Forced Strength
By M. Aurora Vásquez, Advancement Project
Race-based ironies inevitably draw two responses from me: A disquieted sigh and a simultaneous sense of relief for all the justice advocates and leaders I have ever met—without whom the paradoxes would run rampant. Take for example the group of people who came together at the recent Summit on Crime Policy hosted by Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA). Not only did the Summit draw a full house throughout the day, it also served as a platform for people with frank ideas on the many facets of incarceration, its consequences, and the dire need for change. And while I did not leave the Summit with a ready-made plan for resolving what haunts us, I did leave with a renewed sense of inspiration and of course, urgency. Here’s why:
Incarceration Trends
Data shows that on any given day, the United States holds nearly 2.1 million people behind bars. Translation: We incarcerate 1 out of every 143 people. Moreover, a full two-thirds of these individuals come from communities of color. Reality: A Black man has a 1 in 3 chance of being imprisoned during his lifetime and a Latino has a 1 in 6 chance; A White male has a 1 in 17 chance of being imprisoned during his lifetime. And while some will shrug and say that people of color simply commit more crimes, others will note—and I believe rightly so—that the racial and ethnic disparities are a function of disparate treatment, including racial profiling, disparate arrest trends, and various other institutionalized practices that foster discriminatory ends. Remember Tulia, Texas?
But surely our youth fair better, right?
Well, let’s see. Remember St. Petersburg, Fla.? Cops there handcuffed an African-American kindergartener after a classroom tantrum and, while tantrums by four- or five-year-olds are usually never pretty—I’ve seen a few and probably had a few in my day---is it criminal? Apparently, it depends. In the late 1990s, White youth represented 71 percent of youth arrested nationwide but only 37 percent of those detained. When the underlying charge was a violent offense, African-American youth were nine times more likely to end up incarcerated than their White counterparts. The average length of incarceration?
- Latino youth: 305 days
- African-American youth: 254 days
- White youth: 193 days
And so I sigh, but am thankful for the strength of groups like Jovenes Unidos, Books not Bars, and Make the Road by Walking.
Yet, until we slow the race to incarcerate, one has to wonder: What is being done about re-entry services?
Re-entry
The answer to the question of what is being done about re-entry services is critical because every year approximately 600,000 individuals return to the community, inevitably faced with the demand that they demonstrate a commitment to upstanding citizenship. The paradox? Research demonstrates that while employers say they will hire similarly qualified individuals to fill entry-level positions without regard to race, they do not actually do it. In fact, in one study, 34 percent of White candidates received a call back compared to only 14 percent of Black candidates, even though all the candidates had identical credentials. More alarming still: Where the equally qualified candidates also shared identical criminal records, 17 percent of White candidates received a call back versus five percent of Black candidates. That’s right, more White candidates with criminal records received job offers than equally qualified Black candidates without criminal records.
And so I sigh yet again, but take heart in the tireless work of groups like the Georgia Justice Project and The National H.I.R.E. Network.
Disenfranchisement
The ironies do not end there. How could they when Arizona state representatives have been reported to be on the brink of brawling over whether they should automatically restore voting rights to the formerly incarcerated? “Fisticuffs” over re-enfranchisement despite the fact that, more often than not, felony disenfranchisement is not part and parcel to a criminal sentence but a mere state-imposed collateral consequence? Yet some supporters of disenfranchisement say that the right to vote is sacred and as such, disenfranchisement is about protecting the sanctity of the democratic process from those who chose to break the law. In that regard, we can agree on this: Access to the ballot has always been “protected” -- invidiously—by felony disenfranchisement schemes created specifically to protect White political power by undermining the power of Black voters.
So as I prepare to let out that third sigh, I note how truly relieved I am to be a part of the broader racial justice network and I take comfort in these words from Cesar Chavez: “We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure." At this point, I’m full of strength—and you?
