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More Black Men Now In Prison Than Were Slaves
page: 1share:
LA Progressive
While this affects a huge number of African Americans, the "punishment" for prior crimes committed continues long after ex-cons of all colors are released .
If a person can't find a job, can't find a place to live, can't vote and make his or her voice heard, can't continue their education, what ARE they to do? Alexander asks. One cannot live in our society without any money or housing.
The truth is they go back to their old, illegal ways of getting money and end up right back in prison It's also true that, as states cut back on more and more assistance for the mentally ill, these people end up in jail rather than in a state mental hospital as they would even 30 years ago.
In many other developed nations drug abuse is treated as an illness rather than a crime. If the addict can get their drugs legally, that cuts down significantly on illegal drug sales and the violence that ensues. Illegal drugs cost many times what a prescription would cost. Legality also causes addicts to seek out physicians and to be introduced to possible intervention programs.
America locks up more people than any other country on earth. I don't believe it is only because there are more evil people here than anywhere else. This is a social issue as well as an individual, moral one.
Growing crime rates over the past 30 years don’t explain the skyrocketing numbers of black — and increasingly brown — men caught in America’s prison system, according to Alexander, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun after attending Stanford Law. “In fact, crime rates have fluctuated over the years and are now at historical lows.
“Most of that increase is due to the War on Drugs, a war waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color,” she said, even though studies have shown that whites use and sell illegal drugs at rates equal to or above blacks. In some black inner-city communities, four of five black youth can expect to be caught up in the criminal justice system during their lifetimes.
As a consequence, a great many black men are disenfranchised, said Alexander — prevented because of their felony convictions from voting and from living in public housing, discriminated in housing, excluded from juries, and denied educational opportunities.
“What do we expect them to do?” she asked, who researched her ground-breaking book while serving as Director of the Racial Justice Project at the ACLU of Northern California. “Well, seventy percent return to prison within two years, that’s what they do.”
While this affects a huge number of African Americans, the "punishment" for prior crimes committed continues long after ex-cons of all colors are released .
If a person can't find a job, can't find a place to live, can't vote and make his or her voice heard, can't continue their education, what ARE they to do? Alexander asks. One cannot live in our society without any money or housing.
The truth is they go back to their old, illegal ways of getting money and end up right back in prison It's also true that, as states cut back on more and more assistance for the mentally ill, these people end up in jail rather than in a state mental hospital as they would even 30 years ago.
In many other developed nations drug abuse is treated as an illness rather than a crime. If the addict can get their drugs legally, that cuts down significantly on illegal drug sales and the violence that ensues. Illegal drugs cost many times what a prescription would cost. Legality also causes addicts to seek out physicians and to be introduced to possible intervention programs.
America locks up more people than any other country on earth. I don't believe it is only because there are more evil people here than anywhere else. This is a social issue as well as an individual, moral one.
edit on 28-3-2011 by Sestias because: additional thoughts
I blame the Hip Hop culture where women are sexual objects,guns are cool and bling is what you must spend your money on!
Hip Hop has created a generation of fools.
Hip Hop has created a generation of fools.
edit on 28/3/11 by Viking9019 because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Sestias
LA Progressive
Growing crime rates over the past 30 years don’t explain the skyrocketing numbers of black — and increasingly brown — men caught in America’s prison system, according to Alexander, who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun after attending Stanford Law. “In fact, crime rates have fluctuated over the years and are now at historical lows.
“Most of that increase is due to the War on Drugs, a war waged almost exclusively in poor communities of color,” she said, even though studies have shown that whites use and sell illegal drugs at rates equal to or above blacks. In some black inner-city communities, four of five black youth can expect to be caught up in the criminal justice system during their lifetimes.
As a consequence, a great many black men are disenfranchised, said Alexander — prevented because of their felony convictions from voting and from living in public housing, discriminated in housing, excluded from juries, and denied educational opportunities.
