Universally Speaking
Rahim Islam is a National Speaker and Writer, Convener of Philadelphia Community of Leaders, and President/CEO of Universal Companies, a community development and education management company headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. Follow Rahim Islam on FaceBook(Rahim Islam) & Twitter (@RahimIslamUC)
Since Black people have been in America (nearly 450 years), America’s treatment of Black people has been consistently abominable and absolutely hypocritical.
Today, Black people exhibit more disparities than any group in America. Blacks continue to lose ground in nearly every category with positive demographics.
In nearly every negative demographic, we dominate increasingly. The disparities are so severe that unless addressed, will relegate Blacks to a permanent underclass in America.
Unfortunately, because we are no longer physically enslaved, America purports that Blacks enjoy freedom, justice and equality.
This illusion of freedom, justice and equality represent a deliberate distortion of the reality for Black people in America.
The struggle for equality in America for Black people has been a protracted and onerous one and, to this day, has not been achieved because America lives in a state of denial and hypocrisy.
While many disparities exist, none is more impactful than the 1) massive wealth disparities that exist (a direct result of the enslavement of and racial discrimination against Black people) and 2) the current practice of the mass incarceration of Black men which is undermining the social fabric of all Black life (i.e. family, community, etc.). In many respects, this is the new type of slavery.
Massive Wealth Disparities and Its Impact on the Black Community – The American Institution of Slavery had winners and losers.
The winners were and continue to be White America and the losers were and continue to be the Black community.
The institution of slavery grew and evolved into one of the most criminal and vicious institutions in modern history while also becoming the most profitable institution upon which America created its wealth. Every aspect of American life has its roots in this beginning.
Similar to all institutions, slavery became self-protecting and self-sustaining. Notably, what sustained this institution was profits, deep loathing for, and the dehumanization of Black people.
This institution was such an economic windfall, it dictated and controlled all other American institutions (i.e. political, religious, finance, education, etc.). When you express this in economic terms, the institution of slavery was the largest and most lucrative the world has ever witness and served as a catalyst for the expansion of the global economy.
Not only did Americans become extremely wealthy, but nearly all the countries of Europe were direct participants and beneficiaries of slavery.
The institution of slavery created sizeable and generational wealth beyond comprehension on the backs of free black labor. Slavery was extremely profitable, and its economic impact was the foundation for today’s economy.
America’s economy, considered one of the largest in the world, represents nearly $150 trillion: $100+ trillion in net wealth; annual gross national product (economy) at $17 trillion; total personal income of nearly $14 trillion; and nearly $7 trillion in annual government spending (i.e. federal, state, and local).
In spite of the unbelievable contribution to America’s wealth, Blacks have little or no real ownership of the nearly $150 trillion.
Black ownership of the nation’s wealth remain where it was in 1860 near the end of slavery (pre-emancipation) at one half of one percent.
After 150 years and 100 percent physical freedom and America’s token redress of social issues, Blacks still only own one half of one percent of the nation’s wealth.
It is imperative to couple these numbers with the approximate $1 trillion of Black personal income, noting that Black people are extremely behind economically.
America is governed by the concept of capitalism, which is an economic system in which trade, industry, and the means of production are privately owned. Central characteristics of capitalism include private property and capital accumulation (wealth) – of which the numbers just don’t add up for Black people.
America is the world leader because it is wealthy and it continues to grow it’s capacity to increase wealth.
This is economic race and it’s all about capital and wealth.
Capital is the resource that is used to propel business starts and business expansions.
Those are the vehicles for creating profits that ultimately become wealth.
Every major corporation and business had capital, to not only start, but to expand.
It is this monetary investment (capital) that allows entrepreneurs to take their ideas to the market. Some are successful and some are not.
Capital is the “at-risk” fuel that allows businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive. Capital and income are not the same.
Capital is the function of wealth. Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or valuable material possessions, specifically money that one has (most of all wealth is inherited).
A key characteristic of wealth is the ability to earn and make money from the excess money that one has (money makes money).
These funds are not ever needed to cover any aspect of the individual’s needs or that of their family needs. Because money follows money, the rich get richer.
Where you start matters, and while America oppressed Black people through enslavement and legal discrimination, America evolved into today’s $150 trillion economy.
This $150 trillion economy is completely owned by White America, yet we are led to believe that all things are equal and that Blacks, just by being physically free should be able to compete economically.
When Blacks are unable to compete, we are viewed as incompetent and inferior. This is an absolute falsehood.
The truth is that America is unanimously owned by White people and most, if not all of the wealth, is transferred and passed from one generation to another.
For Whites to not acknowledge the privilege that they enjoy compared to Blacks, not only in owning America, but also in controlling America, is absolutely pathological hypocrisy.
