Now, at the age of 23, Chris is a college graduate on his way up the corporate ladder, and Taylor sits in an 8' X 12' cell, his home for the next 5 years.
What happened? What went wrong for Taylor in the years between kindergarten and adulthood? Who is responsible?
From the time each child left the house on that first day of school and reached beyond the boundaries of the family, their lives followed different paths.
On the first day of school, Chris' mom had a meeting, but Chris' dad, who was an executive with a locally-based, national insurance firm, took the morning off and drove Chris to school. Chris arrived with fresh haircut, and new outfit and backpack.
The classroom was well equipped with audio-visual aids including three computers, a wide variety of supplies, and unmarred desks and chairs. The piano sat behind a new area rug in bright colors that depicted the alphabet. Outside the large windows Chris could see a sprawling, multi-activity, play structure. Chris' school had a cafeteria, a gym, and a small auditorium that would be part of school life from 1st grade on. The grade school staff included two counselors, and a nurse and psychologist that were shared with one other school.
Taylor woke the first day of school full of enthusiasm. Best jeans and tee shirt were topped by new shoes bought on payday and stared at for subsequent days in anticipation of wearing them for the first time. The used backpack belonged to Taylor's older brother, James, and a prize possession since it sported the colors and logo of the state college basketball champs.
James fixed Taylor's breakfast as their father had already left for work and their mother was asleep after her night job. They walked the three blocks to school hand in hand.
Taylor's classroom was in a two story brick building. At the front door a man greeted the two and nodded to James to pass. They entered through the framework of a metal detector down a dimly light hall. Ahead Taylor could see the shine on the linoleum emanating from double glass doors chained at the other end. Taylor's classroom had no piano, no computer, no rug, limited supplies, and mismatched, but serviceable, desks and chairs. The grade school staff included one counselor and a nurse that was shared with the six grade schools in the district. The playground consisted of a basketball court, several marked off games on the blacktop and a set of six metal, strapped-seated swings.
Throughout their school years, Chris and Taylor experienced very different lives. Taylor's dad had worked at a box-making plant while going to night school at the local community college. Taylor's mom had worked full time and cleaned houses on the weekends during this time to make ends meet. Both of them worked hard toward becoming a part of the American Dream, an upper middle class, homeowner with comparable social life and economic stability.
After Taylor was born, his mother went to work nights in order to take care of him during the day. His father had completed his schooling and, now, worked days.
As a black accountant in an insurance firm, Taylor's dad was passed over several times for promotions in the following years. His mom, still, cleaned a few "regular's" houses on weekends. They had applied for a house loan but could only qualify for a subprime loan with monthly payments they couldn't afford while raising a family. They like many others were caught in the middle, earning too much to qualify for government programs that might have helped, directly or indirectly, through healthcare or childcare, and too little to put back, to save or invest on their own.
Chris was from a white, upper middle class home. Living in a school district with high property values and, therefore, a substantial tax base, afforded Chris a commendatory secondary education. And, with hard work and good grades, an Ivy League college followed.
Taylor's mother went to work in an upscale dress boutique once Taylor was in school full days. Not wanting to buy in an area where property values continued to fall and not being able to afford a house in a better neighborhood, the new job enabled them to put money aside to build a larger down payment for a house. That is, until a boutique patron found money missing from her purse and accused Taylor's mom, who lost her job on the patron's suspicions.
When Taylor was 8, his mother went back to work cleaning houses, leaving James, age 12, in charge. Over the years James' much-older, social group became Taylor's. By the time Taylor's parents realized they had a problem with James, his influence over Taylor was strong. Taylor had looked up to his brother all his life. James was cool, James had the answers. The "gang" of friends was not violent and, mostly, ran the neighborhood, sometimes shoplifting from the neighborhood convenience store or writing graffiti on street signs or sides of buildings. As long as Taylor kept his grades up, his parents looked no further for signs of trouble. And, Taylor himself saw his activities as "normal" compared to the activities of other youth in his neighborhood.
