Poverty and the New Jim Crow

According to the Children’s Defense Fund, 16.1 million children were affected by poverty in 2011. CDF’s research reflects that one in five children are poor with 38.8 percent who are black, 12.5 percent who are white, and 49.7 of other race.  Over 3.5 times as many black children live in extreme poverty compared to white children. This is the “New Jim Crow” and this cycle repeats itself over and over to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. 

Extreme poverty is designated when a family of four is limited to $11,511 or less a year.  Since 2002, the number of black children in poverty has increased tremendously by about 675,000. In 2011, studies show that 4.3 million black children are living in poverty. Over 42 percent of young black children (under the age of five) are poor compared to 15 percent of white children.

Poverty also affects the family structure.  Poverty breaks the family bond and separates siblings from each other.  Younger children ultimately get caught living a life of violence, because of the stress associated with poverty.  “Poverty is the worse form of violence,” as Mahatma Gandhi once stated.

The U. S. Census Bureau indicates that sixty percent of poor black families have one family member that’s working.  With below average incomes coming into the household, the system forces many parents not to marry. 

Marian Wright Edelman once said, “Far less wealthy industrialized countries have committed to end child poverty, while the United States is sliding backwards. We can do better. We must demand that our leaders do better.”  When we work to change policies that create a permanent underclass, the New Jim Crow will end.

Yeeling Lor is a senior at Osborn Evergreen Academy.  He is a graduate of the Youth Initiatives Project’s Leadership Institute and a member of a special task force dedicated to addressing social justice issues affecting youth of color.

The Unknown Story of the Black Male

Family violence, gun violence, and community violence push children into the hands of the prison pipeline. The number of black children and teens killed by gun violence from 1979 to 2009 is nearly 13 times the number of black men, women, and children of all ages lynched between 1882 and 1968.

Did you know? Black children have the highest rate of abuse and neglect. In 2012, 28.1 percent of deaths from child maltreatment were black children and are more than one in five victims of child abuse and neglect in the same year. How does that make you feel? Well, a great man named Ralph Emerson once said “peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding.”

Forty-Three percent of all children and youth killed by firearms in 2009 were black. Black males aged 15 to 19 were most likely to be killed in a homicide than Hispanic males in the same age group. I can’t tell you how violence happens or how violence looks, but I’m a young black male, and statistics show me what I go up against every day.

I can only tell you about my experiences, not anyone else’s, but I can tell you it isn’t going so great. I haven’t been to jail or anything, but I have been shot at, jumped multiple times, seen one of my close friends get shot in the leg, and lost four of my friends/family to violence in one year.  To say the least, I’m BLESSED.

I remember when violence such as gang fighting and shooting was normal for me.  It was a part of my everyday life. I would wake up every day hoping there would be fight. I was putting so much energy into such negative things, that I was always asking myself why I couldn’t do good things for my community and make it stronger. I remember when I learned that my mother’s house was shot at. That was the worst feeling I had ever had in my life–my stomach dropping and my head banging like metal on metal.

After that, my mindset was different and I began to fade away from the streets and push myself in school. I never realized that I was a part of the prison pipeline. I can assure you that it means other students don’t know either. That’s why 51 percent of all juvenile arrests are for violent offenses. Youth and children need to be aware.

Marcell Payton is the Vice President of his senior class at Osborn Evergreen Academy.  He is a member of a special task force dedicated to addressing social justice issues affecting youth of color.

Recidivism Rates in the United States

       When I first began researching recidivism rates, I narrowly focused on the return (to prison) rates, but this phenomenon can be categorized into three phases: rearrest, re-conviction, and those who return to prison. I will use the years 1983 and 1994 as a focal point.

       According to the United States Bureau of Justice Statistics, 67.5% of prisoners released in 1994 were arrested within three years, a increase over the 62.5% of prisoners released in 1983. For those who were re-convicted within three years, the rates did not change significantly, only a 0.1% increase from 46.8% in 1983 to 46.9% in 1994. Lastly, the returned to prison rate within three years was 51.8% in 1994 but was not recorded during 1983. Though there were no records of recidivism taken in 1983, the previous rates show either an increase or static progression.

       This shows that there is an issue within the laws and social stigmas against ex convicts that make it harder to rebuild relationships, finding/maintaining employment, and staying away from criminal activity. Lack of income and stress from societal transitions are both major factors in the increasing return rate of prisoners. These issues must be considered if our efforts to break the United States’ historic systems of social injustice.