The Law: Situation Report: The Law

WHITES often assume that civil rights acts and court decisions have made law the black man's redeemer. In practice, many blacks see the law as something different: a white weapon that white policemen, white judges and white juries use against black people. Indeed, blacks are clearly underrepresented in law enforcement and overrepresented in crime and punishment. Among the facts:

LAW ENFORCEMENT. Blacks make up 38% of the population in Atlanta, 27% in Chicago, 39% in Detroit, 40% in Newark and 63% in Washington, D.C. By contrast, the proportion of black policemen in those cities is 10%, 17%, 5%, 10% and...