Did you know that most of the founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), like Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and the recently deceased John Conyers (D-MI) were for tougher drug sentencing laws? They realized the impact of drugs in the Black community and wanted to see justice served to those who were poisoning Black children.
When the justice system failed, the CBC demanded criminal justice reform 100 percent.
However, under President Trump, the CBC seems to have reversed course. In other words, they were for it…before they were against it.
In President Trump’s First Step Act, landmark legislation regarding criminal justice reform, the CBC refused to recognize his efforts, instead crediting others:
“I applaud Congressman Jeffries, Congressman Collins, Chairman Goodlatte, Ranking Member Nadler, Congresswoman Jackson Lee, the ranking member of the Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee, Congresswoman Karen Bass, Senator Booker, Senator Harris, and others for working to pass this legislation, and I look forward to working with them on all that is left to be done to ensure our justice system is fair.”
Moreover, the CBC panned the new legislation, stating:
“This legislation is what it says it is: a first step; and while it is an important first step, it is not comprehensive criminal justice reform.”
Understand that under 8 years of President Obama, nothing was accomplished in the way of criminal justice reform. Democrats argue that Obama wasn’t allowed to pass legislation, obviously blocked by Republicans. If that’s the case, then how was President Trump able to get bi-partisan support and accomplish the task? The question definitely must be asked as to why Obama was unable (or unwilling) to get it done during the 111th session of Congress when his party controlled both the House and Senate, and there was basically nothing Republicans could have done to stop it.
Van Jones certainly understood the importance of President Trump’s work, as he says in this video:
If you want to understand what the First Step Act accomplishes, look at what happened on April 1st of this year, when Matthew Charles was released from federal prison after serving 20 years for selling crack cocaine.
The First Step Act helps all Americans. By returning non-violent offenders to society, we reunite families. But more importantly, we help former criminals return to society as productive members. No group needs this help more than Blacks.
According to the Criminal Justice Fact Sheet published by the NAACP, even though Blacks in America make up only 13% of the population, we make up 34% of the total correctional population. Blacks in America are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of Whites.
The NAACP, which is not exactly a right-wing organization, reported that if Blacks and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rate as Whites, prison and jail populations would decline by almost 40%. The major cause of this disparity can be directly attributed to drug sentencing.
Even though studies have shown that Blacks and Whites use drugs at similar rates, the imprisonment rate for Blacks for drug charges is almost 6 times higher than that of whites. Blacks use drugs proportionately to the Black population but are 29% of all arrests for drug offenses, and 33% of all incarcerations for drug offenses.
Almost all major cities in America showcase criminal justice inequities. Yet these cities tout their perceived progress in this area.
However, we found that the City of Brotherly Love doesn’t live up to their claims.
Pennsylvania’s 2nd and 3rd Congressional districts encompass the city limits of Philadelphia, represented respectively by Democrat Congressmen Brendan Boyle, and Congressional Black Caucus member, Dwight Evans. It is in these districts where Unhyphenated America participated in a test of how Blacks were feeling about criminal justice reform.
Philadelphia is the 6th largest city in America, with a population of 1,584,138. Blacks comprise almost 44 percent of the city’s population. We polled over 120,000 Black registered Democrats and Independents to get their take on criminal justice reform and the city’s violation of equal protection for its citizens.
The results were shocking.
Experts in polling consider a 2 percent response, fantastic. We received an 8.23 percent response, well over 400 percent of “fantastic” results. More importantly, 33 percent of respondents visited the website and declared they want their voices to be heard.
Clearly criminal justice reform is a critical issue in the Black community. But its also a critical issue for America.
Americans must believe in our criminal justice system. Unhyphenated America is doing its part to make sure that Americans are educated about the facts.
We will be polling in more locations, making sure that the Americans most impacted by the criminal justice system have their voices heard.
Great article!
I think the president for what he has done with the First Step Act. As a black man this was long over due . People the number of mass incarceration of black, wasn’t by accident. The the old black caucus Democrats, help facilitate this mass number of your dad, brother, and uncles. All large number of black incarceration of black men. People i don’t think u get what I’m saying, everything has a purpose. With this large number of incarceration of black men. It tore down the structure of family, the order of God in the family.(People u don’t hear me ) , dividing the black family, continuing the dividing and division all the way from the time of slavery…black people wake up. Black people we have been divided so many ways from the time of slavery more than a slice, dice onion. Its call divide and conquer, to rule an diminish erase a group of people. Black people don’t let the devil keep fooling u , fact the black population is the only population that has stagnated and continue to grow less. While other groups and cultures explode, that have been here in America for less . Have u every ask yourself why us as a people, seem to take on so much, fight so hard for what’s right an for Justice. Malcolm X said it best your chump, you’re a political chump. When ever you throw your black majority vote behind Democrats. Only to get over 60 years of mass incarceration, killing , destroyed black communities, garbage education, lack of jobs and opportunity. You’re not only a chump but you are a traitor to your race….black people look what the so-called negro leaders and black churches have done to u . Facts be told they have been looking out for themselves, not their communities an us as a race. Keep in mind all of this was systematically thought out from the time of slavery, still to this day. Now that more an more blacks are waking up, Democrats don’t care to Pander to you as much . Because they know they no longer need u , what they set out to accomplish have been achieved. Look around you, look at reality of most black families, schools, education , economic status, jobs, opportunity an communities. But most of all they have turn u away from the word of God, to make exception to the truth. The house negro liberals have done the Dirty Work for the devil, and he has your prized possession your future your children. You can’t tell them nothing about God, because they are of the world an the wickedness of the world is in them. Doing the work of Balaam, imagining God however they Feel Like ” ( demons ) this is the work of so-called black leaders in churches. That have cast a stumbling block before it’s people to turn away from the truth, reality to give in to their feelings and emotions. I tell u you, you can’t serve two masters, for it is written that you will love one and hate the other. I pray in the name of Jesus that we as a people let go of our emotions, our ways of jealousy, hate an division towards each other. I rebuke the devil in the name of Jesus. I rebuke the angels of the seven churches, that are misleading God people. People I’m rebuking something greater than you, which you have power over. But due to your emotions, feelings,imagination an the teachers of balaam in the church. You have surrender yourself to the world, an don’t even know it. There is nothing monstrous about the devil, his is as pleasing as the Morning Star, an once u let him in your home, he will remove the man of the house, he will turn your children rebellious against the man of the house, he will destroy the head of the house an its structure God, Jesus and Man …..now with the truth an structure of God out of the picture. Oh people you don’t hear me , I say without order an instructure in the word of God in the family. What is left …? I tell u the truth yet you’ll make make an exception. But that facts are real, its feeling ,emotions an the curse that God have set upon us as a people enmity the woman