Let’s be clear. Based on the real definition of wealth, only a couple of Black people can be considered wealthy and even they are vulnerable until their current wealth is upheld over multiple generations.
Sure, we have a few Black people that have become millionaires and a few billionaires, but it pales in comparison to the thousands of White individuals who were born wealthy and, because of privilege and White “born” benefits, thousands more have become billionaires and or the documented tens of thousands of existing White millionaires.
These disparities are extremely alarming and continue to decimate and annihilate the Black community as evidenced in every aspect of American life (i.e. education, neighborhoods, health, savings, travel, etc.).
We constantly hear about how the Black community earns nearly $1 trillion personal income annually and this is supposed to be a powerful data point.
The truth of the matter, with unemployment and underemployment at such high levels, and with nearly two thirds of Black people living at or near poverty levels, I argue that the personal income number that would be more appropriate would be near $4-5 trillion annually.
Today, too many of our children are born into poverty while White children are being born into benefits and privilege.
Again, where you start is conclusively critical. Blacks having to continue to play catch up to Whites is nearly impossible to achieve.
There is a direct link to the overwhelming economic benefit enjoyed today by White people, businesses, and institutions.
This competitive advantage is lethal and plays out in every sector of American life.
This is also why very few Black for-profit companies are adequately capitalized and hardly any of our non-profit institutions are endowed.
The Black community lacks resources that the White community takes for granted.
The Black community lacks capital because the Black community lacks wealth and America must acknowledge the economic advantage that Whites have over Blacks.
We must acknowledge the economic advantage that Whites have over Blacks.
Simply put, because of the nearly 450 years head start with the enslavement of tens of millions of Black people with no compensation, the American Institution of Slavery produced unbelievable economic gains and wealth for White America with a significant portion of that wealth in play today. To deny this advantage is purely hypocritical.
Mass Incarceration of Black Men – the impact of the mass incarceration of Black men in America is as lethal as slavery, and the damage being done is crippling today.
However, the impact will be even more devastating to the future of Black people in America and is comparable to a modern day genocide.
America, by far, is the largest human rights violator in the world by imprisoning the largest number of minorities (Blacks) in the world.
Of the nearly 2.5 million men and women in America’s prisons, approximately half are African American. Blacks represent only 13 percent (est. 35 million) of America’s population. When you subtract Black women, children and seniors, it leaves approximately four percent (est. eight million) of Black men between the ages of 18 and 45.
With nearly 1.5 million Black men in prison today, this four percent group of Black men, represents nearly 50 percent of the prison population.
This disparity is a staggering 45 percent higher than it should be- representing nearly 1.4 million men.
Restated, if everything was normal or near normal, Black men, which represent approximately four percent of the nation’s population, would also be four percent of the prison population which means approximately 1.4 million
Black men would be at home, in their communities, generating wealth and not in prison.
Explicitly, Black men are 1.4 million over represented in America’s prison system.
This demonstrates the bane of America’s hypocrisy.
Without dealing with law enforcement and America’s criminal court system, both of which are woefully racist and predatory against Black men, the likelihood that these staggering numbers will change is nearly impossible.
Importantly, under America’s correction system, the rate of recidivism is nearly 75 percent which is directly tied to a punishment approach versus a rehabilitation approach by most prison systems. Black men are now warehoused for primarily being Black and poor.
America’s hypocrisy deepens because a plethora of research shows that if imprisonment would work to help those convicted of a crime to change their behavior to one that is nonviolent and even constructive, recidivism would be drastically decrease.
Therefore, instead of hard time and punishment, prisoners should be afforded every form of therapy needed (substance abuse treatment, psychotherapy, medical and dental care) in addition to every form of education needed (from elementary school to college and graduate school).
Getting a college degree while in prison is the only program that has demonstrated 100 percent effectiveness in preventing recidivism.
Today, Black people continue to be disproportionately incarcerated, policed, and sentenced to death at significantly higher rates than their white counterparts for the same crimes.
Furthermore, racial disparities in the criminal-justice system threaten Black communities – disenfranchising thousands by limiting voting rights and denying equal access to employment, housing, public benefits, and education to millions more.
In light of these disparities, it is imperative that criminal-justice reform evolves as the civil rights issue of the 21st century. The following 10 observations are excerpts from the Center for American Progress report done in March 2012:
• While people of color make up about 30 percent of the United States’ population, they account for 60 percent of those imprisoned.
One in every 15 African American men and one in every 36 Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to one in every 106 white men.
• According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime.
Individuals of color have a disproportionate number of encounters with law enforcement, indicating that racial profiling continues to be a problem.
A report by the Department of Justice found that blacks and Hispanics were approximately three times more likely to be searched during a traffic stop than white motorists.
