Aboriginal Incarceration

D: Australia incarcerates its Aborigines at between 19 and 29 times the rate of the rest of the population [depending on whose rubbery definition of Aboriginal is used].

This is heralded as proof of the existence of discrimination against the Aboriginal population, but let's think this through. Consider

Over 90% of prisoners in this country are men. It is obvious that society discriminates against men in this regard. To ensure equal opportunity in this regard, we need to set up affirmative action programs programs immediately. We can randomly choose women who are serving short sentences, and have their sentences swapped with men serving long sentences. Only by ensuring equal representation can we ensure that equal opportunity exists.

Before we dismiss this nonsense for what it is, let's reverse the genders and substitute "senior executive" for "prisoner" and carefully compare it to the existing feminist arguments for affirmative action. It seems very odd that when men reach the age of 18 they are considered to be responsible for their actions and must pay the price for them, but yet mature women are considered to be incapable of succeeding without positive discrimination.

It is hard to understand how being made to wear a dress as a child makes one permanently brain damaged, and therefore incapable of competing with others on an equal and fair footing. It seems that everybody is willing to believe that "boys will be boys", but not its sister multicultural adage.

The high rate of Aboriginal incarceration is caused by the high rate of Aboriginal crime. Giving special treatment to Aborigines (more warnings, light sentences and so on) treats the symptom, not the cause. It is a solution which allows mainstream Australia to deny that there is (as much of) a problem, but it does not solve the problem.

This has always been Australia's approach to Aboriginal problems.

Coerce them into moving to remote settlements so we can't see the problem.
Take their children away so we can't see them suffering.
Give them three generations of welfare so we don't have to see the suffering.
Try to keep them out of gaol so we don't have to have people protesting about the high incarceration rates.

Band-aid solutions, all of them.

If Aborigines are committing crime, then Aborigines are suffering from crime. The rates of domestic violence and child abuse are (finally) shocking the community. Does anyone really believe they are doing the right thing by the Aboriginal population by allowing criminals to terrorize them? Why do people imagine that a soft-on-crime approach is more appropriate for an Aboriginal convict than a non-Aboriginal one?

It is simply that people don't want to have to acknowledge the problem.

See