A black man is more likely to go to prison than to college?

Question

I just read this statistic in a paper today, and I was curious. Why do you think this is, is it societies fault? Is it a lack of personal resonsibility? What do you think the reason is.

By the way I have quite a few black friends that I love and highly respect, and a lot of them feel really ashamed by the actions of other black men, so sorry no racism just curious about why this is.

The statistics come from the justice policy institute, which is a non profit group located in DC dedicated to reducing the numbers of peoples in prison, they work closely with the NAACP.

Answer 1

Hmmmm.....
M.C don't believe everything you read.

Answer 2

This was actually something that came up in a criminal justice class I took years ago. There are as many reasons as people for the disparity, but generally speaking the environment a person grows up in has a huge impact on education and/or other choices.

Unfortunately, a fair amount of young black males are raised in single-parent households & have a lot of free time, but not a lot of local opportunities to do anything positive with that free time.

As the base of single-parent poverty continues to increase among all ethnic groups, that portion of the disparity is likely to diminish, however, the disproportionate amount of arrests may take more time.

For all lower income groups, the opportunities to achieve just aren't as available. The poor industrial neighborhoods suffer from "the broken window effect," wherein the vandalism and crime rate increase at roughly the same rate the people who can afford to move out do so. This leaves behind less money & resources for community centers, libraries, etc. The cycle can perpetuate itself in future generations for lack of any other examples to follow.

It's not a cop-out, and there is an element of choice and personal responsibility that comes into play; however, if all you know is what you've seen - how do you find another way?

Answer 3

When I was in school I did a report on racial profiling for my criminal justice class. The class was taught by a white ex- police captain. You'd be surprised how common this is, and I got an A on the report.

One reason is the funding. Not everyone qualifies for financial assistance believe it or not.

There is also the environment that plays a huge role in the choices you make. I find that minorities who grow up in a mixed neighborhood, with a solid family support sys turn out to be more productive. Some go on to college, some get good jobs.

Being raised in a poor neighborhood, many with only parent can leave a child with too much time to get into the wrong things. Then u have older boys trying to lure the younger ones into gangs & drugs and the gang now becomes their family.

Black ppl have to take responsibility for the actions they choose to take in their lives, but white ppl must not ignore the unseen hand on the black community. Racial profiling & planting drugs in black neighborhoods is very REAL. You can turn a blind eye & say blacks are just complaining, but that makes it no less real.

Answer 4

Tell those black friends that you have who are good people to grab hold of a few of these young men who are becoming lost in crime and drugs and put them on the right path. Some of these young black men just need some moral support from caring people. Not necessarily money, but encouragement. There is nothing wrong with being poor, but you don't have to be trashy. Wear clean clothes even if they are second hand. Keep your house clean even if everything in it is old. Take care of what you have and God will give you more. Put God first and everything else falls in place. The Lord does not let the righteous do without. He gives them everything that they need. Not always what they want, but what they need.

Answer 5

You have to think of the person's situation, rather than disposition when dealing with situations like these.
In many cases, the grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles,etc are uneducated, thus, the importance of education is not relayed. So, if the importance of education is not there, it is simply not there. Because, education is not always the priority, it goes overlooked. Many times, people don't know how to fill out a college application with an essay, let alone where to obtain one from. Many do not know of FAFSA and that they can pay for it(fyi, you only get FAFSA if you had no drug-related charges and this applies to males only).
That could also be a flaw in the school systems. When I applied for college, I could ask my parents for their opinions or if I did not know something, they probably knew and that's because they are beyond college educated. If my parents happened to be a couple who did not value education, neither would I.

Answer 6

Society plays apart but it all still comes down to choices. There are many black men who have come out of bad living conditions and situations to grow up to be outstanding people. I think it is the lack of ambition. A lot of black males I see don't have life,altering goals. And the fields of work they think are the best for black men are sports, music, and TV/acting careers. Considering that it is extremely hard to get into either one they rarely have any other goals to fall back on. They should stop making some many excuses about "the man", and neighborhoods, and lack of educational opportunity. Their are many scholarships out there and programs that are willing to help these guys get into college. It just takes a little ambition--scratch that-- it takes a lot of ambition and hard work, and they just need to take responsibility for their lives.

