Black men in prison: To fix this problem we must fix the black family

I was reading an article by Earl Ofari Hutchinson entitled, "America's Prison Juggernaut Continues to Crush Black Males." In it, Ofari takes the central stance that "...High joblessness, failing public schools, budget cutbacks in skills training and placement programs, the refusal of employers to hire those with criminal records, and the gaping racial disparity in the drug sentencing laws are the major reasons why far more blacks than whites are behind bars."

Do you agree with this?

I'm not sure I do. Now, while I agree that these factors do play a role in crime for all races, I think other reasons are far more prominent. What about the role of the family? What about the absence of black fathers in the home or a positive role model in the male's life?

Black pastors, how do you feel about the role of family and black male crime?

Now, I don't know about your city, but here in Atlanta, news about black males committing crime doesn't seem to change, in good times and bad. To check out my notional feeling on this, I took the liberty of looking at some Bureau of Justice crime statistics for the years 1993 through 2009. What I found was interesting.

1993 - The incarceration rate of blacks was 7 times that of whites. At year end there were 1,471 black inmates per 100,000 black U.S. residents, compared to 207 white inmates per 100,000 white residents.

2000 - Among the more than 1.3 million sentenced inmates at year end, an estimated 428,300 were black males between the ages of 20 and 39. At year end 2000, 9.7% of black males age 25 to 29 were in prison, compared to 2.9% of Hispanic males and 1.1% of white males in the same age group.

2001 - Among the more than 1.3 million sentenced inmates at year end 2001, an estimated 441,700 were black males between the ages of 20 and 39. At year end 2001, 10.0% of black males age 25 to 29 were in prison, compared to 2.9% of Hispanic males and 1.2% of white males in the same
age group.

2002 - At year end, 10.4 % for black males age 25 to 29 were in prison.

2003 - At year end, 9.3% of black males age 25 to 29 were in prison.

2004 - About 8.4% of black males between ages 25 and 29 were in State or Federal prison

2005 - About 8.1% of black males age 25 to 29 were in State or Federal prison.

2007 - While the imprisonment rates for most groups increased during the past 7 years, the imprisonment rates for black males and black females decreased. At year end 2000, the black male imprisonment rate was 3,188 prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents. White men were imprisoned at a rate of 410 prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents. By year end 2007, the black male imprisonment rate had decreased to 3,138 prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents, while the white male imprisonment rate increased to 481 prisoners per 100,000 U.S. residents. These changes resulted in a decrease in the ratio of imprisoned black men to imprisoned white men. In 2000 the ratio was 8 to 1 and in 2007 the ratio was 7 to 1.

Again, joblessness and failing public schools may explain some crime. However, it falls far from an answer. Many feel that the black economic resurgence occurred when Bill Clinton was in office (January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001). If this is true, how would Hutchinson and others explain the rise in black crime rates during this period?

I think it's high time for the black community to seriously examine the core issues affecting crime in our community: absence of black fathers, absence of positive role models in the lives of many young black males, single mothers (may of whom are babies themselves) trying to raise a child, the negative images the media keeps pumping out to our youth, and the lack of personal responsibility and accountability in general.

Black moms, do you really think your kids can listen to much of today's music and watch many of today's videos and not be negatively affected? You tell me.

I tell you, I don't think we're going to fix this problem until we fix the black family.

Now tell me; what do you think? --IamRobert and I'm listening.