Black history month

Just after displaying horrifying video of two black men, as depicted on "World's Dumbest Criminals" shoving guns in the faces of hard working innocent people, you make this comment:
"We live in a country that is warehousing African-Americans in prison; by some estimates as many as 200,000 young black men are behind bars."

I am absolutely shocked. If you are referring to the possibility that there are innocent people in prison I dare say there are very likely innocent white people in prison as well. Beyond that I can not believe you refer to our penal system as "warehousing African-Americans". The unfortunate simple fact is that there are more black criminals than white, a sure indication of socio-economic links to crime, NOT the color of their skin.

I found your comment to be racist – If people are in prison they are very simply being punished for crimes that they are, in all likelihood, guilty of. How is that "warehousing African Americans"?

What a Ridiculous and offensive comment to make.

I think we should refer to Barack Obama as Biracial American instead of African American, especially since he grew up in a white family all through the end of his teenage life period.

Shouldn't we refer to President Barack Obama as bi-racial American, or mixed-race American or multiracial American instead of African America.

I think when we describe President Barack Obama as African American, we should also add that he is Bi-Racial American, or Mixed-Race American or multiracial American instead of just African America. How about American President Barack Obama.

Jami, I have agreed with you on many occassions concerning the law, but I don't think that we "warehouse African-Americans" in the nations penal system. I do agree that the number of blacks in prison outnumber whites, but have you looked into the root cause. The majority of arrests of the "black folk" as you like to put it is either gang or drug related. Charges from these relations vary from possession to murder. But there is more to it than that, isn't there? I'm an old country boy coming from southern Georgia now living near our nations capital. Throughout my life I have had the chance to see many different lifestyles but there is always one constant. Poverty. Now before you start saying it's whitey putting the "black folk" down I want to say that I agree to disagree. What is the dominant factor? What is the ratio of whites versus blacks in poverty stricken neighborhoods? From what I have seen with my own eyes it is black and hispanic. Through this poverty there comes recruitment into the gangland lifestyle and it's on from there. There are whites in poverty and with this economy the way it is I expect to see more white families in poverty. I believe that with the increase in job loss an increase in crime will also come and it will not discriminate between color. Yes, there are more African-Americans in prison because the justice system works and there are more crimes being committed and convictions being give to the "black folk" because they committed the crime.

Our justice system is established to provide fair and impartial judgement. It is arguable whether that is the case, but that is why she where's a blindfold. Also, last I heard, there wasn't a provision for a white to black ratio behind bars. We're getting better.... Just not quite there yet.

Wait a minute, how it is that this month is called Black History Month – why isn't it called African American History month? Please explain this????? So who is racist? please say again???

To the Caroline lady. Just what did you find to be racist about the truth? Unfortunately, you are not statistically astute on Blacks in the American prison system or you would have know that Jamie Floyd is speaking on somtheing familiar and factual. If you look around dear one, you will find that white americans have been criminals since the beginning of time, therefore, your point is mute and incorrect.

What a ridiculous and offensive response on your part.

Caroline,

i know this is not a chat room but i would like to respond.

of course those of us who talk honestly about race and racism in this country, are likely to be called racists. as our new attorney general recently said, we are a nation of cowards on this issue - afraid to speak openly and honestly about race. as you may know, he was roundly criticized for the comment. some of the criticism came from those who do not want to hear the message that racism is alive and well in America. others criticized his comments because they misunderstood his message and intentions. similary, you misunderstand mine.

there is a long history in this country of (i will say it again) warehousing black men in prison that dates back to Reconstruction and a country that did not know what to do with a newly freed population of able-bodied former slaves. Whether the incarcerated are guilty or not is irrellevant to the discusion of social policy that responds to socio-economic circumstances via the criminal justice system.

and yes, we are also warehousing other brown skinned people and poor whites in prison, rather than deal with the underlying causes that lead to crime and violence.

at the same time, we have a war on drugs in this country that targets non-violent offenders and sentencing guidelines that require stiffer penalties for drugs more common in black communities than in white communities (i speak now of the crack/powder cocaine disparity).
all of this leads to an exploding prison population (1 in 100 Americans, as you must know) that benefits the prison industrial complex but few others.

as for the smoking gun segment, i cannot say whether the people in any of those grainy videos were black or white. perhaps it is clearer on your set than it is out of the corner of my eye in the studio. regardless, the fact of crime is a different conversation than the societal response to it.

