GHETTO'S POOR NOT THE PRIME CAUSE OF CRIME

Very recently, a student on this campus made some comments to me
which have stuck as an example of exactly the kind of thinking that
makes racism and prejudice still so alive today.

This student associated Washington, D.C. residents -- predominantly
black citizens, who she said live in violent neighborhoods and go to
crappy D.C. public schools -- with involvement in illegal activities.
She went even further to suggest that Georgetown's community service
programs are an example of our (or her?) generosity and goodwill,
essentially asserting that Georgetown students are on a higher moral
ground, so to speak.

Her assertions are rooted in the notion that there is a correlation
between living in the ghetto and being an immoral person, while being
outside of the ghetto is almost a guarantee of a more moral conscience.

It is thinking like this -- which seems all too common -- that has
led to unfair and erroneous stereotyping, and the perception that
being poor and black necessarily leads one into a life wrought with
crime, drugs and inevitably prison.

Perhaps most notably, these ideas have caused the racially
disproportionate nature of the war on drugs. Contrary to what we may
see on television or the movies, most abusers of illicit drugs are,
in fact, white. A federal survey has even put the number of white
drug abuse at at the turn of this century at 72 percent of all drug users.

Yet because of thinking like hers, the war on drugs has taken on a
racial profile. Blacks and Hispanics comprise the majority of those
individuals serving time in state prisons for these offenses,
according to the Justice Department. Blacks alone comprise 58 percent
of those serving time in state prisons for drug felonies, and blacks
are twice -- in some cases, almost three times -- more likely to be
sent to prison than whites are for the same drug offense.

I wonder what exactly is meant when it is argued that a person from
the ghetto or with a poor background is more likely to engage in
illicit activities. Since most abusers of drugs are white, this is doubtful.

Perhaps this argument refers the sale of illegal arms. But this
argument, too, falls short.

The United States is unusual for its political tradition of
condoning, even celebrating, civilian gun possession. But the
principal crusaders for the right to gun possession are not the poor
in the ghetto, but the members of the National Rifle Association -- a
group largely associated with middle-class white people. If the
morality of the gun trade in this country is of concern to some
people, they might want to talk to the members of that organization, first.

A more wide-ranging point was made, asserting that Third world
countries are leading the global phenomenon of illicit trade. I
wonder which "leaders" people are talking about. In his book,
"Illicit," Moises Naim's points out that Third world countries are
victims, and the actual traders are a more diverse bunch than ever.
Third world countries, whose governments are too weak, are plundered
for their natural resources and porous borders that create very
substantial profit opportunities for anyone with enough money and
gumption to exploit them.

It astounds me that individuals really think that the ghettoes of
this country are the roots of problems with crime and illicit trade
and that individuals from the ghetto or from poor backgrounds in
other countries are more likely to engage in illicit activities than
individuals from more prominent backgrounds.

Our fight against illicit trade and crime should not be focused
solely on the ghettos, because while the drug dealers on the corners
of America's ghettos are clearly a problem, they make chump change
compared to those individuals and corporations whose thirst for
profit drives those living in Third world countries to depend on the
drug trade for a meager livelihood.

The issues of the ghettos are symptoms of a much larger problem --
one that we cannot see because he has so slyly dressed himself in
fine business suits and busied himself with multi-million dollar
contracts. Our problem is not those people living in Third World
countries exploited by corporation, illicit arms dealers and drug
smugglers. Our problem is not the poor individual in the ghetto
trying to get ahead, forced to attend those crappy D.C. public
schools, as the student I was listening to would say.

In the challenge posed by prejudice, I beg individuals out there to
rethink their notion of what we are fighting ... and whom we are
fighting against.

Niara Phillips is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service