In Chicago, the majority of working-age African American men have criminal records and are subject to legalized discrimination for the rest of their lives. What is taking place in Chicago is not much different from other large cities in the United States. These Black men are children, parents, siblings, family members, friends and community members. More importantly, these are humans who have had their humanity stripped away from them through a caged experience and through discriminatory systems and practices that control, contain and limit access to various opportunities and positive life trajectories.
Some remain caged for the duration of their lives while others are released only to enter into other cages of mental and physical containment. Structures to control and contain people both mentally and physically are supported by the laws and other institutions to limit the formerly incarcerated from accessing basic needs for survival upon release. When examined through the lens of race and when looking at the historical trajectory of these issues and occurrences, we know that the current laws are created to control and contain Black minds and limit the movement of Black bodies. It not enough to point to examples of people who “made it.” “Making it” in the United States, as a Black person, has a prerequisite of internalizing White racism (culture and beliefs) and fails to speak to the Black race as a whole. When we point to people of color who have established a, seemingly, successful life, we are also stating that it is not the norm for the group to be successful. Too many of Black people, are not “making it” but are living in slave-like conditions in 2011. I can’t remember being asked to list all of the White people who have “made it” in society but am constantly asked to consider Black people who have. What does that tell us?
As an educator, I’m not convinced that education is enough. Being Black in the United States can easily trump all of the education a Black person could acquire and all of the accolades received. As a physical marker, race carries assumptions and meaning.
If the trends continue, 1 out of every 3 African American boys born today can expect to go to jail in their lifetime. This statistic is true regardless of education, regardless of class, regardless of parental support. The primary factor that can negatively trump all of these factors is race and more specifically, being born Black and male in the United States. National ACT and SAT data shows that even the wealthiest Black students do not achieve as high as the poorest White students on standardized assessments in the United States. While there is a tendency to point to a range of factors, race is screaming loud and clear but for some reason, we think we are a post-racial society. All data from institutions in the United States shows stark racial disparities, why would believe anything different?
There is a history of fear surrounding the idea of free Black men” that has contributed to the condition of Black men today dating all the way back to slavery which is why there are more African Americans under correctional control today (in prison or jail, on probation or parole) than were enslaved in 1850.
Education has direct implications on the ways that Black men and women are “tracked” into lifestyles that lead to incarceration. Education in the United States was not created for everyone to access. Black people were not the intended population to receive an education.
I think about my relatives and friends who have gotten swept away in the system of mass incarceration. One relative is 34 and will spend the rest of his natural life incarcerated after receiving a 70-year sentence. Since the age of 17, he has been under correctional supervision. Over the years, he has had been in and out of jail. I think about the times that he came home and struggled to find a job and support his children. There are few companies and businesses jumping to hire the formerly incarcerated. With the pressures of survival weighing heavy on him and others, the lure of fast money is not only appealing but becomes the only way to survive and maintain a level of manhood and dignity, as ironic as it may sound. Being the last one hired, although reluctantly, and the first one fired, the chances of obtaining and maintaining employment is slim to none. Public assistance for housing is unavailable, the right to vote for improvements in legislation is denied, jobs are not readily available and a reliance on generational wealth and privilege to fall back on is not an option. Once again, race separates Black men and White men from the ways they experience life and in the United States whether they were incarcerated, formerly incarcerated or never incarcerated.
What would you do?
I think about the role of education but realize that for many of the Black and Brown students in the United States, particularly Black students, obtaining an education, is a struggle. Literacy and levels of reading proficiency as indicated through third grade assessment scores are used predict the number of prisons that are needed and built. With White cultural norms at the center of all educational institutions, we should not be surprised that there are racial disparities in achievement in our schools. The experiences and cultural values of White people are normalized in schools and they are validated in the ways the day is structured, the teaching that takes place and in the spoken and “unspoken” curriculum(s) of the school. Non-White people are left to negotiate and assimilate or are left on the periphery of achievement if they choose not to assimilate or if they do not have learn how to “play the game.”
Not convinced, consider the following:
- Which racial groups make up the lowest academic tracks in most diverse schools?
- Which students are achieving the lowest on standardized assessments in your school?
- What is the primary race of students in the self-contained Special Education classes in your local school district?
- What is the race and gender of students in your local school district with the most disciplinary infractions…and suspensions?
- Compare the achievement data, disciplinary infractions and graduation rates between the White males and Black males in your local school district.
What can we do to dismantle the school to prison pipeline?
What can we do to help our students to negotiate what W.E.B. DuBois refers to as a “double-consciousness” and achieve success in our schools?
What can we do to fight for the humanity of the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated?
Let’s Talk About It?
