Labeling race-neutral disparities racist is itself harmful and counterproductive

Evidence

The disparities are often understood as warranted if they stem from some groups having on average more serious offenses or prior violent conviction records, which can explain the more punitive outcomes they face. … If the racial disproportionality in prisons is directly attributable to criminal justice officials’ discrimination on the basis of race, a massive legal and political effort should be mobilized to redress that evil. If, however, the disproportionality results predominantly from some legally relevant difference between the races, such as a corresponding differential involvement in crime, then the charge of “racism” would not be justified. Indeed, it could be more harmful than helpful. (p. 1261) Social scientists have been diligent at accounting for these legally relevant factors through statistical techniques that allow a comparison of similarly situated defendants, apples-to-apples so to speak. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 557

Categorization

• XREF: Directly serves the reader’s question about whether correction against threat-hardened beliefs backfires — Blumstein warns the racism charge itself ‘could be more harmful than helpful.’
• SEED: Angle: when does a justified claim (racism exists) become actively counterproductive to reform because it collapses warranted and unwarranted disparity, discrediting the whole charge?
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 557