US Sets New Record in the Jailing of African Americans

Carl Orr says:

Rap music that idolizes anger toward society in general and the law of the land in particular; religious leaders without moral centers like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who attack whites as bigots and ride the gravy train while espousing racial hatred as a means of blackmail, supersedes the basics of Old Testament teaching (from whence restraint of instant gratification appertains). Movies and videos saturated with profanity, and with a total disregard for any moral center, including rape, robbery, and murder, do not add up to very high goals, or means to achieve them. When hatred of another race is at the center of the weltanschauung of a folk, is it any wonder there is a disjunct between self and others, between the one and the many? Forget drugs. They are only a symptom of a deeper malady. At the core is the malignancy of despair created not only by economics but by the long held belief that there are two Americas and one has rules that don’t apply to the other. Civil rights also mean civil restraint and a certain amount of obedience to the larger construct that even though we are all created equal some of us, to misquote Orwell, should act like we know better than to believe that some are more equal than others. It is not the law that is at fault so much as what is in the heart. This must be changed first before there is an awareness of self as a part of the greater whole. Locking people up, regardless of race, and warehousing them is not the answer.

NO. says:

There are tons of different genres of music that idolize anger towards society. Don’t single out rap, just because this article is about African Americans. But how can you blame them? Our society is filled with stereotyping, closeminded people like you!

Jay Wilson says:

There are tons of different music that emphasize an ager to society, but with hip hop becoming the virtual face of the Black American identity, you have tons of kids that simple following what they see. Toss in poor educations, promotion of the ghetto lifestyle, and suspect home lives and its no wonder so many Blacks are falling into the system.

Still, with the powers that be being content in their puppetry, it will be hard to change.

Opinionated Lady says:

This is heartbreaking to me.But its not hip-hop, people use hip-hop as the scapegoat because they don’t want to be the blame.It so easy to point the finger, but is that going to solve anything?Like on RapCity, MonieLuv said that these people blaming hip-hop for everything because they soooo mad that the blacks are getting dollars off rapping.But most of these rappers help out young children.If the government would help these children, but its not like they won’t.After Katrina came and those people needed help, I realized America is not what it is.Black people don’t care about cocaine, shoot I don’t, never did drug nor have sex before marriage because I was brought up in a strong-willed household.If you ask me, I think everyone of us is to blame.Nobody is no saint in here.

Julian says:

Certainly, the penal system is flawed and biased, but not just against one segment of our society. The laws are meant to be obeyed … by the poor.
Speaking of poor, the difference between earnings for a person with or without a four year degree is substantial.
Education could play a major positive role in this discussion.
Not all rap music is sinister and there are other forms of music just as influential in their negativity. There are those artists who give us what we need, that is, a loving, acceptable and worthy inspirational view. The media is the agenda setter in what gets promoted.
There is a tremendous need for the Black community to address some of the issues that plague it, but there are also issues that all races should be focused on such as the rampant and destructive force of pornography.
The drug issue could be simplified if sensible legalization could be implemented; the overwhelming number of arrests center on drug possession and the charge is usually involving marijuana. I find this drug much less of a threat than alcohol, which daily tears at the fabric of our society in brutal fashion.
Actually, the cure will be found in the hearts of people who are willing to do what is right. The saying is…the only thing necessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing.
When we get our hearts right, love will overcome evil.

Ron Griffith says:

This is no surprise to me or I think any other African American male. But if our society thinks that this is happening because Black men are dangerous, and lazy, they are the ones who are being fooled. Slavery never ended, it continues today, in forms of unfair laws, poverty, outrageously high cost of education, and a systematic form of incarceration. I was never one to really believe in conspiracy theories, and I think I was in denial because of the hope I held on to and of of course the propaganda I was raised on, that we’re all equal, blah, blah, blah. But the evidence is overwhelming, “THEY” the people who control the all mighty dollar and the fates of nations, are afraid of the Black man and black people as a whole. Why? I don’t know but look at the evidence, The pink elephant in room no one seems to talk about HONESTLY is the AIDS PANDEMIC in Africa. GENOCIDE…. They want us dead and gone. Some would call me paranoid, some say ill informed but stop for a minute and just image what it would be like to be a black man 25 to 35 in America today, that is if you know any??? I find some irony in the white youth culture embracing the Gangsta Rap culture. Why??? Maybe the youth know or hear something the adults don’t. Or is just the first time they hear an honest portrait of the world through song. Instead of the IDIOT BOX, Americas biggest and most powerful weapon….. TV… “Don’t believe the hype!” Public Enemy….

Graham says:

“Under current law, possession of five grams or more of crack cocaine triggers a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison; simple possession of any quantity of any other controlled substance (except flunitrazepan) by a first-time offender – including powder cocaine – is a misdemeanor offense punishable by a maximum of one year in prison.”

Source: US Sentencing Commission, “Report to Congress: Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy,” May 2007, p. 4.

“Powder cocaine and crack cocaine offenses together historically have accounted for about half of the federally-sentenced drug trafficking offenders, approximately 11,000 in 2006. In 1992, powder cocaine offenses comprised 74 percent of the 8,972 cocaine offenses and crack cocaine offenses accounted for 26 percent of the cocaine offenses. By 1996, the total number of cocaine offenses decreased slightly to 8,705 and approximately half of cocaine offenses were powder cocaine and half were crack cocaine offenses. This even distribution of types of cocaine has remained consistent through 2006, with 5,744 powder cocaine offenses and 5,397 crack cocaine offenses sentenced in that Fiscal Year.”

