The Mass Incarceration of Black Men in America
Black men make about 6% of the US population but make up over 40% of our prison population. Think about that. Think about how black families are often known for growing up without a father.
Dear future president,
The United States of America can't make it illegal to be black. Going back to the Civil War, slaves were freed due to the 13th amendment. It declared, "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." So, unless your a criminal, you're free. Countless African-American men found themselves back in chains in prison labor. The South's economy depended on the hard work of former slaves.
John Ehrliohman once said, ''The Nixon campaign in 1968 and the Nixon white House after that, had two enemies; the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it Illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily." White men planted drugs in the black community. They called us ''Super- predators". They promised the public to be tough on crime. These are the same white supremacist who are our police officers, doctors and lawyers.
We live in a society where a white man enters a church and kills 9 African-Americans but was never called a terrorist. 22 year old Dylan Roof was described by the media as "lonely" "quiet", and some say he has a mental illness. Well, Joseph Mann was suffering from a mental illness before he was shot by the police 16 times. 16 times. Dylan Roof was taken to Burger King by police officers before going to the jail house. If that's not white supremacy then think about David Becker. He is a teenager in Massachusetts accused of raping two - not one - two unconscious teens at a house party. He gets no jail time. No recorded conviction and not registered as a sex offender. His lawyer said, "We all make mistakes when we were 17, 18, 19 years old, and we shouldn’t be branded for life with a felony offense.” This makes me wonder, why is it so hard for America to arrest white males? I think its because black men who are caught with marijuana are taking up all the space.
Ilarie