Black Men Jailed
Black men are in jail because there are so many avenues to prison.
Police officers are racist, society is racist, and on average African American bring home half as much money.
No matter what anyone says they carry with them a certain degree of racism.
There has never truly been a discussion of slavery, Jim-Crow, and the persistent racism. People think that racism is a thing of the 20th century, but that was only the beginning. To a certain extent we are not much better off than we were 50 years ago.
Yes, there are successful black males and females, but on average black people earn far less income than white people.
I think there are 3 critical questions to address when it comes to this issue of incarceration, none of which are easy to answer.
- Are black men actually committing more crime then white men? This relates to racism on the part of the police officers and judges. It is hard to say whether more white people commit crimes that go unpunished or that they actually are committing more crimes.
- If we can determine that black men are committing more crimes, why are they doing so? How much of this can be attributed to circumstance.
- Are black men being given harsher prison sentences than whites for the same crimes.
This is a critical discussion to have. Richmond was the capital of the confederacy and was home to the second largest slave market in the country. The city itself is segregated and only 9% of students in the Richmond City Schools are white.
Even when looking at educational data, the researchers almost always include race. African American students score much lower test such as the SAT and ACT, which can be attributed to opportunity and not actually potential.
I am reading a book called The Road to Character by David Brooks and while it covers a wide range of topics, one of his central arguments is that we must view ourselves as flawed. I think it is important for everyone to realize that to some extent, they are racist.