Director, Commonwealth Policy Center

The Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting recently reported that three out of every four inmates at Louisville's youth detention center are black. The implication is that the system is somehow unfair to blacks. Institutional racism has been a stain on our country, but is it happening in this case? The article failed to point out the breakdown of the family in the inner city. Nor did it point out the need for solid role models for young blacks. County attorney Mike O’Connell said disparity between white and black arrests are more "due to poverty and societal issues" than any bias in his office. It should grieve us that so many of Louisville’s black youth are in juvenile detention, but the solution is to rebuild the family and give kids role models to look up to.