at the same time, "Best Defense" was developed, in large part, to counteract the negative images of black males in mainstream media. if there is anything in the "Smoking Gun" segments that undermines that purpose, we will review it and eliminate it from our broadcast.

my comments about the dichotomy between the acheivements of well-to-do, well-educated African Americans and those who still struggle with poverty and lack of education, only underscores the challenges that lay ahead for our community. the Last Word segment is very short (45 seconds). as such it can only serve to send a single message. this time the message was this: we cannot become complacent. i am guessing you would agree.

thank you for watching, reading and for taking the time to send your comments

Jami Floyd
Best Defense

Caroline, you must consider the source. That is all that Jamie dwells on in most of her so called "Last Word" comments. What she needs to say at some point is that there are serious problems in the black community with high black-on-black crime, no family structure, etc. and until the blacks decide to address the ills in their own households, nothing is going to change. They will continue to blame others for their failures and misgivings.

I agree with Caroline. Further stating that if you do the crime, you do the time–Do we have innocent people behind bars, probably, do we have a perfect justice system, no, BUT it is better than other countries.

It doesn't matter if the perps are red, yellow, black or white.

has everyone lost basic seance,and too caught up in technical terms ?m Any junk yard around will give you at least $250.00 for a car weather it runs or not... PAIN SIMPLE... the Judge should of called a couple of junk yards to find the value.

The challenge of civil rights advocacy in the Obama era in my opinion is to find new language and new delivery systems for communicating its still relevant message, with eyes still focussed on the objectives and challenges that remain in spite of the election. Such language and delivery systems must be inclusive, in the same manner Obama's message was. Unfortunately, and much like the Republicans, ironically, civil rights advocacy is failing to adapt to the new reality of our times. It is in this regard that I think that Mr Foyd has come up short, even when raising a cearly legitimate American issue.

Wow, Jami actually responds to us lowly non-lawyer types, her audience!!!!!!

But even with an opportunity to clarify her opinion, Jami misses the point of Caroline's complaint. Only a racist would make a statement about "warehousing African Americans". If you , Jami, believe our legal system is so worthless that it has become a warehouse, then let's state the facts. Our prison system is warehousing poor Americans. Since our "great" country began, how fair our legal system is has been dependant upon the economic status of the defendant.

There are more men in prison than there are women, Jami. Is that because the legal system is singling out males? Or is it, logically, because men commit more crimes than women?

Hey, I got a great idea!!!!

Let's refer to Barack Obama as "Mr. President".

Jamie Floyd,

I do appreciate your responding to me and I agree that we are a nation of cowards when it comes to speaking open and honestly about racism in this country. To be perfectly honest I was almost too cowardly to respond to you other than to say it out loud to my TV screen. But I gathered my strength and did and I am glad to have done so as it has spurred an interesting chat on this subject here on CNN.com. So we shall agree to disagree on whether or not blacks are in fact "warehoused" I however agree whole heartedly with you (and I believe eluded to that in my comments) that the root of the problem must be addressed – and it is a socioeconomic one. There is a struggle between well educated well to do people and those who struggle with poverty, in this – and many countries (and I will say it again) it is not a race problem but class problem. Joseph Bearden is a perfect example as all of those players were white (yes partially Hispanic too) but mostly whites. I view all of them just as I do any criminal – I have NO respect for them, and (as Iam said above) you do the crime you do the time – red, yellow black or white. "
Also "The Smoking Gun" very simply depicts in their "Word's Dumbest Criminals" segments stupid criminals doing stupid things, if it is true that there are more black than white criminals than they are not to blame, they simply show what they have to show.
to Tom above, I too agree that black on black crimes are so prevalent they just don't get the publicity – is that a race issue? Perhaps but the root of the problem is the same, lack of familial values, and structure.

Caroline, if you need to know anything ,just ask spider, he seems to know everything!!!! Not.!!

I don`t understand what Jami,Caroline and spider are trying to prove here. Is it a popularity contest between colors in prison or what?? Whatever color has the most people in prison is because they desided to get in trouble. No one can control how many blacks or whites or hispanics are in prison. By the way, i thought when Barack Obama was elected all this color hatred was gonna go away?? That`s what was said when he was running for president. What happened?? I`m sure that spider will have an answer for that or tell me they never said that like usual. I don`t think the problem between races will ever go away. There`s too many people in this world that hate others as well as hate themselves. When you can`t have respect for yourself, you can`t have respect for others.