“What do we expect them to do?” she asked, who researched her ground-breaking book while serving as Director of the Racial Justice Project at the ACLU of Northern California. “Well, seventy percent return to prison within two years, that’s what they do.”
While this affects a huge number of African Americans, the "punishment" for prior crimes committed continues long after ex-cons of all colors are released .
If a person can't find a job, can't find a place to live, can't vote and make his or her voice heard, can't continue their education, what ARE they to do? Alexander asks. One cannot live in our society without any money or housing.
The truth is they go back to their old, illegal ways of getting money and end up right back in prison It's also true that, as states cut back on more and more assistance for the mentally ill, these people end up in jail rather than in a state mental hospital as they would even 30 years ago.
In many other developed nations drug abuse is treated as an illness rather than a crime. If the addict can get their drugs legally, that cuts down significantly on illegal drug sales and the violence that ensues. Illegal drugs cost many times what a prescription would cost. Legality also causes addicts to seek out physicians and to be introduced to possible intervention programs.
America locks up more people than any other country on earth. I don't believe it is only because there are more evil people here than anywhere else. This is a social issue as well as an individual, moral one.edit on 28-3-2011 by Sestias because: additional thoughts
I agree with you completely about the American justice system, it is a train wreck in many ways and serves to hurt more than it helps when dealing with non violent crimes.
I strongly disagree with you on your making this a thread in regards to black people as a whole. I have been involved in the criminal justice system as have some of my friends and I can tell you that we were treated just as badly as anyone else. The system although broken does not care what color you are, your are treated like garbage equally.
If there are more black people in jail than any other race, that simply means they are committing more crimes...
edit on 28-3-2011 by Helious
because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Viking9019
I blame the Hip Hop culture where women are sexual objects,guns are cool and bling is what you must spend your money on!
Hip Hop has created a generation of fools.edit on 28/3/11 by Viking9019 because: (no reason given)
is this a joke? if so, kinda funny.
if not, educate yourself. oh wait you're probably still getting educated at a seventh grade level since you called it "hip - hop" and said it created a "generation of fools".
the culture you are referring to would actually be more accurately described as "gangsta rap" culture, hip hop culture being more about education and equality, rather than the misogyny and greed personified by most post-NWA gangsta rap.
this is the tip of the iceberg concerning the ignorance of your statement, put your head in some history books and learn your local drug laws and some prison return rate stats. im not going to educate you on everything, but as a musician i will not let you continue to misconstrue the difference between hip hop and rap.
reply to post by Viking9019
I agree, though some Hip Hop/Indie bands are good and talk about problems
Also, it is alarming that the rate is seemingly leaning.
I agree, though some Hip Hop/Indie bands are good and talk about problems
Also, it is alarming that the rate is seemingly leaning.
Originally posted by Helious
Originally posted by Sestias
LA Progressive
.
If there are more black people in jail than any other race, that simply means they are committing more crimes...edit on 28-3-2011 by Helious because: (no reason given)
that is not necessarily true. for instance, the punishment for the posession of .5 grams of crack may severely outway the punishment for the posession of .5 grams of powder coc aine. not only can you predict that more "poor" people will be caught with crack (minimum purchase $5) than will be caught with powder (min. purchase $20), but you can take it a step further. by ensuring that "certain" neighborhoods are full of the drug carrying the harsher punishment, you can bring in the residents of that neighborhood as it disintregrates into addiction and disenfranchise them completely.
not so hard to swing the numbers is it?
reply to post by iNTERPLANETARyR.O.M.E.O.
No mate i know all about rap etc and hip hop IS the sub genre of rap but look at the lyrics and the videos and you will see that hip hop is 'gangsta rap' as you put it.
The music isn't bad but the influence sure as hell is and its quite rare to find a hip hop star who isn't talking about women,guns and drugs these days.
Bring back underground rap i say.
No mate i know all about rap etc and hip hop IS the sub genre of rap but look at the lyrics and the videos and you will see that hip hop is 'gangsta rap' as you put it.
The music isn't bad but the influence sure as hell is and its quite rare to find a hip hop star who isn't talking about women,guns and drugs these days.