Source: US Sentencing Commission, “Report to Congress: Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy,” May 2007, p. 12.

“Historically the majority of crack cocaine offenders are black, but the proportion steadily has declined since 1992: 91.4 percent in 1992, 84.7 percent in 2000, and 81.8 percent in 2006. Conversely, the proportion of white crack cocaine offenders has increased steadily from 3.2 percent in 1992 to 5.6 percent in 2002, to 8.8 percent in 2006. For powder cocaine, Hispanic offenders have comprised a growing proportion of cases. In 1992, Hispanics accounted for 39.8 percent of powder cocaine offenders. This proportion increased to over half (50.8%) by 2000 and continued increasing to 57.5 percent in 2006. There has been a corresponding decrease in the proportion of white offenders for powder cocaine, comprising 32.3 percent of offenders in 1992, decreasing by approximately half to 17.8 percent by 2000, and continuing to decrease to 14.3 percent by 2006.”

Source: US Sentencing Commission, “Report to Congress: Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy,” May 2007, p. 19.

Racism is embedded in the drug laws. Crack which is used by majority African Americans has harsher sentencing laws & comprises an increasing proportion of arrests year on year. In the meantime the orange county types snort their nose candy knowing that they are less likely to be caught & even if they are the courts will be lenient. Meanwhile if your parent is in congress, lie is even better (check http://sonic.net/~doretk/Issues/00-03-SPR/congress.html )

j mclennan says:

the more coloured people attain higher political office, those of the same background but less fortunate will suffer more

Laviyah says:

Africa is waiting for all of us to return, just leave this godforsaken hellhole that is stealing the souls of our sons and daughters.

Snake says:

Legalize drugs,jails will be empty.

Kiwi says:

I also don’t get why people are placing blame on music. People are responsible for their own behavior. I do feel that the justice system is more harsh towards our brothers. I also feel that there is a lack of positive influences in low-income neighborhoods. We, as a people, have to work much harder to make it and twice as hard for respect which we are still fighting for. With so many of our brothers on lock-down, a void is left in the homes where we women are raising children. Sadly, some of our young brothers look for an image that they can relate to in the streets. There is a definite lack of male-bonding within the Black community. We are subconsciously taught to tear each other down. It’s easier to have a “partner in crime” rather than a partner in business. We have to redefine what it means to be a Black man in our households. In my neighborhood, a brother doesn’t respect another brother unless he has ” a little dirt on him” or more than one woman, or disrespects his kids’ mother, or acts belligerent. Right now, my son’s father is facing incarceration because of poor choices. He isn’t involved with our child and really never has been. I pray often that even though I have a good man now and he has been in my son’s life since he was an infant, that my son won’t grow up and look in the streets for what he wanted his father to give him. It’s a vicious cycle. We have to start telling our young men about the consequences of poor choices and the partiality of the “justice system” so they can know. We have to teach them that it’s okay to be smart, talented, and family-oriented. We need to talk more about anger-management not just for our young brothers but, for ALL young people. I’m a young woman and I know it would have benefited me if I were taught in school how to DEAL with my emotions. You are taught about sex in school, computer software programs, home economics, and how to drive but, you’re not taught how to deal with your emotions and the teenage years are the critical years in which this instruction would be most beneficial. There has to be a system in place to teach the children about certain consequences. We teach them to put on condoms but we don’t teach them how to have healthy relationships. We don’t teach them to invest in THEMSELVES let alone things like cultivating their talent or building a strong family unit or utilizing their potential. Everything is about getting money and the pursuit of pleasure. That’s why the divorce rate is so high. No one is built to endure the ups and downs of relationships anymore because a spouse is not needed to contribute money for the family’s survival like in the old days when our grandparents were young. Our young people have too much idle time because they don’t know what to do with themselves. No one is talking to them and no one wants to because people are intimidated by their mood swings. No one is instilling morals or bringing it back to church or even airing out a little dirty laundry about themselves so that the young people can feel like they can relate to the older people. My dad wasn’t around and my mother was too caught up in her own life to pay attention to me so I had to learn everything the hard way. Luckily, my grandparents got me into the Bible and church so I always knew where to turn when I made poor choices. A lot of parents get so caught up in working and their own lives even though their intentions are about doing what they have to do for family economically that they don’t pay enough attention to the children. We need to get more involved in our young brothers lives. Influence starts in the home. We have to be more than disciplinarians. We have to learn to relate to our young people and get them reading about our ancestors. Reading slave anthologies changed my life and if our ancestors knew how our young men are throwing away their freedom, they would be ashamed. To think of how families were split up back in slavery and how reading was off-limits to us and look at what we are doing to ourselves. It’s like we’ve lower our standards as individuals. I’m not saying that some of our brothers aren’t innocent but, I know several brothers in jail. Most of them got there because they wanted fast money and didn’t want to get it honestly. They didn’t want to work for it. Yes, I think that our young people get caught up by the images seen on television. That’s why it’s up to the older adults to tell them how it REALLY is in the real world. We need to do more talking and show them the dark side of poor choices before they become the statistics of them.