Black Men in the Prison System

“We ain’t thugs for the sake of just bein’ thugs. Nobody do that where we grew at N___, duh! The poverty line we not above. So I come in the mask and gloves ‘cause we ain’t feelin’ the love. We ain’t doin’ crime for the sake of doin’ crimes. We movin’ dimes ‘cause we ain’t doin’ fine. One out of three of us is locked up doin’ time. You know what this could do to a N___ mind? My mind on my money, money on my mind. If you owe me ten dollars you ain’t givin’ me nine! Ya’ll ain’t give me 40 acres and a mule. So I got my glock 40 now I’m cool.” –Jay-Z Imagine waking up every morning hungry, except rather than just driving down to your local fast food spot, you can not even afford a dollar hamburger from McDonald’s. Imagine falling asleep to the sound of gunfire, rather than the sound of crickets. These conditions sound like the middle of a war zone or third world country, but on the contrary, this is the environment that many black high school students live in. Rap lyrics may not be the formal type of quote to open a paper; however, in order to properly represent the voice of young black males, it is completely appropriate. The fact is that they are angry, and extremely resentful towards white people because of the treatment of their slave ancestors. Seeing successful whites while they are struggling in the slums of America is not fair to the African-American community. Despite the numerous pleas from black support groups like the NAACP, their proposals of fair and equal treatment have seemingly fallen on deaf ears in the world of these students. As a result, a great number of them have turned to crime. The rate at which black males are being trapped in the prison system is alarming Today African Americans comprise 62% of imprisoned drug offenders, though they are only 13 5 of the national population. One out of every 115 black males enters prison each year on a felony drug crime, compared with one of every 1,150 white men, according to the Bureau of Justice