February 27,2013
The
Portland Observer Black History Month
Page 17
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Don’t Lose Focus on Justice Issues
Progress
celebrated with
much work still
ahead
by D r . E lsie
L. S cott
This year, we are
celebrating the 150th
A n n iv ersary o f the
Emancipation Procla­
mation and the 50th Anniversary of
the March on Washington. As Af­
rican-Americans, we are pleased
that this country has progressed
from the forced enslavement of our
race to the removal of the Jim Crow
laws and practices.
We are also celebrating the re-
election of a man of African descent
to a second term as President of the
United States. There is a lot to cel­
ebrate in 2013, but there i s still much
work ahead.
One area that is seriously flawed
and that requires the attention of
more than the progressive move­
ment is the "justice system."
It is commonly known that the
U.S. incarcerates more of its citizens
than any other industrialized coun­
try. The fact that a disproportion­
ate number of the persons ar­
rested, convicted and imprisoned
are African-Americans is trou­
bling.
According to the Bureau of
Justice Statistics, in 2010, 4,347
out of every 100,000 black males
were incarcerated in a state, federal
or local facility. This number is seven
times higher than the number of
white males incarcerated.
In 2010, African-Americans, at
13.1 percent of the U. S. population,
made up 38 percent of the total state
prison population. Hispanic-Ameri­
cans, at 16.7 percent of the U. S.
population, made up 21 percent of
the state prison population. Com­
pare those statistics to white Ameri­
cans, at 78.1 percent o f the U. S.
population, made up only 34 per­
cent of the total state prison popu­
lation.
A review of the arrest data also
indicates that blacks are more likely
to be convicted and sentenced to
time in prison than whites. Similarly,
an examination of felony conviction
data shows that black felony con­
victions are more likely-to result in
incarceration than white felony con­
victions.
Why are such large numbers of
blacks in prison? To answer that
question one needs to drill down
into the issue of race, arrests and
convictions. Almost any black man
can tell a story of being stopped by
the police under questionable cir­
cumstances.
As long as many see the image of
crime as a black man, this country
will struggle with addressing race in
the criminal justice system. Young
black boys will continue to be placed
in the prison pipeline’ beginning
with childish pranks until society
returns school discipline to the
school system.
Prisons will continue to be full of
black men until investments are made
in removing the barriers that are con­
tributing to school dropouts because
two-thirds of school dropouts end
up in the criminal justice system.
In recent years, there has been a
reduction in the number of persons
incarcerated. Now, action must be
taken to address the problems faced
by persons released from prison.
Laws and ordinances that prevent
ex-inmates from securing housing
and employment are impediments
to them becoming productive citi­
zens. Their paths to restoration must
begin with reinstating their civil
rights, especially their right to vote.
So as we celebrate the freedom
and equality anniversaries, let us
not lose focus on the justice issues
that still loom before us.
Dr. Elsie L. Scott is founding
director o f the Ronald W. Walters
Center at Howard University.
by M arc M orial
which most middle and working class
families simply cannot afford. And
because of funding inequities, many
urban students spend their entire
educational lives playing catch-up
in run-down schools with over-bur­
dened teachers.
This inequality is not only im­
periling the futures of millions of
public school children, it is jeop­
ardizing America’s ability to de­
velop a workforce capable of com­
peting in the 21st century global
marketplace.
As Jonathan Kozol wrote eight
years ago in hi s landmark book, The
Shame of a Nation, “There is some­
thing deeply hypocritical in a soci­
ety that holds an inner-city child
only eight years old, accountable
for her performance on a high stakes
standardized exam but does not hold
the high officials of our government
accountable for robbing her of what
they gave their own kids six or seven
years before.”
President Obama proposes to
level the playing field. He envisions
a continuum of high-quality early
learning for a child - beginning at
birth and continuing to age five. In
a cost sharing partnership with
states, governm ent funded pre­
school would be extended to all four
year-olds from low and moderate-
income families below 200 percent
of poverty.
The President’s proposal comes
as the March 1 “sequestration”
budget cut is fast approaching. If
Congress and the White House fail
to com e to an agreem ent, our
economy could face another reces­
sion and the education of many
urban children will be further weak­
ened. A ccording to the W hite
House, 70,000young children would
be shut out of Head Start and as
many as 10,000 teachers could lose
their jobs. We must not let that
happen.
Last year, with the release o f the
National Urban League’s eight-
point plan to Educate, Employ and
Empower, we made the point that
any serious discussion about the
In his r e c e n t
State of the Union
Address, President
O bam a proposed
one of the most im­
portant and proven
strategies for ex­
panding educational opportunity
and closing the achievement gap in
our nation’s public schools — uni­
versal quality pre-school that is af­
fordable and accessible to all.
We applaud the President for
making this a national priority.
The National Urban League and
many others have long understood
that if America is to achieve the
vision of a globally competitive
nation, we can no longer accept that
the quality of education is based
primarily on your zip code or the size
of your bank account.
The availability of early learning
opportunities for children is a sig­
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throughout their academic careers.
Early interventions for the young­
N ame : ___________ ___
est learners also provide a critical
T elephone : ___________
ladder to responsible adulthood and
the jobs of the future.
A ddress : ____________
Many affluent parents spend tens
of thousands of dollars each year to
provide quality pre-school experi­
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503-288-0033
|
Really excellent review of Alien
Boy by Judge Darleen Ortega in
the Portland Observer (Opinion­
ated Judge, new arts & entertain­
ment column, Feb. 20 issue). I
chatted with her at the media
screening and she said she was
going to write som ething. I
laughed thinking her claim was
some judge-vanity thing. And it
is, but she sees good movies, has
good taste and good hard opin­
ions. Very nice. You need to set
her up with screeners for next year’s
African Film Fest. There are al­
ways gems there but set amidst
junk. She could pick it out and
direct us (we film watchers) to get
to the best.
Jason Renaud, Mental Health
Association o f Portland - and
producer of Alien Boy: The Death
and Life of James Chasse
High Quality Pre-school for Every Child
Obama’s
proposal a
proven strategy
Opinionated
Judge
creation of jobs and economic op­
portunity must account for the ba­
sic shortcomings of our current
national approach to education, from
early childhood to adulthood and
beyond.
We said that robust early child­
hood education for every chi Id must
be an essential part of the solution.
President Obama agrees. We urge
Congress to act quickly to make it a
reality.
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Marc Morial is president and
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