One of the largest problems in America today is that all black males are believed to be dangerous, and are often the primary suspect in all crimes whether a black man was reported at the scene or not. The reasons for this belief, and the many inaccurate accusations due to this belief, stem from the massive numbers of African Americans in prison, on parole, or otherwise involved in the court system in the United States today. The fact that in 1992, “Nearly half of America’s one million prisoners were black,” cannot be ignored, and is a major contributor to the American view that Black men commit the majority of violent crimes (Hutchinson, 420). Black men, however, do not commit the preponderance of these crimes, in fact in 1992, “White males committed 54% of violent crimes in America” (Hutchinson, 120). This is not merely a misunderstanding, or a harmless belief of the majority of America, it is, according to Revolutionary Worker, “An entire generation being criminalized, that is not rhetoric—it is reality. More than that—it signals a dangerous new twist in the twisted way that the system relates to the masses of Black people and other oppressed peoples

(971).” According to American Factfinder, African Americans in 1990 were only 12% of the population, whereas Caucasians made up 80%. This massive difference in population numbers added to the fact that in 1992 80% of America’s drug users were White males proves statistically that the number of Black men in prison is an injustice (Hutchinson). The aim of this paper is to introduce the reasons that black males make up the majority of prisoners such as; the massive attack on drugs in primarily black cities, the inability of poor Black citizens to fight charges and unequal sentencing of Black vs. White criminals, while at the same time showing why this problem is important, and how it is detrimental, to the minority culture of black men in the United States.

There were approximately 1,752,842 people in jail in 1998, even though black people make up only 12% of the population in America, they make up the majority of U.S. prisoners (Revolutionary Worker). According to Revolutionary Worker, on any given day four out of ten young Black men in major U.S. cities will either be; in jail, in prison, on probation or parole, released on bond, or wanted by the police because of arrest warrants. Although the number of prisoners in the U.S. is constantly rising and four times as many people were put in jail in 1978 than in 1998, the number of violent crimes actually dropped dramatically (Johnston, 1). According to Revolutionary Worker, arrests for serious crimes dropped 12% between 1981 and 1991 while arrests for petty crimes rose 46%. Although African Americans aren’t committing more dangerous crimes, and they aren’t committing more petty crimes than whites, Black men are being severed from their families and a chance at a life as a productive citizen at rates far exceeding those of their equally guilty, White, counterparts. According to Michael Ross in his essay, Black Male Perp, “There can be no denying the high numbers of young black men in American jails and prisons today, nor any way to deny the shattered state of the black family because of those numbers, and the pathologies arising from them” (406). It is clear that there exists an immense problem between Black men and the way the U.S. court system treats them. There are three main reasons for this occurrence, including, the massive attack on drugs and gang activity in primarily black cities, the inability of poor Black citizens to fight the charges, and unequal sentenc

Some topics in this essay:
African Americans, Baltimore Blacks, According Hutchinson, Revolutionary Worker, America Johnston, Male Perp, William Bennett, Americans” Johnston, Entire Population, Black Latino, revolutionary worker, african americans, black males, 12% population, black people, according hutchinson, according revolutionary worker, drug users, majority prisoners, poor black, court system, black males dangerous, inability poor black, black citizens fight, cities inability poor,