The Color of Law A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein (z-lib.org).epub

whites. In 2014, of young (ages 25–29) adult African Americans, 21 percent
of men and 24 percent of women were college graduates. High school
completion rates are over 90 percent. This suggests that a focus on the
antisocial behavior of a minority of African Americans is too convenient an
excuse for not taking steps to integrate the majority.
The “war on drugs,” including the mass incarceration of young men and
adolescent boys living in low-income African American neighborhoods,
began in the 1970s. Current trends predict that as many as one in three
African American men born today can expect to spend some time in prison
during their lifetimes, most for nonviolent crimes. Considering this, it is
surprising that the African American college graduation rate is as high as it
is.
As Michelle Alexander reports in her important book, The New Jim
Crow, young African American men are less likely to use or sell drugs than
young white men, but they are more likely to be arrested for drug use or sale;
once arrested, they are more likely to be sentenced; once sentenced, they are
more likely to receive long jail terms. African American automobile drivers
are no more likely than white drivers to change lanes without signaling, but
they are more likely to be stopped by police for doing so, and once stopped,
they are more likely to be caught up in the penal system, including jail time
for inability to pay fines. The Justice Department’s investigation of
Ferguson, Missouri, police practices found that African Americans were
stopped by police more frequently than whites, but of those who were
stopped and searched, more whites were found to be carrying illegal drugs
than African Americans. If police wanted to increase their chances of finding
drugs, they would be better off conducting “stop and frisk” operations in
white than in black neighborhoods.
Imprisoning nonviolent offenders in low-income minority neighborhoods
has a multigenerational effect. A parent’s absence harms a child’s early
development and academic performance. Once young men leave prison,
even after short sentences (and many are not short), they may have
permanent second-class status, be unable to vote, get evicted from public
housing, and be ineligible for food stamps. Their family relationships are
likely frayed if not irreparably broken. Most companies won’t hire them.
Barred from legitimate jobs, they are exposed to further incarceration when
they attempt to earn a living in the underground economy.