In 2012, the United States Censors Bureau reported that 78% of America’s population was Caucasian while 14% were Black. According to the NAACP “African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population, and African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites.” Michelle Alexander does a great job of pointing out how law enforcement is targeting the Black community. Chapter 3 The Color of Justice investigated the ways that a supposedly race-neutral Criminal Justice system ended up focusing on disproportionately “black and brown men.” From these findings we can conclude that something is inherently wrong with the Criminal Justice system.
In my opinion, the real consequence set in when Blacks are denied the rights to vote or receive public housing because of convictions. Theoretically prisons are made for rehabilitation but ex-offenders return to society without the assistance they need to turn a new leaf. The war on drugs is hurting the community, people are suffering and something needs to be done about it. Post a comment and let me know how you feel. See you in the next post covering the Cruel Hand.
