Our Broken Educational System Is Feeding Our Prison System

In a recent speech at Columbia University, Hillary Clinton addressed the Baltimore rioting by saying that there is something "profoundly wrong" with our justice system.  Then she gave a litany of likelihoods that face black males.  Things like higher rates of incarceration and longer sentencing and that statistics on black incarceration and employment, are an embarrassment to this country. What she doesn't seem to understand is that our justice system exists as a result of crime; not the other way around.  So, the objective in improving crime statistics -- especially for blacks -- is to go after the root cause and not apply a band aid after the fact.

According to the President's own Education Department, 70% of prison inmates in this country can't  read at a basic level.  So, obviously, much of all criminal behavior can be traced back to functional illiteracy.   When blacks make up 40% of the prison population, also understand that nearly 1-in-4 (24%) are functionally illiterate.  So, then, what is the solution to race and the justice system?  Better policing and lighter sentencing?  Or a better educational system?

Also, high black illiteracy rates also lead to higher unemployment rates, lower wages, and higher rates of poverty.   More importantly, high rates of poverty and unemployment are also linked to higher rates of crime.  Thus, if black unemployment and poverty is high, higher crime rates will also follow.  In Baltimore, for example, the black unemployment rate for ages 20 to 24 was 37%. 

The bottom line is that, if we want to lessen the frequency by which blacks have to interact with the police and, in doing so, lessen the possibility that they will die at their hands, we need to improve black education and black attitudes towards being educated.

One of the most disturbing statistics from the Department of Education is that almost 1-in-5 (19%) of all high school graduates can't read.  So, then, how is one who can't read able to test and graduate from high school?  The only way something like that can happen is if we have a lot of teachers who are willing to push students out of the doors of their high school without an education.  Until that changes, black crime and overall crime will remain high in this country.

As far as Hillary Clinton is concerned...her trashing of the justice system is simply telling blacks what they want to believe and not the truth.  

References:

Hillary Clinton: 'There Is Something Profoundly Wrong' In Our Criminal Justice System: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/29/hillary-clinton-baltimore_n_7170668.html

Hillary Clinton: It's time to confront 'hard truths' about race and justice: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/hillary-clinton-justice-race-baltimore-reaction-117466.html

Illiteracy Statistics: http://www.statisticbrain.com/number-of-american-adults-who-cant-read/

The U.S. Illiteracy Rate Hasn't Changed In 10 Years: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/06/illiteracy-rate_n_3880355.html

Breaking Down Mass Incarceration in the 2010 Census: State-by-State Incarceration Rates by Race/Ethnicity: http://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/rates.html

How Baltimore’s Young Black Men Are Boxed In:  http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-baltimores-young-black-men-are-boxed-in/

Poverty and Crime: Breaking a Vicious Cycle of Discrimination: http://www.poverties.org/poverty-and-crime.html