Every now and again something can stick in my spiritual craw
so much so that I find it hard to let go.
Lately the conversations around “Black Males” represent one such case. I think its not simply because I AM at
last check a Black Male, but because the conversations that I AM both privy to
and those that I often read about in articles and hear on TV and the radio
somehow seem to view me and my brethren as a potential and soon to be obsolete
tools.
Because of my career path and chosen line of work professionally
I am mindful of the following facts:
·
According to Pew Research in 2010 Black Men were
6 times more likely than their white counter parts to be incarcerated. In Wisconsin alone the incarceration rate
for African Americans is 13%, which by the way leads the nation.
·
Nationally according to The Council of State
Governments most recent reports Black male graduation rates were 47% compared
to the 73% graduation rate of their white counter parts. Follow that up with
2011 report from Dr. Michael Holzman that only 10% of 8th grade
Black Boys could read proficiently. Compounded with the often quoted “urban
myth” prison construction rates based upon 3rd grade reading
scores.
·
Finally, according to a UC Berkley report in the
3rd Quarter of 2013 Black Male unemployment stood at a whopping
13.8% (teenage Black Males unemployment for the same time was 53%).
Given all of the aforementioned FACTS I would venture to say
me and many of my colleagues have contemplated the mental weight each of these
play on us because regardless of your academic or professional accomplishments
you are still subject to be impacted by any number of the issues that lead to
such disproportionate outcomes. Even
as I type these thoughts I am mindful of their impact.
That being said in a recent conversation with a friend I
suggested that Black Men in particular have to have a level of mental dexterity
that rivals the most accomplished gymnast because we must be keenly aware of
everything ranging from our appearance to the volume of our music to our
surrounding and to forget can be the difference between life and death or
relegation to a second class social status.
By no means is this mental musing an acceptance of some
permanent state of victimhood or even an instance of helplessness, but it is to
acknowledge the complexity associated with Black Manhood and the fact that it
does not get any better when my reality and the vision of who and what I am to
be is not being shaped by me. But
rather those who profit off my demise and often times they don’t present
themselves as the usual suspects.
Sometimes they present themselves as well meaning folks who’s reality of
who and what I am is shaped by their limited access to those that look like me
or the image they enjoy while being entertained by those who look like me.
Finally, this is not to say a conversation is not warranted
regarding the state of Black Men in this country, but a conversation that does
not include substantive policy adjustments (i.e. mass incarceration)
and historical disenfranchisement is just as bad as no conversation at all.
That’s My Truth and I Am Sticking To It…
I AM
Dr. Irvin PeDro Cohen
