Saving Our Sons

It is becoming increasing hard to raise a family these day, especially when you are living below the poverty line, just breaking even or out of work all together.  The days are gone when you could become a lifelong employee for a major company or business firm with good benefits, a pension and great insurance.  Those day and times are surely gone and missed for the 99% of us who felt that they were living the American Dream. 

In in the midst of these social and economic down turns over the past three decades or so, African Americans and their families have been under tremendous pressure to somehow survive.  It appears that much of what was accomplished through the civil rights bill of the 1960’s has been lost, turned back and altered.  Work and the technical skills training needed have disappeared from many of our American cities.  What has been more alarming is that the crisis has also caused many to lose sight of their children, especially their sons. 

Since the mid 1980’s until today, many laws in America has been rewritten and amended to hand out stiffer minimum sentences, even for nonviolent crimes.  Of course crimes rates rises when there is high unemployment.  This has resulted in a much higher incarceration rate for men of color.  There is a lot of research that list Wisconsin as being one of the worst places in America to be a black man.  And when you factor in other social disparities that African Americans in Milwaukee are facing; poverty, healthcare, housing, unemployment and education, it is no wonder that it has taken this long to do something.
 
With the announcement by President Obama a few weeks ago on the launching of a major new effort to help young minority men, it could not have come at a better time.  The new initiative is called “My Brother’s Keeper” and will test a range of strategies to support minority young men.  Additionally, this program will help form steps to keep them in school and out of the criminal justice system. In addition, this will also look at and evaluate existing policies that need to change. 

Already, the Justice Department has overhauled drug-sentencing guidelines so that low level and nonviolent offenders do not face stiff minimum sentences.  In addition, the Education and Justice departments recently updated guidelines provided to school districts on the most effective disciplinary polices.  All these efforts are greatly appreciated and the results will be felt for years to come.  To make this work… we all have to get involved and play our part.