Pubdate: Sat, 21 Mar 2015
Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
Copyright: 2015 Sun-Sentinel Company
Website: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159
Author: Randy Schultz
Page: A19

FLORIDA SENTENCING LAWS CUT BLACKS' CHANCES FOR SUCCESS

The tributes to those who braved the nightsticks of Alabama state 
troopers 50 years ago to march for voting rights were inspiring. The 
state of Black America a half-century later is depressing.

In a recent report titled "Five Bleak Facts on Black Opportunity," the 
Brookings Institution laid out where things stand. In 1965, the idea of 
an African-American president and an African-American attorney general 
might have been unimaginable, but despite that progress at the top, 
there's been regression below.

The report's findings:

Fifty-one percent of black Americans born into the poorest 20 percent of 
the country are still there when they turn 40. For white Americans, it's 
23 percent.

Seven out of 10 black Americans who are born into the middle 20 percent 
when it comes to income fall out of the middle class. For whites, the 
rate is 34 percent.

For many black households wealth barely exists. Before the Great 
Recession, median wealth was about $19,000. Now, it's about $11,000. The 
Pew Research Center reports that white households are 13 times 
wealthier, the largest gap in 25 years.

A majority of African-American families with children - roughly 60 
percent - have just one parent in the home. The rate for Hispanic 
families is about 30 percent, and for white families it's about 25 percent.

The average black student attends a school at the 37th percentile for 
test scores. The average white student attends a school at the 60th 
percentile.

According to the report's authors, "There has been progress, too, of 
course. But one thing is clear. An inescapable requirement for building 
an opportunity society is improving the life chances of black Americans."

Over the last quarter-century, Florida has taken on this issue directly 
and indirectly. Gov. Lawton Chiles started Healthy Kids, to provide poor 
mothers better care before and after babies are born. Though the program 
did not target African-American women specifically, a higher proportion 
of poor mothers are African-American.

Gov. Jeb Bush started two voucher programs for students in 
low-performing schools. The courts struck down the first as 
unconstitutional. The second continues, though it also faces a lawsuit. 
Again, the program is not exclusive to black students, but as Brookings 
reported, black students are more likely to be at low-rated schools.

Bush also abolished affirmative action in state university admissions, 
saying he would put in place a better system. Recently, as a 
presidential candidate in all but name, Bush claimed his One Florida 
program led to higher enrollment of African-Americans. Politifact rated 
that statement "Mostly False."

Many of the conditions the Brookings report highlights stem from 
children being born to parents who are unable to care from them 
properly, the causes ranging from lack of money to lack of maturity. 
Society feels the effect when those children start school. Former Palm 
Beach County School Superintendent Art Johnson said 50 percent of a 
child's chance at a good education happens before the child starts 
kindergarten.

African-American politicians make a persuasive case that one reason for 
the opportunity gap is the lingering effect of institutional racism. The 
Justice Department report on the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department 
supports that argument. Even heroic efforts, though, might not make 
things completely fair. But in one big way Florida could make things 
less unfair.

This state incarcerates roughly 500 people for every 100,000 residents. 
That rate is about 250 percent what it was in 1980. It has gone mostly 
up even as the crime rate has steadily dropped.

In Florida, according to a report based on the 2010 Census, blacks are 
five times more likely to be in jail or prison than whites. Blacks made 
up roughly 16 percent of the overall population but 46 percent of the 
population in prisons, jails and halfway houses. The state's outdated 
sentencing laws, especially for drugs, put far too many non-violent 
offenders behind bars. Study after study has shown that drug laws 
disproportionately affect minorities.

With the Legislature facing a prison system in crisis, sentencing reform 
won't happen this year. But even states like Texas have discovered that 
it's cheaper, better and even safer to be smart on crime than to be 
tough on crime. Florida should be brave enough to walk across that 
bridge and try to change those horrible numbers.

Randy Schultz is the former editorial page editor of The Palm Beach 
Post. He also blogs for Boca Raton Magazine.
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