nearly 200 points. He believed ...minorities are not making enough progress, especially in education. ...the maintenance of a humane and harmonious society depends to a considerable degree on minorities reaching educational parity with whites (4). Dorothy Waggoner researched educational disparities between whites and minorities and discovered that blacks are 1.6 times as likely to be undereducated than whites. This was especially true in the South and inner cities of metropolitan areas. 1 out of 6 minorities between the ages 16-24 are not enrolled in school. The figure increases to 1 out of 3 when the focus is limited to Hispanics. 1 out of 8 whites in the same age category are not enrolled in school (Undereducation in America, 45-48). Russell noted that minorities have an illiteracy rate of 2 times the white percentage (The Color of Crime, 29). These obvious indicators of undereducation among minorities help partially explain the high incarceration and arrest statistics. Russell also discovered other high rates among minorities in regards to socially dysfunctional characteristics. When compared with whites, blacks have much higher percentages of out-of-wedlock births, infant mortality, illiteracy, unemployment, female-headed households, and poverty. For almost every measure of social dysfunction, the black rate exceeds the white rate (ibid., 29). It would seem reasonable that high levels of dysfunctional behavior would lead to high levels of conflict with the criminal justice system. Drug and alcohol abuse is a serious problem for minorities. Alcoholism occurs at a rate of 3 times more among minorities than whites. This may be brought on by social stresses such as unemployment or the breakdown of traditional family structures. Unfortunately, minorities also seek and complete treatment at a much lower rate than whites (Trimble, Ethnic..., 29-36). Drug and alcohol abuse has been successfully linked in basically all research ...
