, looting and arson. The Washington Post reports (emphasis added):
President Obama made an impassioned call Tuesday for Americans to do "some soul searching" in the wake of this week's rioting in Baltimore, arguing the U.S. has faced "a slow-rolling crisis" over race and economic opportunity in urban areas....Obama sharply condemned the rioters for damaging private property and taking items from local stores: "They're not protesting. They're not making a statement. They're stealing."But he also directed his criticism toward Americans--including the news media and some politicians--for failing to address the chronic problems of men, women and children who live in poverty and find their opportunities limited because of poor schools or long stints in prison.
To start with, it doesn't matter what the schools are like if (a) teachers fake test scores to evade accountability (a la' Atlanta), and (b) the students drop out in the ninth grade because party time with drugs is more fun than math and reading.
But the President laid his biggest egg with his crack about "long stints in prison."
I really do wonder if anyone at the White House does fact checking before Mr. Obama holds forth.
Let's take a look at the facts Obama (and the Post) walk right past. Is it really the case that "Americans" need to do "soul searching" about the crime -- last night, yesterday, and in recent years -- that has gone on in Baltimore, and that the situation can be laid to "long stints in prison"?
As our adversaries unendingly remind us, prison terms have indeed become longer at least since 2000, and probably for a decade before then. The question they don't ask is: So what has become of Baltimore's crime victimization rate?
The reason they don't ask it is simple. Over these years of increasingly "long stints in prison," the crime rate in Baltimore has fallen significantly in every measured category. Take a look at this chart. Murder is down, along with rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft and (among others and ironically) arson. This is true even though the number of police officers in that city per 1,000 residents has leveled off or fallen.
Thus, contrary to what the President argued, the people of Baltimore are significantly better off now that the criminals who have victimized them are spending longer behind bars (not that this should come as a surprise). The improvement is so big that it is simply undeniable by rational people.
In a sense, though, the President has a point. If we're seriously thinking about going back to the days of higher crime and more crime victims -- more victims especially among African Americans -- then we are indeed in need of some soul searching.
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