As Taylor's awareness of the outside world developed throughout high school, his awareness of the injustices of being black and poor began to grow bringing with it an anger and resentment for those more privileged. He saw how badly society had treated his parents and he saw other sons and daughters of white, affluent families driving nice cars, having nice clothes, the newest electronics or going on graduation cruises and obtaining admittance to prestigious colleges and universities. He was resentful and jealous and that fueled his anger. His personal examples of people "doing well" were pimps and drug dealers who sported fancy cars, expensive jewelry, and an air of success and confidence.
Taylor wasn't the only one at his school whose eyes smoldered from the inequalities they had suffered. Violence erupted in the halls and students formed tight groups after school either for safety in numbers or to intimidate. The school, and the system it functions within, had failed Taylor. As the institution that has the most affect on each child's life outside of the family during formative years, Taylor's time at school and the social structure that it reinforced created a hostile, depressing and, often, hopeless atmosphere. His family, loving and caring though they were, worked long hours and had many pressures. The seeds for bigger trouble were blowing in the wind.
So how did Chris and Taylor come to their individual circumstances at 23?
At 22, Taylor had moved to an apartment with his pregnant girlfriend and brother, James, and two friends. The economy was in a slump and many labor jobs were being eliminated. Taylor was laid off from this job at the local food processing plant. He worked, for a while, at a local fast food restaurant, but his peers felt he was selling out and lost respect for him. James and the other roommates were into petty crimes and drug dealing to pay their bills, and they always seemed to have money in their pockets. Taylor started selling marijuana. He refused to traffic in the crack cocaine of his neighborhood, feeling it was the scourge of his black brothers.
At this same time, Chris was just graduating college and a grand celebration was being planned. Marijuana was not unfamiliar to Chris either. There was an accepted attitude that partaking during last night study sessions and philosophical discussions was cool and part of being amongst the intellectuals.
The day of the party, one of Chris' friends suggested that they purchase marijuana for the celebration. Striking out with their usual connections, they headed for the seedier part of town to try their luck. After several inquiries, they were directed to Taylor who sold them 1 ounce.
Upon the exchange, all parties were arrested by the police who had been observing from nearby. Chris' dad hired a private attorney that was recommended by his employer; and as a first offense, Chris was allowed to enter a diversions program of drug-awareness classes. The result of completing the program was a complete expunging of the offender's record. The maximum sentence for his offense would have been 10 years.
Taylor had served 6 months for a first offense possession of marijuana at age 19. Although he qualified, there was no diversion offered to him. As his second offense, his public defender was not able to keep Chris out of prison and he was sentenced to 5 years. The maximum sentence for his offense would, also, have been 10 years.
Chris has put the unfortunate experience in the past, an indiscretion of youth. His biggest regret was missing his graduating party, a reward for his years of hard work. Taylor will live with his "unfortunate" experience every day for the next 5 years and beyond. In a three strike state, Taylor now has two strikes and one more could put him in prison for the rest of his life.
Black students are more likely to attend schools in areas with high concentrations of poverty. Because most of our school's revenues come from property taxes, school districts with the most poverty also have the poorest schools, with less qualified teachers, lower expectations and a less challenging curriculum. At the time of college admittance, these schools are not considered to have proper educational foundations for higher education. Even children who graduate from these schools with good grades have a hard time finding a college who wants them.
To make matters worse for the young adults who manage to graduate and are willing to take on the responsibilities of adulthood, the employment situation for labor jobs is dyer. With the passing of legislation and the implementation of policies that encouraged U.S. companies to move their labor production outside the country, unemployment rates for those in poverty, many of whom were African Americans, have been considerable. Recently the practice of doing credit checks for prospective employees has, also, hurt employment opportunities for the poor. And, with our recent economic woes that situation has deteriorated even further.
Add this to the fact that our justice system is biased towards blacks, and one can see why blacks made up 41 percent of the nation's prison and jail inmates in 2006. In the area of drug offenses alone, blacks make up 36.8% of those arrested for drug offenses, 42% of those in federal prisons for drug felonies, and 58% of those in state prisons for drug felonies. This despite the fact that there are estimated to be 5 times more white drug users than black. And of the persons convicted of drug felonies, blacks are more likely to go to prison (51%) than their white counterparts (38%).
