Over the past two centuries, federal, state and municipal governments across the U.S. have launched wave after wave of infrastructure projects.
They built canals to move freight in the 1830s and 1840s. Governments subsidized railroads in the mid- and late 19th century. They created local sewage and water systems in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then dams and irrigation systems through much of the 20th century. During World War II, massive amounts of public money were spent building and expanding ports, factories, airfields and shipyards. And after the war, highway construction – long a state and local project – became a federal endeavor.
Many of these projects did not end well. The problem wasn’t that the country didn’t need infrastructure – it did. And the troubles weren’t the result of technical failures: By and large, Americans successfully built what they intended, and much of what they built still stands.
The real problems arose before anyone lifted a shovel of earth or raised a hammer. These problems stem from how hard it is to think ahead, and they are easy to ignore in the face of excitement about new spending, new construction and increased employment.
Seneca County in the Finger Lakes has the highest fatality rate for drunk driver in New York State 2015. However, when you look at the five-year average, Hamilton and Lewis County edge it out for deadliest for drunk drivers. The 2011-15 average shows Yates County as third, and Seneca County for per capita fatalities in the state, due to drunk drivers. It seems like a lot of people get drunk at wineries and then go for a drive in the Finger Lakes Wine Country in New York.
What does it mean to be a racist today? ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿
Too often when you hear about racism, you often think about some mean spirited person that is ignorant about people of other races. Any free society is going to have clans men and grumpy old men but they’re a minority voice, usually sidelined to the fringes of society.
Much more problematic is institutional racism – not explicit racism – and just generally poor socialization that leads to a lack of understanding of one towards their out groups. Humans like most other animals are wired to fear the unknown and proceed with caution towards unfamiliar faces. Humans group together like characteristics, they’re predisposed to believe that one actor in a group is like all others.
Most racism is unintentional. Most has historical roots in slavery and the institutions that both grew up in that era and those that evolved from it. But also don’t dismiss the fear of the unknown. We need more race mixing, more people meeting, sharing their commonality and overcoming their fears. We need to overcome notions of evil doers and realize that all of us are poorly socialized and have ingrained fears.
Legal reform is one step to confronting racism. Handicapping the police may be required under law to force them to rethink as an institution how they treat blacks compared to others. But beyond that we need to take a serious look at our laws to see if they are fair to all or if they have unintentional bias built in.
I think the stereotype of the white supremist is just that – true racists are few and far between. But I do see institutions who have built in biases towards minorities, especially the police who most frequently focus on them. Increasing police statistics by arresting minorities isn’t just bad practice, it’s injust. We need to rethink our laws, and try to encourage more socialization and mixing in all parts of life.
Don’t ignore the facts, the media and public service messages remind us. Science matters says the bumper stickers. Statistical analysis is a good thing when you have a truly representative data set, when there are no individuals but instead are things that are entirely alike, such as machines churned out of a factory.
Most people agree that the criminal justice system should not treat blacks different than whites. That people shouldn’t be judged based on skin color or denied housing or a job because they are black. They note skin color isn’t something you can change. But what about science and statistics that say elsewise? It’s a very proactive but morally fraught question. That say that an African American is more likely to have drugs or be engaged in criminal activity? It doesn’t take a lot of analysis of arrest or jail records to find that there is a nexus between race and involvement in the justice system.
However, that is a bad analysis for a couple of reasons. For one, if police officers are applying this analysis in their everyday business – racial profiling – then they are biasing the sample. Stop more black motorists and search their cars, of course you are going to find more drugs and crime from black motorists. Put more cops in low income neighborhoods, then you are going to have more people arrested for crime there, as cops are looking for crime there.
Then you have the issue of individuals being unique. Statistics are just that – averages or median values, what exists in the middle but not in reality. Just because a person’s skin color is dark, doesn’t mean they are automatically a criminal. Likewise, just because a person lives in a low income neighborhood doesn’t mean they are committing crime.
Everybody accepts that race isn’t a good tool to judge people by as it’s not changeable. But other characteristics, while potentially changeable – occupation, income, housing location, dress, affiliation with groups or organizations – aren’t very good either as looking at statistics doesn’t necessarily describe an individual.
Observing statistics is a powerful tool. Combined with maps, you can really get an idea of problematic areas via means and medians. You can find inliers and outliers, help you evaluate risks. The problem with using statistics isn’t that they don’t provide good information – they do – but they don’t adjust for bias caused by the observer or the uniqueness of individuals.
Ultimately the problem with profiling and pigeon holing individuals is its not fair or just. Individuals are automous, they are not solely defined by one characteristic or attribute. Racial or any other type of profiling might be effective policing – in a statistical sense – but it’s not fair to individuals its applied to. Liberty comes at a cost, and sometimes that involves ignoring statistical evidence, instead choosing to respect human freedom and dignity over stopping and prosecuting more crime.
