Comments on: US Sets New Record in the Jailing of African Americans

By: Kiwi

Kiwi — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:28:51 +0000

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.

By: CVS

CVS — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:45:22 +0000

I love this discussion. I agree with everyone but I hope everyone that the problem is dynamic with several issues involved. I think the main problem is that racism is institutionalized and we dont look to our neighbors anymore as a community. People have been convinced it’s every man for himself which is not true. We’re not a community anymore and people have turned to the government to teach our brothers and sisters a lesson in the form of incarceration. Personally, I’d rather have my neighbor beatin my ass over jail any day! I even wrote more somewhat on the topic here : http://theblock.kmel.com/sansl3/blog/2007/12/13/dont_censor_me

By: Snake

Snake — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 15:28:34 +0000

Legalize drugs,jails will be empty.

By: Repo

Repo — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 08:58:39 +0000

It seems like there are a lot of educated people leaving comments here but the comments are retarded. No music ever made anyone do any thing, I don’t kick back and listen to some music and be like “yea i think i will slap a bitch or hmmmm gangs are cool”. People want to place blame on any one but the culprit which is our messed up prison system and the war on drugs. The people who commit violent crimes murders and rapists need to be locked up but an insane number of people are locked up over drugs, also punishments don’t usually fit the crime someone will be punished worse for robbery than rape. Furthermore a lot of these comments were really racist, I think that police and the court system dose discriminate on race to a degree.

By: Laviyah

Laviyah — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 05:45:30 +0000

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

By: John Hinton

John Hinton — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 03:36:28 +0000

Funny how individuals quickly categorize blacks, down play there morals and ridicule their and ideologies; Lets think of how this country came to be. So easily have they forgotten about the multiple years blacks endure rapes culturally-physically, inhuman physical labor for the financial gain of whites. Blacks can’t legally close the economic gaps. Blacks don’t have shit……. whites make the laws and blacks have to follow. On this planet there hasn’t been a race that’s endured so much detestation and disrespect. Yet here we are today with this almightily law saying that this is wrong and that is wrong, Bull fucking shit, the most riches people in America have gotten there money in a immoral manner.
None the less, we has humans need to realize the race isn’t real it was tool use to divide and conquer. Our physical differences are merely geographical. I’m with Ron Griffith and Graham; looks like someone has it in for blacks. Blacks already have been diluted culturally and every natural resource in their homeland stolen. Blacks have no history; imagine being born of a black single parent were the incomes in the family can barely feed, pay rent and enjoy life (remember enjoy life) . You’re taught in school that your “race” has brutally endured carnage beyond human intellectual capacity and you have to live in the system where you’re lucky if your first job gives you twenty five cents above the minimum wage.

By: j mclennan

j mclennan — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:39:04 +0000

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

By: kamagurka

kamagurka — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 14:20:24 +0000

If you fuckers don’t stop your stupid “war on drugs” you’re going to have two kinds of people: Prisoners and wardens. It’s gonna be awesome.

By: Graham

Graham — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 00:25:14 +0000

“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 )

By: Xeiliex

Xeiliex — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:23:00 +0000

For those who it all on Hip Hop/Rap – you did the same with rock music.

How about everybody just dropping the bull, we can’t parent anymore. We’ve decided to let the government do it for us.

On another note can we just admit to the simple fact that we are still racist bigots and even though slavery is over. either side ever got over it. it’s simple man hates what it doesn’t understand and fears what it conquer.

On the laziness factor, if ANYONE here could get away it, they’d be on welfare too… Humans are lazy these days not just black people.