Racism

As part of RNC Chairman Michael Steele's ongoing "off the hook" public relations campaign, he explained yesterday how white Republicans are scared of him.

Stand by for a correction and/or clarification of the Chairman's remarks from the RNC.

It's always somewhat surprising (and always sad) the way bits of racism creep into our daily lives:

Statewide data indicates that African-American drivers were 67 percent more likely than Hispanic drivers to be stopped in 2008, despite being 15 percent less likely to be arrested following the stop.

"The increasing rates at which African-American drivers are stopped are of concern to all Missourians," Koster said. "While no single factor can provide the entire explanation for these numbers, one goal remains fixed -- application of the law must be colorblind."

Koster noted that the report contains information on vehicle stops from 639 law enforcement agencies, so each individual community can examine its own data and situation. For example, it is helpful to compare departments of a similar size or from similar geographic areas. Additionally, factors such as crime patterns or the existence of an interstate highway in a given region may affect data samples.

The executive summary and full report with data for individual law enforcement agencies can be found online at http://ago.mo.gov.