We, as a society, focus so much on adults in the U.S. prison system, but what about the youth? The pathway to prison for black and Latino youth is alarming, but the starting points are the schools and foster care systems. My passion is to help the youth, as best as I can, avoid making the same dumb mistakes that I did, and to educate them to set goals and to understand that getting a good education is where it’s at.
It’s time to stop putting a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. Our youth here in America are way behind in learning in comparison to that of other countries, and that’s unacceptable as we are the richest and best country to live in.
(NOTE: The following statistics and figures were obtained in 2020, so they may be a little higher or hopefully lower by now.)
SCHOOLS:
Here are some staggering statistics you should know about black, and Latino youth in America’s school. Forty percent (40%) of students expelled from U.S schools each year are black. Seventy percent (70%) of students involved in school arrests or referred to law enforcement are black and Latino. Black students are three-and-one-half times more likely to be suspended than whites. Black and Latino students are twice as likely as whites not to graduate.
FOSTER CARE SYSTEM:
The youth of color are more likely than whites to be placed in foster care systems, which are breeding grounds for the prison systems. Sixty percent (60 %) of children in the foster care system are black and Latino. Thirty percent (30%) of foster care youth entering the juvenile system are placement-related, behavioral cases. Thirty percent (30%) of young people leaving foster care will be incarcerated within a few years, and after turning 18, 50% of young people leaving foster care will be unemployed. Also a staggering 70% of inmates in California state prisons are former foster care youth!
THE COLOR OF MASS INCARCERATION:
Did you know that 60% of the 2.3 million people in U.S. prisons are black and Latino? What’s even crazier is blacks, and Latinos only make up a combined 30% of the U.S. population. One out of three black males in the U.S. will be incarcerated in his lifetime. One out of six Latino males will be incarcerated in his lifetime. I want parents of black and Latino males age 10-14 to listen up. It’s very important that you make sure you have great not good but GREAT communication with your male child, that you know who he hangs with, and what he is doing with his free time. If he doesn’t have a big brother, enroll him in a Big Brother or YMCA program or in some sort of sport. Also, talk to your child about the police, and let him know he is looked at differently than a white male friend who is his same age.
Now if you’re a parent of a black or Latino male ages 15-18, make sure that he is going to school and if he doesn’t like school, or is having problems in school, enroll him in trade school or in Job Corps, where he can get his GED, and where they will teach him a trade.
Now I’m not saying that white males don’t get into trouble, but we all know how the U.S. sees black and minorities. Additionally, with my 21 years of incarceration, I primarily see black and Latino men, and few whites. I blog about facts, and give viewers the truth.
Advocate / Mentor
Leonard E. Love