Are More Black Men in College or in Jail - Research Paper Example

Are More Black Men in College or in Jail? The answer to the title of this paper’s question is short and easy to answer, about an equal number in each but the reasons are varied and not easy to rationalize. This unfortunate fact of American life is actually good news because imagine if this question were answered 50, 100 or 150 years ago. The balance is trending toward the positive; more black males in college rather than prison but this encouraging trend makes the reality of today’s, not to mention yesterday’s sad statistics no less deplorable to consider. Statistics, in any given situation, can be manipulated so as to support a particular argument. Neither the original question nor the answer accounts for age. If only black males of college age are considered then much fewer are in prison rather than in school. Also, the number of black males telecommuting, taking classes online, cannot be quantified. This is why some studies show slightly more black males in prison than in college. Still, this clarification does not lessen the astonishing realization that something is very wrong about a society where such a disproportion exists in its criminal justice and educational systems. Realizing this unfortunate reality of our society is the objective of the question. The answer begs the question why. A one word reaction might be racism. Institutional racism, Jim Crow laws of the South for example, has been outlawed for more than half a century but, rather ironically, racism within the nation’s justice system continues and is the root cause for as many black men being in prison as in college. Anyone who has tuned into to watch the documentary of a prison, even for just a few minutes becomes instantly aware that black males are disproportionately represented within the prison population. Black males comprise approximately 6.5 percent of the general population yet one-third of the prison population, more than any other ethnic group. (Thomas, Ryan, 2008) When classified according to ethnicity, a broad disparity within the justice system is obvious. “At midyear 2003 there were 4,834 black male prisoners per 100,000 black males in the United States in prison or jail, compared to 1,778 Hispanic male inmates per 100,000 Hispanic males and 681 white male inmates per 100,000 white males” (“Prison Statistics” 2006) This overrepresentation of black males in prison is the opposite of that within institutions of higher learning. Of all ethnic groups black males experience the lowest graduation rate. A white male has a 60 percent chance of completing college in six years after starting school. A black male has about a 33 percent chance of graduating in six years. Research an studies performed during the past two decades have shown that the country’s educational curriculum is designed for those who experiences the white culture and consequently not adequately suited for black males especially those growing up in disadvantaged neighborhoods. According to the Manhattan Institute’s Education Research Office, “fewer than one in five students of color have graduated from high school, have a set of college-prep courses on their high school transcripts and ‘demonstrate basic literacy,’ the necessities for being ‘college ready’” (Alexander, 2004). Part of the explanation that as many black males are in college as are in prison can be traced to state and federal government’s ‘get tough on crime’ policies, in particular the ‘drug war,’ that began in earnest during in the 1980’s. During the past 30 years, our society has witnessed an unparalleled escalation of federal and state and inmates. “Between 1980 and 1993, the number of persons incarcerated in these institutions grew from 329,000 to 949,000. By 1995 over 1.5 million people were in prison.” (Gilliard & Beck, 1996). By year end 2008 that number had jumped to 2.3 million and it increases every day. (Martineau, 2008) That’s 329,000 to 2.3 million in 28 years. This explosion of the inmate population was triggered by sentencing reforms, especially the much maligned mandatory minimum sentences. According to the Justice Policy Institute, a Washington D.C. based research group, in 1980, 143,000 black males were incarcerated in prisons, 463,700 were enrolled in college. The ill-conceived and futile ‘war on drugs’ has added significantly to the inmate population. Black males have been most affected as this group is more likely to be profiled, detained, arrested and incarcerated than are other ethnicities. Vincent Schiraldi, President of the Justice Policy Institute, noted “the report found that the number of black men in jail or prison grew three times as fast from 1980 to 2000 as the rise in the number of black men in colleges and universities.” However, the focal point of the study was not the explanation of why the black male population in prison increased so quickly. “Some experts suggested as one explanation a rise in the number of black men serving time (relates to) drug offenses” (Butterfield, 2002). John Jay University in Manhattan Professor Todd Clear of the College of Criminal Justice proposes that “there has been a public policy far overemphasizing investment in criminal justice instead of in education for this population.” (Butterfield, 2002). According to Hilary O. Shelton, Director of the NAACP, Washington D.C. Chapter said, “It is sad that our states are finding it easier to contribute more to incarcerating our men and women and creating a downward spiral of poverty and destitution rather than investing through our educational system to create an upward spiral of accomplishment and achievement” (Butterfield, 2002). These statistics along with many others factors indicate that racism undoubtedly exists in our society as evidenced by the criminal justice and educational system. Inequality is the virtually unavoidable by-product of two existing dynamics, bigotry on the individual level and a political discrepancy on a societal level. All U.S. citizens benefit from lawfully assured equality but the equalities pertaining to ethnic minorities and the criminal justice system are indisputably lacking. Members of a minority, whether ethnic or racial, are vulnerable groups who disproportionately cope with persecution, subjective incarceration, aggressive treatment by law officers, and imbalanced treatment in the justice system. “Ostensibly race or descent-neutral laws can have a disparate impact on vulnerable minorities or even majorities as a consequence of prosecutorial discretion, or sentencing policies, or the nature of the law itself” (Human Rights Watch, 2001). At the local and national policing level, minority inequities occur from long-standing practices such as racial profiling where a person’s presumed ethnic group, usually the color of their skin, is the determining cause for them being considered suspicious. The justice system has the great potential for a groundless discriminatory result even where no obvious racist intent is obvious. “Discriminatory impact can be shown in patterns of police abuse, arbitrary arrest, incarceration, prosecution, and sentencing” (Human Rights Watch, 2001). Racism as an ideology is as diverse in practice as it is illogical in principle therefore too complicated to describe by a single definition. It infiltrates the root of societies and is replicated in all its behavior attitudes and, sadly its institutions as well. The perception of racism may be subconscious or conscious and is expressed in attitudes or actions instigated by persons, groups, or institutions that deal with other persons unfairly simply due to the color of their skin. The responsibility of individuals in addition to political and social interests is to ensure all persons regardless of cultural circumstances are recognized and treated impartially in the justice system. Racism breeds diminished opportunities for ethnic minorities and is the explanation as to why about as many black males attend college as are in prison today. Works Cited Alexander, Bill. “Number of black men in college dwindle” MSNBC (January 14, 2004). December 7, 2010 Butterfield, Fox. “Study Finds Big Increase in Black Men as Inmates Since 1980” The New York Times (August 28, 2002) December 7, 2010 Gilliard, Darrell K. & Beck, Allen J. Prison and Jail Inmates, 1995. Washington D.C.: Bureau of Justice Statistics. (1996). “Institutional Prevention and Remedy, Discrimination in Criminal Justice.” Human Rights Watch Delegation to the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related. (September 7, 2001). December 7, 2010 Martineau, Jarrett. “U.S. Has World's Highest Number of Prisoners” Now Public (April, 2008). December 7, 2010 “Prison Statistics” Bureau of Justice Statistics US Department of Justice (May 2006). December 7, 2010 Thomas, Pierre, Ryan, Jason. “U.S. Prison Population Hits All-Time High: 2.3 Million Incarcerated” ABC World News (June 6, 2008) December 7, 2010 Read More