slavery and today

African Americans today are subjected to an enormous amount of discrimination that can be seen in a variety of ways in American society. One of the clearest depictions of this is shown through the African American presence in United States prisons. Black people make up about 15% of the US population, yet they make up 50% of the population of jails. One in nine African Americans are in jail, the vast majority of which are men. It is 2007, almost 150 years since the 13th amendment was passed, and yet a large percentage of black people are without their freedom. One of the largest problems facing African Americans today is that they live in neighborhoods that are conducive to criminal behavior.

Many of these children grow up in impoverished households where the father is in jail. They seek out drug dealing or robbery as a way to make a quick buck, to help their families and themselves. These children get older and are eventually arrested where they get circulated into the prison system. They go into jail where they join gangs for protection and become forced to develop the violent behavior that is necessary to survive. Prison becomes a school where these African American children are taught how to survive on the streets. Once they leave prison they are thrown back out on the streets with little education and a very limited career choice because of their criminal offence. The choice arises whether to pursue a minimum wage job at a McDonalds or to go back to the streets where they can pull in thousands of dollars a week selling drugs. It is from here that many of these men become repeat recidivists.

Black people as a whole still do not have the foundation that they need to thrive and much of this is due to the poor development of neighborhoods as well as the strong biases that still exist in this country against minorities. Many of these children are born into a world where they are immediately at a disadvantage. We need to end this impossible cycle and it starts by giving these African American children the choice to pursue a more constructive path in life. Slavery came about because of the US government, and 150 years later it is the government’s job to provide African Americans with the solutions they need to have same footing in life as white people.