African Americans were twice as likely to be arrested and almost four times as likely to experience the use of force during encounters with the police.
• Students of color face harsher punishments in school than their white peers, leading to a higher number of youth of color incarcerated.
Black and Hispanic students represent more than 70 percent of those involved in school-related arrests or referrals to law enforcement.
Currently, African Americans make up two-fifths and Hispanics one-fifth of confined youth today.
• According to recent data by the Department of Education, African American students are arrested far more often than their white classmates.
The data show that 96,000 students were arrested and 242,000 referred to law enforcement by schools during the 2009-10 school year.
Of those students, black and Hispanic students made up more than 70 percent of arrested or referred students. Harsh school punishments, from suspensions to arrests, have led to high numbers of youth of color coming into contact with the juvenile-justice system and at an earlier age.
• African American youth have higher rates of juvenile incarceration and are more likely to be sentenced to adult prison.
According to the Sentencing Project, even though African American juvenile youth are about 16 percent of the youth population, 37 percent of their cases are moved to criminal court and 58 percent of African American youth are sent to adult prisons.
• As the number of women incarcerated has increased by 800 percent over the last three decades, women of color have been disproportionately represented.
While the number of women incarcerated is relatively low, the racial and ethnic disparities are startling.
African American women are three times more likely than white women to be incarcerated, while Hispanic women are 69 percent more likely than white women to be incarcerated.
• The war on drugs has been waged primarily in communities of color where people of color are more likely to receive higher offenses.
According to the Human Rights Watch, people of color are no more likely to use or sell illegal drugs than whites, but they have higher rate of arrests.
African Americans comprise 14 percent of regular drug users but are 37 percent of those arrested for drug offenses.
From 1980 to 2007, about one in three of the 25.4 million adults arrested for drugs were African American.
• Once convicted, black offenders receive longer sentences compared to white offenders.
The U.S. Sentencing Commission stated that in the federal system, black offenders receive sentences that are 10 percent longer than white offenders for the same crimes.
The Sentencing Project reports that African Americans are 21 percent more likely to receive mandatory-minimum sentences than white defendants and are 20 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison.
• Voter laws that prohibit people with felony convictions to vote disproportionately impact men of color. An estimated 5.3 million Americans are denied the right to vote based on a past felony conviction.
Felony disenfranchisement is exaggerated by racial disparities in the criminal-justice system, ultimately denying 13 percent of African American men the right to vote.
Felony-disenfranchisement policies have led to 11 states denying the right to vote to more than 10 percent of their African American population.
• Studies have shown that people of color face disparities in wage trajectory following release from prison. Evidence shows that spending time in prison affects wage trajectories with a disproportionate impact on black men and women.
The results show no evidence of racial divergence in wages prior to incarceration; however, following release from prison, wages grow at a 21 percent slower rate for black former inmates compared to white ex-convicts.
A number of states have bans on people with certain convictions working in domestic health-service industries such as nursing, child care, and home health care areas in which many poor women and women of color are disproportionately concentrated.
By design, the racial disparities are devastating the Black community by taking so many men out of commission.
When you have Black men out of commission, you have Black families out of commission.
When you have Black families out of commission, you have Black communities and neighborhoods out of commission.
As I began this article, I contend that the two biggest disparities are wealth (a function of past slavery) and mass incarceration of Black men (a function of the new slavery).
Both can be addressed by making an investment in Black America. How is it that America and its $150 trillion economy can’t make the investment into correcting what it created? Is this not the highest level of hypocrisy?
What makes matters worse is that America will spend $10,000 to educate poor Black children but spend nearly $50,000 to warehouse the problems that failed education created. This is American hypocrisy at its best.
In addition, America spends billions of dollars annually (privately and publically) investing in under-served countries around the world, trying to improve their education systems and to stimulate their economies. When was the last investment made to urban cities where nearly 75 percent of Black people reside?
Last time I checked, I was told that charity begins at home and to take resources to others and not provide resources to the very people that help you get those resources is an abomination and the highest level of American hypocrisy.
America owes the Black community significantly, not only for what it has done to us and the damage that we still feel, but because of the tremendous contribution made to create and also to preserve America’s wealth. America must end is hypocritical ways and pay it’s debt from the massive level of resources that this $150 trillion economy generates.
It must make annual investments for the next 100 years to significantly reform the criminal justice system with a heavy investment in urban cities infrastructure, specifically the educational system (pre-k thru grade 12) and economy with the creation of full employment government sponsored programs (anyone wanting to work can work).
Not only is this the right thing to do, but if done with some level of fidelity, the cost of this will decrease. The contributions this group will make to a brighter and better America will far exceed the cost of the initial investment.