Answer 7

We underestimate how much our background effects us. Most of us white people have enjoyed a better starting out point in life. It has nothing to do with race, since we are all born with equal potential.

It has more to do with expectations. People will do what they are expected to do, and they will survive the way they have learned to survive. The city I live in is a major city that is more than 50% black. Many neighborhoods here haven't recovered from the crack epidemic. People in the wealthy surrounding suburbs who have the ability to help are afraid to. There are a lot of kids who were born of addicted mothers and were sort of "adopted" by gangs, and grew up running drugs to survive. Some were never enrolled in school and are sort of off of society's radar, no birth certificate no ID. There are more abandoned houses than there are homeless people. People wonder why we were burning down houses during the riots in the early 90s. Well thats why. How do you teach a kid who has been raised in this way that they are worth something better? Where do you even start if you can even get them to trust you?

Anyways...thats the short answer. There is still hope though. Things will get better.

Answer 8

It's because we get pulled over the most! My husband had just come back from Iraq and I was teaching preschool at the time when we were pulled over and had guns drawn on us and ****** inches away from my face! If I had've sneezed or coughed I would've been dead because the female cop with her gun on me was a rookie! I burst out crying with my hands up. My husband got really upset from seeing me cry and they put him in the squad car. We were only pulled over for speeding but the cops said that a cop was just shot in that area and I guess we fit a description. They felt kind of stupid after checking our clean records. The female cop apologized but the male cop sarcastically said, "Well, here's my badge number, I'm sure you're gonna want to make a complaint." Then they left. I've never felt so humiliated in all of my life! None of my white friends can relate to that. I know black men who get arrested all the time because their drivers license is showing suspended in the system because when they paid for their tickets it didn't go thru or something stupid. But why does it only happen to my black friends? This has happened at least to 10 of them. And I've had friends who have stayed in jail for up to a week while the police and DMV and whoever else got their stuff straight. One friend even lost his job from that happening. And why do there seem to be more black men who have been wrongly convicted and set free due to DNA tests? It's much deeper than what everyone thinks.

Answer 9

My thought is, we still have a ways to go. I have faith that in time, maybe even in my lifetime those statistics will reverse.

Now as to why so many young black men choose crime? Fathers. Young black men who grow up without a father at home are more likely to commit crimes and have children outside of marriage.

Black men often don't recognize their significance in the lives of their children. Without love, structure and guidance of a father, it's foreseeable that black youths might take troublesome even dangerous paths.

Black men have long been considered a menace even while enslaved, shackled and beaten. Has a self fulfilling prophecy been fulfilled?

Answer 10

I could agree that information are significant. yet as a black lady i'm leery of this city legend, it hets banted around way too in lots of circumstances. i'm too lazy to truly look it up. i ask your self nevertheless do they think approximately racially inequal rules like crack vs. cocaine and poverty information. unfavorable uneducated individuals are extra possibly to devote crimes. era. It has no longer something to do with race. What upsets me extra is whilst White suburbanites make jokes approximately race. A acquaintances' sister instructed me a "humorous tale" approximately how all Black adult adult males are toddler daddies and you recognize they do no longer know any Black fathers. for advantageous, i did no longer giggle. Oooh you took day holiday of gazing intense college Musical to video show some guess and/or the Cosby teach and swiftly you recognize each thing related to the Black journey? I desire human beings might supply up conversing till they tutor themselves. it is going to likely be a regulation.

Answer 11

well college is expensive these days.
add to that. The government is cutting pell grants while building bigger prisons so what do you think they are trying to do?

the fact is, they have been saying this (more Black men in prison than in college) for decades, but only recently has this been close to true. It seems to me that they were determined to make this a reality. The part of the story that is untold is this: The rate at which black males enter college as been steadily increasing. However, the rate at which we are getting locked up is increasing at an even faster rate.

Im sure if I told you the legacy of racism was the cause you would scoff at such a notion. So scoff away my friend.