Bring back underground rap i say.
edit on 28/3/11 by Viking9019 because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by Sestias
LA Progressive
In some black inner-city communities, four of five black youth can expect to be caught up in the criminal justice system during their lifetimes.
Its called personal responsibility. If they weren't doing and selling drugs(Drug felony=Selling Drugs) they wouldnt have these problems.
edit on 28/3/11 by BuckNutty because: (no reason given)
Originally posted by chancemusky
reply to post by Viking9019
I agree, though some Hip Hop/Indie bands are good and talk about problems
Also, it is alarming that the rate is seemingly leaning.
the rate has been leaning for years! this isnt new! prison is an industry, and so is the war on drugs and business is F'ING booming.
does it not alarm you that as of ten years ago 60% of the prison population was black, but 9% (yeas NINE) of the national population was black? do you think those numbers have changed much in ten years? do you think 1/10th of the poulation commits half of the crimes? of maybe just gets convicted...
reply to post by iNTERPLANETARyR.O.M.E.O.
Oh and you aren't educating me on anything because it seems you have a long way to go yourself.
Oh and you aren't educating me on anything because it seems you have a long way to go yourself.
Just like the first time, they have enslaved themselves. Do I like the war on drugs? NO! But to say that the white man is just trying to keep them
down is ridiculous. I'm not racist but I think the black culture as a whole is bad. Can you think of one place in the entire world that is almost
completely black and is safe? I can't. Are you bad just because your black? Absolutely not, I consider them equal to any other human being. But
does their culture suck as a whole? Yes.
Originally posted by Viking9019
reply to post by iNTERPLANETARyR.O.M.E.O.
Oh and you aren't educating me on anything because it seems you have a long way to go yourself.
yea its true
i just got back from the 8th grade prom with your mom. but enough rap jokes. the fact remains that the prison system in the US (and arguably the legal and police systems) are stacked against certain minorities and the lower echelons of the social classes. this has absolutely nothing to with hip hop, or rap or anything like that. it has to do with international cash crop commerce, prison construction, pork barrel politics, grandstanding and racism. not this
It isnt rap music that is to blame, it is the underlying culture that is at fault.
Face the facts.....in a lot of black communities it is considered selling out to try in school, you are considered a sucker if you work an honest job, and it is a badge of honor to have been locked up in prison.
When the people that the young men emulate and immitate are mindless drug dealers, in a place where you are looked up to more so for killing someone else than you are for graduating college, in a culture of welfare, single parenthood and complete lack of social or personal responsibility, what would anyone expect to happen?
Luckily there are a lot of black people who have strong parents and who have fathers around or other mentors who dont go this route. There are millions of hard working, educated, honest, good people in the black community who go to work every day and raise their kids to be decent people. These are the folks you never hear about and who never get any credit.
Personally, considering the harsh conditions a lot of black kids grow up in, it is hard to blame them for growing up violent and pissed off. Its hard to respect authority when the authority in question has done nothing to earn respect.
A lot of it comes down to personal choice, but dont claim to know how you would choose if you have never been forced to fend for yourself or ever been born into complete poverty and degredation. Sometimes things just arent so simple.
Face the facts.....in a lot of black communities it is considered selling out to try in school, you are considered a sucker if you work an honest job, and it is a badge of honor to have been locked up in prison.
When the people that the young men emulate and immitate are mindless drug dealers, in a place where you are looked up to more so for killing someone else than you are for graduating college, in a culture of welfare, single parenthood and complete lack of social or personal responsibility, what would anyone expect to happen?
Luckily there are a lot of black people who have strong parents and who have fathers around or other mentors who dont go this route. There are millions of hard working, educated, honest, good people in the black community who go to work every day and raise their kids to be decent people. These are the folks you never hear about and who never get any credit.
Personally, considering the harsh conditions a lot of black kids grow up in, it is hard to blame them for growing up violent and pissed off. Its hard to respect authority when the authority in question has done nothing to earn respect.
