One of the things I learned is that you've got to deal with the underlying social problems if you want to have an impact on crime - that it's not a coincidence that you see the greatest amount of violent crime where you see the greatest amount of social dysfunction.
Interpretation
Addressing root social issues is essential to effectively reduce crime rates.
In this quote, Eric Holder emphasizes the link between social dysfunction and violent crime, arguing that true impact on criminal behavior requires a deeper understanding and intervention in the social problems that underlie such behavior. He suggests that crime does not occur in a vacuum; rather, it is often a manifestation of deeper societal issues that must be addressed in order to create meaningful change.
In practice
During a community meeting focused on crime prevention, this quote can illustrate the importance of addressing root social issues.
While he was in the service, in the South and in Oklahoma, he was refused service at a couple of places where he was in uniform, and was told that African Americans, blacks, Negros, were not served. And in spite of that, I've never known a man who loved this country more than my father did.
Guantanamo is a chief recruiting tool for al-Qaida. It has put a wedge between the United States and at least some of its allies.
Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards
In a lot of ways, civil rights division is the conscience of the Justice Department. You can almost measure what kind of Justice Department you have by what kind of civil rights division that you have.
Those who peacefully gather to express sympathy for the family of Michael Brown must have their rights respected at all times. And journalists must not be harassed or prevented from covering a story that needs to be told.
Communities of color don't understand what it means to be a police officer, the fear that police officers have in just being on the streets.
Since the end of the 1970s, something has gone profoundly wrong in America. Inequality has soared. Educational progress slowed. Incarceration rates quintupled. Family breakdown accelerated. Median household income stagnated.
The view of how America speaks is reflected in our laws. And one of the laws is fair housing. It very clearly prohibits discrimination in the sale and rental of housing in America. It's been a sad fact of American life that the practice in many communities has been quite the opposite.
The prison-industrial complex, poverty, and the school system has more effect on a young black male in America than Jay-Z does, by far. And that's not a diss to Jay-Z. The crime rate in the black community was high before hip hop. Rapping about it is just a reflection of the life a lot of people are living.
If you have someone who is paying 88 percent of her income on rent, and we have laws that allow a landlord to evict a tenant who falls behind under those circumstances, eviction becomes an inevitability.
Extreme poverty is the best breeding ground on earth for disease, political instability, and terrorism.
Some people think that poor people are lazy. Actually, it takes a lot of work to survive when you are dirt-poor.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.