Often targeted with racial profiling, a study from Maryland showed that, although comprising only 17.5% percent of the traffic and speeders on Interstate 95, African Americans comprised 70% of the traffic stops.
In states where the "three strikes" law exists, blacks are also unfairly targeted. Studies in Los Angeles and San Francisco showed that the three strikes law was applied to blacks at a rate 17 times higher than whites and 13 times higher than whites, respectively.
The answer to this inequality is not to increase prison incarceration for whites but to reduce the rate of incarceration for non-violent drug offenders in lieu of drug treatment and job training.
The results of the current policies are:
• 1,559,200 children has a father in prison at midyear 2007; nearly half (46%) were children of black fathers.
• A majority of parents in both State (62%) and Federal (84%) prison were held more than 100 miles from their last place of residence."
• Because census data includes an inmate's residence as the state in which they are incarcerated, every dollar transferred to a 'prison community' due to the county's population, is a dollar that is not given to the home community of a prisoner. These communities are among the most disadvantaged urban areas and the most in need of aid. For example, in New York State, 2/3 of the inmate population comes from New York City but 91% are housed in prison in upstate New York.
• Throughout the 80's and 90s, the number of prisons grew from 600 to over 1,000. Ten states had more than 20 new prisons with Texas topping the list at 120. And even with the increase, the currently prison system is operating at 32% over capacity. This, in part, is due to mandatory minimum sentencing for non-violent drug users.
• The nonviolent prisoner population in America is larger than the combined populations of Wyoming and Alaska.
• There are three times as many black people who live in prison cells as in college dorms
• Overcrowding and unchecked health issues have resulted in an AIDS rate 3 times higher than the general population, and positive or latent tuberculosis cases 50-100% higher
• The average cost of housing an inmate at a state prison is $67.55/day or $24,000/year. Per day states spend over $17million to house non-violent drug offenders, over $6trillion per year. For every dollar spent on incarceration, one less dollars is available for education, or health care. Federal spending is estimated to be $3billion.
• Department of corrections data show that about a fourth of those initially imprisoned for nonviolent crimes are sentenced a second time for committing a violent offense. Even if the current system doesn't cultivate violence, it can be seen that it doesn't help to reduce violent habits.
• As the Hispanic population becomes significant enough to warrant studies, the same pattern of judicial bias is emerging.
Marc Morial, former New Orleans mayor, feels that "conservatives blame a lack of family values while liberals blame a lack of government programs, with neither side seeing the whole picture." He believes that minority students need more early children education, longer school days and years, and meaningful summer jobs. "We need to get serious about true investment on the front end."
U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) points out that we are sending huge numbers of blacks to prison only to have them return to society with no jobs or job skills, no quality of life, and a growing environment of unrest and crime. "It warns us that we are risking an entire generation of African-American young men."
Maybe Chris will feel differently after trying to buy a first home and finding that her sex is working against her in a way that can't be ignored. Until now socialization has blinded Chris to any disadvantages to her male counterparts that she may have experienced.
Reflecting on Taylor and Chris and their paths to adulthood, is the future any brighter for Taylor with a strike two, felony conviction and limited education? Will Chris ever be enlightened to the inequalities that her privilege manifests? And more importantly, will she act upon whatever insight she does gain?
Although each of us is an individual with freedom to make choices concerning our paths in life, the playing field is not equal for all. We must always try to be aware of our circumstances in relation to others, and we must act upon the inequalities that are revealed to us throughout life.
---
1 Common Sense for Drug Policy: Race and Prison. http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/64. Copyright 2000-2008.
2 Associated Press: More blacks Latinos in jail than college dorms, "Civil right advocates say Census Bureau figures are startling, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21001543/. September 2007.
3 Racial fairness questioned "4 in 10 young black men caught in justice system? " http://www.casaplumeria.com/rapsheet/race.htm . Prensa Pacifica: Ocean Park, Ca. Copyright 1996.
Collapse