It's time for a lot more candor and a lot less denial in assessing the role that race plays in our criminal justice system. We think we've made a lot of progress in race relations in America, but the criminal justice system demonstrates some alarming trends. At the present time, one out of three African American males under the age of 25 is either in jail or on probation or parole. That exceeds the number of young African American males in college. Study after study verifies that color makes a difference at virtually every stage of criminal proceedings.
Whites do better at getting charges dropped or reduced.
They draw more lenient sentences for the same crimes and go to prison less often. When you're on the short end of these disparities, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that our system of justice is far from color blind. That's a fair question. Trust is what it's all about, and the first step in building trust is to be honest with each other. For me, the biggest disappointment in the public reaction to the verdict is the extent to which it revealed the deep distrust that divides black and white in America.