(via Theo Spark)
Here's what he leaves out:
(via A Large Regular)*There are more African Americans under correctional control today -- in prison or jail, on probation or parole -- than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.
*As of 2004, more African American men were disenfranchised (due to felon disenfranchisement laws) than in 1870, the year the Fifteenth Amendment was ratified, prohibiting laws that explicitly deny the right to vote on the basis of race.
* A black child born today is less likely to be raised by both parents than a black child born during slavery. The recent disintegration of the African American family is due in large part to the mass imprisonment of black fathers.
*If you take into account prisoners, a large majority of African American men in some urban areas have been labeled felons for life. (In the Chicago area, the figure is nearly 80%.) These men are part of a growing undercaste -- not class, caste -- permanently relegated, by law, to a second-class status. They can be denied the right to vote, automatically excluded from juries, and legally discriminated against in employment, housing, access to education, and public benefits, much as their grandparents and great-grandparents were during the Jim Crow era.
Republicans and conservatives need to man up and recognize the deep pit of FAIL that the War On Drugs has put us in.
Thing is, being a felon is a choice, not something forced upon you by a greater power.
ReplyDeleteJim
The destruction of the black family correlates 1:1 with the rise of the welfare state. If you subsidize something you get more of it... Used to work with a black electrical engineer, who said fixing that problem was his life's calling.
ReplyDeleteNext time you can, listen to the 60's song "Love Child" by the Supremes and pay attention to the lyrics. Dianna Ross was not singing about today's black culture, that's for sure.
He forgot to mention all the politicians who get paid off by the drug lords.
ReplyDeleteHow many tons of coke was that in one consignment?
ReplyDeleteand some muppets think a gun ban would work?
What greybeard said....
ReplyDeletePlus...
The thing is, Those felons CHOSE to be felons. THe culture of not following laws is part ofthe black culture more than in any other race. If they choose to not follow the rules of society, then they choose to be felons.
But this is, I think, still a part of the result of the welfare state. When there is no incentive for a woman to have a husband around, then she has no father for her children, just a sperm donor. Thus there is less influence on the children to learn what a father teaches. And more lawlessness.
I don't feel sorry for felons. I feel sorry for their victims. It doesn't make me lose any sleep to think that felons are prohibited from owning guns, voting or anything else. These people chose to commit crimes. Plus with all the down grades to lesser offenses, you really have to go out of your way to get convicted of a felony, especially in the busy cities. I normally enjoy your blog but this post was ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThis post makes is sound like blacks in America are having a harder time now than during slavery. I have to assume that the black population is slightly larger now than during slavery so you can't compare a 2010 inmate statistic to a 1860 slavery census. Although there are definitely still problems to be overcome in the black community and doing so is by no means easy, it is not all doom and gloom.
ReplyDeleteMore blacks graduate from college than ever before.
There are more black owned businesses than ever before.
The median income for black families is higher than ever before.
We have a black President for God's sake!
Although America has a long way to go before we have true equality, we have made significant progress and blacks are certainly MUCH better off in America today than during the slavery era. Try to be more realistic.