Black Children are more likely to go to jail

Today I attended a luncheon hosted by the Charlotte Junior League that featured Marian Wright Edelman. Mrs. Edelman is a remarkable woman from Civil Rights fame who has dedicated her life to the empowerment, protection, and education of children. Indeed, her organization, the Children’s Defense Fund, has been responsible for a number of programs and initiatives that creatively seek to give children (especially minority children) a fair shot at life.





I use the phrase “fair shot at life,” because of one statistic that Mrs. Edelman shared with the audience today. She reported that according to data gathered by the Children’s Defense Fund, 1 in 3 African American youth will be incarcerated during their lifetime. The percentage for Caucasian youth is 1 in 17. Roughly speaking, this figure means that twenty of the children enrolled in my church’s after school program will end up in jail at one time or another. That reality haunted me as I worked with our children tonight.





Mrs. Edelman emphasized that children should not be punished for the parents they have, the area into which they are born, or the school they attend. She also emphasized the need for all children to have access to quality health services including mental and dental care. For how can we expect a child to do well in school if he/she is suffering from a malady impacting his/her ability to learn? And if that child does not do well in school, his/her chances of breaking out of poverty go to slim to none.





I walked away from the luncheon today alarmed, offended, and deeply saddened by the statistics and stories presented. Even more pressing in my mind was the fact that I could list off the names of kids I know who are very likely to keep supporting these statistics. This is not an abstract issue; this is a reality that keeps me awake at night. There is a sense of urgency that drives me to do my part in eradicating this 1 in 3 statistic. The stakes are too high to do nothing and much too important to only give it lip service.





Much prayer is required, and then much action.