Here some statistics that you might find shocking and disgraceful.
The first number is the percentage of Black Americans in the state and the second number is the percentage of Black Americans making up the prison population in that state.
Arkansas 16% Black - 52% in Prison
Georgia 29% Black - 64% in Prison
Louisiana 33% Black - 76% in Prison
Mississippi 36% Black - 75% in Prison
Alabama 26% Black - 65% in Prison
Tennessee 16% Black - 53% in Prison
Kentucky 7% Black - 36% in Prison
South Carolina 30% Black - 70% in Prison
North Carolina 22% Black - 64% in Prison
Virginia 20% Black - 68% in Prison
The above statistics are from Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. at the weekly meeting of Operation Rainbow/PUSH on 25 March 2011.
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I read Michelle Alexander book and I found it to be quite interesting.I dont agree with her statistic of the incarcerated African American males.From my research there are more whites incarcerated than African American males.I do agree with her that Injustcice System has created new laws to ensure when an African Americanans are incarcerated for most of their lives.The justice system was created to enslave black men.When you are black you are presumed guilty until you are proven innocent.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe that only a few African Americans reside down south. Yet still to this day the educated African Americans appear to be an enemy to the justice system. What ever happen to the mentors that would guide our younger generation?
ReplyDeleteAs I watched this video at work, I could tell that my two white co-workers were getting agitated and didn't want to hear it. However, I listen to them all day talking about black people's names,behavior,etc. Only about 10 mins into the video, my white coworker (whose dad is a white police officer) commented saying that "criminals are criminals" and that color doesn't matter. She also stated that white people go to jail when they break the law. She totally disreguarded the facts of how punishment differs among races. She also neglected the fact of police brutality and racial profiling against black men. She ended the conversation by saying race has nothing to do with my comments, I automatically defend policeman.
ReplyDeleteEven though I want to be appalled and shocked by the numbers, I remind myself that over 50 years ago, this was the Jim Crow South. Blacks went to jail for looking at someone the wrong way. Recently, I read "A Red Record" by Ida B. Wells, a pamphlet, I believe, that gave statistics and accounts of the lynchings in the south in the mid 1900s. These horror stories consists of petty crimes like talking back to a white man and graduate to crimes such as murder. I think blacks (men) going to jail in the south is a generational and cultural cycle that is so embedded in society that it's normal.
ReplyDeleteWhite people are alway agitated when you start speaking the truth of what they have done to black people.They often say lets forget about slavery and stop talking about the past and focus on the future.If they want to forget about slavery lets forget about George Washington and the Revolutionaty War.They are the same things except they are significants parts of history to different races. White people are hypocrits to me. Just as there are black men incarcerated there are white men incarcerated. The statistics that Michelle Alexander has with incarcerated black males are moreless black men in the south.Southern states exemplify more racism than other states.The Injustice System has been created to keep black men incarcerated.Most of the images of prisons are images of black males.
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