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This article delves into the significance of race even in a post-Obama era, exploring its historical context, racial disparities in incarceration rates and sentencing, the School-to-Prison Pipeline, and the challenges minorities face in education. It discusses how the War on Drugs, the Prison Industrial Complex, and systemic racism contribute to perpetuating inequalities in society.
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Post Raciality in the Obama Era Why Race is an important issue more than ever By Marlene Ramirez
What does the term Post Racial mean? • Envisions a society in which racial issues or tensions no longer exist • A new term that came into existence after the Inauguration of our first African American president, Barack Obama
Historical Context of Colonial America and Beyond • The Trans-Atlantic Slave trade brought more than 12 million African Americans • The slave trade was fueled by the scientific racism of it’s day, SystemaNaturae being on example
War on Drugs (1984 – present) • War on drugs began during the Reagan Administration in response to the 1980’s Crack epidemic • Urban and low income areas were especially targeted by police enformcement
Prison Industrial Complex • Is a term used to refer to the relation between punishment and commerce • Noted Scholars and contemporary academics have drawn comparison between Prison Labor and Slave Labor.
Racial Disparities in Incarceration Rates • African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated population • African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites • Together, African American and Hispanics comprised 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population
Racial Disparities in Sentencing • About 14 million Whites and 2.6 million African Americans report using an illicit drug • 5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites • African Americans represent 12% of the total population of drug users, but 38% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 59% of those in state prison for a drug offense. • African Americans serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months). (Sentencing Project)
School to Prison Pipeline How mass incarceration in the 21st century affects minorities
Effects on Schooling • Your education is only as good as the neighborhood you reside in • Property taxes determine how much funding a school in a particular area receives. “'Gifted students,' says Dr. Parks [superintendent of East St. Louis* schools], 'are everywhere in East St. Louis, but their gifts are lost to poverty and turmoil and the damage done by knowing they are written off by their society.” -JonothonKozol’s Savage Inequalities
So why is this important?How is this relevant to society today?
Can we really overcome 500 years of oppression within 50 years?