John Legend is an accomplished musician, song-writer and singer; he has an engaging smile and pleasant personality. Legend and rapper, Common, (Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr.) won an Oscar for the song 'Glory' from the movie "Selma." During Legend's acceptance comments, he suggested that the civil rights fight is incomplete because, "More 'Blacks' are under correctional control today than those who were under slavery in 1850."
I will not argue the math with Mr. Legend however, I will challenge his comparison of incarceration to slavery with his subliminal suggestion that the same circumstances create both situations and that those circumstance rest in the lap of 'White' America.
Slavery was an evil economic institution embraced by 'Whites.' There...plain enough? Today's incarceration of 'Blacks' is a more complex issue that is shared by Blacks, Whites and a Nation. Criminal behavior-choices made by Black people is the greatest cause for large numbers of incarcerated Blacks. The financial inability of many Blacks to secure quality defense attorneys adds to those numbers. Finally, the continued "White-flight' from inner cities leaving deplorable economic, social and educational conditions pile on the incarceration numbers.
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