Whenever I'm strolling through San Fran, I only run into Black and White Bums. I've never run into an Asian or Mexican or Arab Bum on the street. I know they exist in their idigenous countries. But not in America... Why?

The cliche explanation is that they have larger families and more cohesive communities, so there are more people keeping an eye on them before they stagger out the door starving. I know a number of Americans of mainstream European ancestry who are so estranged that they could disappear for a month before anyone began to worry in earnest.

Note the apocryphal tale of the Jewish girl who went to visit her Gentile girlfriend in England. Her parents simply said, "She's not home." She went back every day for two weeks and got the same answer. Finally on the fifteenth day she happened to be standing in the entryway when the girl stumbled in, looking like she'd been sleeping in the same dumpster she'd been getting her meals from. Her mother simply said, "Hello dear, you're just in time for tea," and walked off into the kitchen. The Jewish girl said, "In my home, if I spend an extra five minutes in the bathroom my entire family is at the door shouting, "Is something bothering you, bubbele? We're here for you. Why don't you come out and we'll talk about it."

The cliche explanation is that they have larger families and more cohesive communities, so there are more people keeping an eye on them before they stagger out the door starving. I know a number of Americans of mainstream European ancestry who are so estranged that they could disappear for a month before anyone began to worry in earnest.

Note the apocryphal tale of the Jewish girl who went to visit her Gentile girlfriend in England. Her parents simply said, "She's not home." She went back every day for two weeks and got the same answer. Finally on the fifteenth day she happened to be standing in the entryway when the girl stumbled in, looking like she'd been sleeping in the same dumpster she'd been getting her meals from. Her mother simply said, "Hello dear, you're just in time for tea," and walked off into the kitchen. The Jewish girl said, "In my home, if I spend an extra five minutes in the bathroom my entire family is at the door shouting, "Is something bothering you, bubbele? We're here for you. Why don't you come out and we'll talk about it."

I couldn't agree more.

A lot of people don't care about their kids.

Ganymede- Walk through San Jose. When I lived there you couldn't walk down the street without tripping over them. Especially the Mexicans. I see 'em here in Modesto, too, but not Asians so much because the population here is pretty small.

Um, we've got plenty of Mexican bums here in Texas. I would say the majority of bums I see are white. Then again, the majority of faces advertised in post offices as criminals are black. Oh, and the number one cause of theft from cars appears to be Mexicans. Tell me, what does it mean?

It means we probably need to pinpoint when a 'stereotype' becomes a 'general tendency'. Of course, I know there are plenty of blacks who aren't criminals, and my cousin Bobby Salazar has never stolen a car that I know of, but it's a sad state of affairs when the stereotype has become the rule, even if only because it gets more press.

It means we probably need to pinpoint when a 'stereotype' becomes a 'general tendency'. Of course, I know there are plenty of blacks who aren't criminals, and my cousin Bobby Salazar has never stolen a car that I know of, but it's a sad state of affairs when the stereotype has become the rule, even if only because it gets more press.Still you have to separate out the effect of disciminatory law enforcement. The use of drugs by white Americans and black Americans consistently measures out to be statistically identical, yet the ratio of black drug offenders to white drug offenders in prison is almost exactly the opposite of their proportion in the population.

True, very true. But as "drug offense" has so many varying degrees of intensity (I'm not sure if that's the word I'm looking for, maybe "seriousness", such as comparing "possession with intent to distribute" as opposed to carrying a portable meth lab around in teh trunk of your car), is there any disparity along those lines?

Still you have to separate out the effect of disciminatory law enforcement. The use of drugs by white Americans and black Americans consistently measures out to be statistically identical, yet the ratio of black drug offenders to white drug offenders in prison is almost exactly the opposite of their proportion in the population.

Sad but True:(

Still you have to separate out the effect of disciminatory law enforcement. The use of drugs by white Americans and black Americans consistently measures out to be statistically identical, yet the ratio of black drug offenders to white drug offenders in prison is almost exactly the opposite of their proportion in the population.

Do you have a citation for this?

Come to think of it, i've never seen an asian bum.

Arabs/Asians that come from abroad must be well endowed, financially and/or educationally to get here: Mexicans just need legs and/or arms to walk, run, or swim over the border.

What percent of the total population are "bums". Certainly a small minority. So for minorities you're talking about a minority of a minority. Simple statistics dictates that you're not going to see many minority bums.

Do you have a citation for this?Apparently I distorted my point but did not destroy it. An op-ed in today's Washington Post cited the statistic that the same level of drug use is found in America's black community as in its white community, but black people make up half of the prison population of drug "offenders." Since they comprise one-eighth of the population, that means a black drug user is eight times as likely to be convicted as a white drug user. My original hyperbole implied that he would be sixty-four times as likely to be convicted. Sorry. :(

But as "drug offense" has so many varying degrees of intensity (I'm not sure if that's the word I'm looking for, maybe "seriousness", such as comparing "possession with intent to distribute" as opposed to carrying a portable meth lab around in teh trunk of your car), is there any disparity along those lines?They're talking about drug "use," not manufacture or distribution. See my post above.

It's simple, if you go to Asia or Arabia, there are bums. If you go to Mexico there are bums, in fact there are Mexicans who are bums in the USA, can't you see?

Then again if you never see them, move to the ghetto and you might see some.

It's not that they don't exist, it's that most bums are white because most people in America are white and it's that simple really. Most of the people living in poverty are white, because thats the majority of the country. Yes there are ghettos, you'll find bums there, but there are people you can consider bums everywhere.

Arabs/Asians that come from abroad must be well endowed, financially and/or educationally to get here: Mexicans just need legs and/or arms to walk, run, or swim over the border.

Actually you have a good point, a lot of Arabs and Asians here do have financial and education endowments because they come here prepared.

Still you have to separate out the effect of disciminatory law enforcement. The use of drugs by white Americans and black Americans consistently measures out to be statistically identical, yet the ratio of black drug offenders to white drug offenders in prison is almost exactly the opposite of their proportion in the population.

This is because it's only illegal to sell drugs if you are "black". Right?

I guess thats what the trend is supposed to show. Some crimes are "black" crimes now I guess. According to statistics most drug dealers and drug users are white. Meth is actually the most popular drug sold right now, and this is not coming from ghettos. Crack does not come from ghettos either. Yet somehow there are millions of drug dealers in prison, all minorities.

Can anyone explain that trend from a perspective that is not completely racist ?

This is because it's only illegal to sell drugs if you are "black". Right?

I guess thats what the trend is supposed to show. Some crimes are "black" crimes now I guess. According to statistics most drug dealers and drug users are white. Meth is actually the most popular drug sold right now, and this is not coming from ghettos. Crack does not come from ghettos either. Yet somehow there are millions of drug dealers in prison, all minorities.

Can anyone explain that trend from a perspective that is not completely racist ?

There's incredible violence in urban areas. Much of this violence in the inner cities is fueled by drugs(there are various factors as to why it has reached the level it has). You don't see that in areas that are mostly populated by whites, drug dealings or not.

Cops HAVE to crack down on inner cities more in order to keep the violence somewhat at bay. And since druggies are the cause of a lot of the violence, they're going to be caught and jailed.

Just my assumption.