I have been wondering the same thing for the past few months. I am sure that there are a number of non-black youth that are incarcerated and charged as adults for crimes committed, but the majority has been African American youth which make the headline news.
At least that's what I have seen here in Cincinnati.
Just recently, a 15 yr old (who was 14 yrs old at the time of the crime) turned himself in to Cincinnati police, after avoiding police for months, on the charges of murder, felonious assault and illegally having a gun.
I am definitely not saying that this child should get away with these crimes, but according to the Enquirer, he will be charged as an adult. Where were the parent(s), legal guardian(s) in this situation? How did this child avoid incarceration for months without the help of adults? Its not like Cincinnati is Chicago or New York.
This prompted the thought that maybe African American children were being charged as adults far disproportionately in our legal system, which has most recently been documented with the Jena 6 controversy.
Justice came to one young man, when he was recently released early from a 10yr prison sentence (pictured above) for have consensual sex with his high school girlfriend.
As Keith Boykin pointed out on his blog, it is a shame that his family missed out on the years that he was incarcerated.
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