As for Clinton, there's no question he advanced the interests of blacks in numerous ways during his presidency, including a push for crime-prevention programs and alternative sentencing measures such as drug courts. When he announced he would locate his office in Harlem, African-Americans there welcomed him like returning kin. But in the rush to gush over him, African- Americans too easily overlook the increase in imprisonment of blacks on his watch. From 1992 to 1999, the incarceration rate per 100,000 adult African-Americans jumped more than 28 percent, to 3,620, according to the Justice Policy Institute. To be sure, many criminals, no matter what their color, deserve to be locked up.
Incarceration certainly is one element in declining crime rates.
No one wants effective law enforcement more than residents of high-crime neighborhoods. That law enforcement, however, must be fair and sensible to be credible. Racial profiling is one practice that contributes to the abundance of blackness behind bars. Traffic stops based on race lead to more searches based on race, which result in the discovery of more contraband, which leads to more arrests and incarcerations. The disparity in sentencing between powder and crack-cocaine offenses demonstrates the problem.