There are more than two million people incarcerated in America, including 837,000 African-American men, according to data compiled by the Washington-based Children’s Defense Fund.
Marian Wright Edelman, president of the organization, says a 6-year-old Black boy today has a one in three chance of going to prison in his lifetime, while a Latino 6-year-old boy has a one in six chance. A growing number of young Black and Latino women are finding their way behind bars also.
Speaking at a townhall meeting hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in September, Edelman said America has set forth priorities that have been disastrous for the country’s children. “The only universal child policy America will guarantee all of our children is a jail or detention cell after they get into trouble,” she said. “We’re spending three times more per prisoner than per public school pupil in all of our states. That’s the dumbest set of investment priorities I can think of, and we’re standing for it.”
Tens of thousands of children and teens are being sucked into what child welfare advocates call a cradle-to-prison pipeline, according to a report that was recently released by the Children’s Defense Fund. Recent events in Jena, La., brought this issue to the forefront as six Black teens were treated more harshly by the justice system than White teens who had perpetrated similar offenses at Jena High School.
Public policies that target drug offenses and other crimes more likely to be committed by minorities, as well as the country’s use of the prison system as a means to control young Black men is wreaking havoc on communities and families, the report showed and advocates say.
The system by which lawbreakers are apprehended and punished is one of the pillars of democracy, states the Washington-based Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. In order for that system to remain viable, the public must be confident that people in like circumstances are treated alike, consistent with the Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment under the law, the LCCR contends.
