Posted on 12/26/2014 2:14:40 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
In the wake of a grand jury's decision not to indict Officer Darren Wilson for the killing of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, many people are asking a heart-wrenching question: "Why don't black lives matter?"
The answer can be found in our nation's long history of criminalizing youth of color - particularly African-American boys. They have long been demonized as predators to be feared. And this fear of black boys remains woven within the American fabric. We are reminded of it every time there is a headline reporting the death of yet another unarmed black youth.
But the path that ends with a young black man dead in the street begins long before an officer stops a youth. It's the tragic end of a long process that funnels children of color out of school and into the justice system.
It's a process found in schools across the country.
It can be seen in statistics that show black children are expelled at three times the rate of white children for similar instances of misconduct. Even in preschool, black children make up 18 percent of preschool enrollment, but are 42 percent of preschool students suspended once. They are almost half (48 percent) of preschoolers suspended more than once.
Suspensions do not help these children.
Studies show that these children are more likely to drop out of school and enter the justice system. The practice of stationing police officers in schools only brings the justice system into the school with tragic results. Black children are arrested at school and subjected to excessive force at alarming rates.
The lesson black children learn from this experience is clear: They are feared by others. They are predisposed to be criminals. They are worthy of suspicion and excessive force, but little else. It's a lesson that's been taught in Birmingham, Alabama, where police officers stationed in the schools frequently use pepper spray on students.
The students in this predominately African-American school district aren't engaging in criminal behavior, but typical teenage misbehavior: yelling, throwing temper tantrums and getting into school yard fights. These are all things that at one time simply resulted in a trip to the principal's office.
Today, Birmingham school officials say such behavior is criminal. They say the pepper spray is the only recourse these officers, also known as school resource officers, have at their disposal. So they discipline these students with a chemical weapon used on violent criminals. Even students who have done nothing wrong get a taste of it as officers spray the chemical in hallways and lunchrooms, stinging the eyes of bystanders.
This is no way to treat children. It is why the Southern Poverty Law Center will take the Birmingham Police Department to federal court early next year for a trial over these practices.
But this is about much more than the practices in one school district. If we care about the death of Michael Brown and others, we must stop this school-to-prison pipeline that needlessly pushes these children into the justice system. We must stop this system that reinforces for teachers and police officers the myth that black children are inherently dangerous.
Teachers, school resource officers and even the cop on the beat should make every effort to keep young lives on track. This isn't to say children shouldn't be disciplined, only that we shouldn't derail young lives at every opportunity.
Until we end this system that grooms our children for the criminal justice system, we should not be shocked by the increasingly long roll call of black youths killed in encounters with police. We should not be shocked by our bloated prison system filled with young black men. And we should not be shocked by the growing chorus of voices asking why black lives don't seem to matter.
These people are insane.
Personally, I’m color blind when it comes to thugs. The time I was mugged (nearly), it was by three white thugs. Luckily the mere sight of my snub nosed .357 magnum was enough to send them scurrying with no shots fired and no life or property lost. Lesson learned, thugs come in all colors and be they red, yellow, black, or white- none of their lives matter to me, certainly not more than my own.
Without hopelessly dependent violent blacks (to make false promises to) White Liberal Elites couldn't get elected city dog catcher.
White Liberal Elites make damn sure black kids do NOT have vouchers and do NOT have quality education. Liberal elites offer every excuse in the book for black inappropriate behavior - because if blacks start moving into the mainstream white liberal elites won't have a 'sure bet' voting bloc...
> The answer can be found in our nation’s long history of criminalizing youth of color - particularly African-American boys. They have long been demonized as predators to be feared. And this fear of black boys remains woven within the American fabric. We are reminded of it every time there is a headline reporting the death of yet another unarmed black youth.
Demonized as in acting like demons and thugs? Like the ones that are arned that commit home invasions, robberies, muggings, etc...every single day in this country that really remind us of how full of $hit and self-deluded the author is since they seem to commit the violent crimes far more often than other races? Or do you mean the ones that pillage, plunder, and terrorize communities or is it the ones who play knock out games with older white polar bears? Do tell, I’d really like to know which one’s are being falsely accused...
Luckily the thug will get arrested and expelled saving us taxpayers a few dollars.
The liberal’s solution to any crime problem is to legalize whatever the criminals are doing.
Black lives don’t matter when that ‘black life’ is attempting to take a gun away from a police officer and kill him.
Black lives don’t matter much when they’re raping or beating a woman to death of any color or age.
Black lives don’t matter when they’re killing young children.
Black lives don’t matter when a group of ‘black lives’ is attempting to kill an innocent stranger...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Oh - and the above? These ‘exceptions’ also applies to ‘white lives’... Chinese lives - Hispanic lives... Jewish lives - Quaker lives... even Unitarian Indian transgender lives. In short - everyone.
The best thing ‘blacks lives’ can do to have the rest of us STOP seeing them as overly violent and criminal is to STOP being overly violent and criminal.
Period. It’s that easy. If people see you as a jerk - stop being a jerk.
Oh and eff the SPLC - it’s a hate group... and eff any FBI agents working with them.
I'd like to bitch-slap Ebony Howard Sr and then drop him off in south Chicago on a Friday night. Love to see how he gets on with the “African-American boys” in the hood. Maybe they could spit-ball ways to improve government school education in their neighborhood. I'm sure they'd love to get his opinion, just like I did. /s
Stereotypes are a product of pattern recognition.
Liberalism advocates people ignoring the recognition of obvious patterns no matter how much danger this causes.
Oh Gassie.......meet flame.
This ain't a white problem, Ebony. Fix your own culture before telling us what's wrong with ours.
Just sayin'....
I hope you are having discussions with your daughter about the power teachers have to affect her grade.
For vote fraud, they just solve it by making it impossible to prove it happened.
Thanks for your post - saved me typing essentially the same thing. The hurdle to actually suspend/expel is set very high to ensure the student has the opportunity to change the anti-education behavior. The bar ought to be moved lower so the education climate can improve quicker for the others. Too many are still there being bad examples for the rest of the students.
What maroonishness
More nonsense.
These Black Lives Matter agitators will get more blacks killed by black thugs who don’t respect the law.
I despise these agitators who refuse to lecture the criminal element within the black community.
Photo shopped correct?
Emotional Thinkers need Emotional Law, not the Law of reason and logic and History.
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