I doubt there is anyone with access to the mainstream or social media that hasn't seen the video of the dreadful death of George Floyd. Black Americans should be heard and have the right to peacefully protest.
Here in Australia activists have taken the opportunity to organise nation-wide protest rallies against the deaths of Indigenous Australians (Aborigines) whilst in custody. Today thousands of people took to the streets in protest.
We will have to wait two weeks to discover whether this will result in a spike in COVID-19 cases.
The media have reported on the protests and the accusation of deaths in custody by the prison service or police.
An Aljazeera article was rather typical. The headline was
Thousands protest Indigenous Australians' death in police custody
and
Around one Indigenous Australian has died in custody or at the hands of the police every month since a landmark Royal Commission was conducted on the issue in 1991, making a total of 432 deaths since.
The problem with these simple statements is they don't provide an accurate picture of the issue. There are very few deaths in police custody, but the media and activists combine the police and prison statistics to give a large figure. Nor do these statements identify that the majority of deaths are not caused by prison officers or police.
Being analytical by nature I tend to follow the data and seek the facts.
432 Indigenous Australians have died in custody since 1991
Aborigines form 3.3% of the total population, but are 27% of the prison population. Therefore they are over represented.
During the same reporting period 19% of deaths in custody were Indigenous Australians.
This means that whilst Indigenous Australians are over represented in custody, they are under represented as a percentage of deaths. Or to put it more concisely. Statistically Non Indigenous Australians are more likely to die in prison.
So why the protests about Indigenous Australian deaths in custody?
The two main causes of Aboriginal deaths in custody are suicide (hanging) and health related problems (natural causes). The incidents of hanging have steadily declined as a consequence of redesigning police and prison cells by removing hanging points.
Australian Aborigines have a shorter life expectancy than the average Australian. They are more likely to suffer poor health due to factors such as alcoholism, poor diet, obesity, diabetes, drug addiction, etc.
Why the high incarceration rate? The two most common offences are assault and trespass with intent (eg, break and enter with the intention of committing a crime; usually theft).
It appears to me the evidence shows protestors have it wrong. Whilst there are serious issues in the greater Aboriginal community, "deaths in custody" isn't one of them.
If people want to protest then it should be about major aboriginal issues such as Aboriginal domestic violence; sexual assault of children, high crime rates; poor housing; welfare dependency, etc.
2 comments :
Consider a few things, Tom, in making sure you too are not oversimplifying:
1 the overarching effect of poverty that exacerbates the statistics you mention re poor health outcomes, lower life expectancy, alcoholism, domestic violence, child abuse, etc. Poverty is a marker in these issues in any society and any racial group. Note though that the last three are not driven by poverty.
2 the imprisonment rates for crimes that would not attract custodial sentences for white Australians - are they equivalent on a pro rata basis?
3 Removing features in cells that make suicide by hanging harder does not remove the desire to die. There are cultural aspects which need to be taken into account regarding freedom being constrained. And it is likely that people who are imprisoned and unable to actively die will turn their faces to the wall and waste away, so the death statistics while imprisoned need to be considered in this light too.
4 There are mental health issues as a culture that go with being dispossessed of your land and having your culture and cultural imperatives dismissed and overtaken by the more dominant invading culture. If reading about it from an Australian perspective is too confronting, then read any of James A Michener's novels about Africa (The Covenant), the US (Chesapeake, Centennial), Hawaii (Hawaii), Poland, Judaism (The Source). Thomas Keneally has written some very accessible novels about the settling of Australia by the British. The first one I read was The Playmaker.
The reality is that our colonial pasts are still with us, and there is work still to be done to repair the damage it has caused. And we, as the descendants of the colonists, either as descendants of early settlers or (in my case) as a person who is English by birth, have an obligation to provide that remedy - just as the whites do in the US, whether they are direct descendants of slave owners or not. As white people, we are all privileged in ways we can struggle to see and acknowledge, but not being able to see it or acknowledge it does not mean it isn't the case.
So, it's not at all simple when you get below the stats and the surface.
Cheers, Marilyn
Marilyn my point is protesting about deaths in custody isn't the issue. Rather it's a consequence of those other issues such as poverty and poor education. Australians should be attempting to rectify these issues.
Moreover how does the nation assimilate people with a stone age culture based on subsistence living. A small minority have bridged the gap but the majority are unable (or unwilling) to make the change.
The efforts to date appear to have made indigenous Australians welfare dependent.
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