A lot of it comes down to personal choice, but dont claim to know how you would choose if you have never been forced to fend for yourself or ever been born into complete poverty and degredation. Sometimes things just arent so simple.
edit on 3/28/11 by BlackOps719 because: (no reason
given)
I don't think it has as much to do with color as it has to do with community values and low income areas. I would suspect that the amount of crime in
an all white trailer park in a bad neighborhood would be the same as a very large apartment complex with government subsidized funding for all
blacks.
Lack of education combined with the status quo of rule breaking by the majority of your community will always equate to uneducated decisions that are usually self destructive or destructive to others thereby breaking the law in some way. Look at Michael Vick.....
Lack of education combined with the status quo of rule breaking by the majority of your community will always equate to uneducated decisions that are usually self destructive or destructive to others thereby breaking the law in some way. Look at Michael Vick.....
edit on 28-3-2011 by Helious
because: (no reason given)
reply to post by iNTERPLANETARyR.O.M.E.O.
Oh here we go! childish insults involving someones mother........very original.
Anyway,i'm guessing you live in the 50's or something because the legal system or the police are not against minorities these days and it seems that they can get away with quite a lot because the system does not wish to be branded racist.
Oh here we go! childish insults involving someones mother........very original.
Anyway,i'm guessing you live in the 50's or something because the legal system or the police are not against minorities these days and it seems that they can get away with quite a lot because the system does not wish to be branded racist.
This is liberal drivel. If you break the laws, you get punished.
As for this failure of a drug war, The government is a total disgrace and I believe they purposely have done so.
Why isn't our border secured? Not only stopping illegal aliens from entering, but also would curtail on a large amount of the drugs that enter the U.S.
The judicial system is a money racket fed off the drug activities. The Federal government also benefits to keep a large amount of FBI,CIA,police,and DEA agents employeed. If the drugs were mainly stopped at our doorstep, how many government employees would be cut, along with their budgets?
As for this failure of a drug war, The government is a total disgrace and I believe they purposely have done so.
Why isn't our border secured? Not only stopping illegal aliens from entering, but also would curtail on a large amount of the drugs that enter the U.S.
The judicial system is a money racket fed off the drug activities. The Federal government also benefits to keep a large amount of FBI,CIA,police,and DEA agents employeed. If the drugs were mainly stopped at our doorstep, how many government employees would be cut, along with their budgets?
Originally posted by Viking9019
reply to post by iNTERPLANETARyR.O.M.E.O.
Oh here we go! childish insults involving someones mother........very original.
Anyway,i'm guessing you live in the 50's or something because the legal system or the police are not against minorities these days and it seems that they can get away with quite a lot because the system does not wish to be branded racist.
back that up with numbers.
ps
edit on 28-3-2011 by iNTERPLANETARyR.O.M.E.O. because: post script
reply to post by iNTERPLANETARyR.O.M.E.O.
Mate its a little thing called political correctness and the system thrives off of it.
Mate its a little thing called political correctness and the system thrives off of it.
Originally posted by Viking9019
reply to post by iNTERPLANETARyR.O.M.E.O.
Mate its a little thing called political correctness and the system thrives off of it.
excuse me, but the system does not "thrive" off of political correctness.
provide me one example of the act of being politically correct providing the system with fuel so that it may "thrive"
reply to post by iNTERPLANETARyR.O.M.E.O.
Here in the UK it is practically impossible for a white male to get a job because the government want to turn the UK into an Islamic state and politicians here have admitted it.
So if you want to turn a nation into something its not then you have to dumb down the nation and thats where political correctness comes into it and the double standards.
Nobody wishes to be branded a racist and thats why the PC state is working.
Here in the UK it is practically impossible for a white male to get a job because the government want to turn the UK into an Islamic state and politicians here have admitted it.
So if you want to turn a nation into something its not then you have to dumb down the nation and thats where political correctness comes into it and the double standards.
Nobody wishes to be branded a racist and thats why the PC state is working.