There is a tragic issue in our country that is not even mentioned in this election time dialogue.
The US of A leads the world in incarceration rates. I checked several sources just to confirm this.
Something is broken.
Yesterday, I received an e-mail from a friend, Matt Harris, about this very issue. It was on his mind because of an opinion article in the Chicago Tribune by Clarence Page.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-oped0305pagemar05,0,6389297.column
The article states that more than one in 100 adults in the U.S. is in jail or prison. That number is shocking to me. But of course it gets worse.
The article goes on to state that one in every nine black men ages 20 to 34 is incarcerated. So this tragedy has a racial component to it.
Doesn't it make you wonder if the reason that this tragedy in our country is not even being mentioned is because many people are not to concerned with the fact that so many black men are locked in a cage. Maybe we have not progressed as far as a nation when it comes to "justice for all" as we think we have.
I know that the issue is complex and multifaceted, but some questions still need to be asked. I am not naive enough to think this is the only reason for this crisis, but I am also perceptive enough to see that this issue is in someway related to race.
I am a person who doesn't mind identifying problems (obviously), but I get much more excited about working towards solutions.
Anyone have any thoughts on this national tragedy?
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