This edition of The Legislator is dedicated to a segment of America’s population that touches the hearts and minds of us all – our youth. Across our great nation, children are embarking on a new journey with fresh opportunities as they head back to school classrooms and institutions of higher learning. Many will face opportunities for growth in healthy environments that help our young people to succeed. Whether from the fields of liberal arts, business, science, technology, medicine or education, many will prepare to contribute to their neighborhoods, and to the society at-large.
While there are many stories of success throughout the youth population, every day in America, millions of African American young people wake up to face another day of uncertainty, and in many cases, hopelessness. They are in a state of crisis, and it is going unchecked.
We all know that state and federal prisons are overflowing with African American males who have been incarcerated for a variety of crimes while the juvenile justice population is exploding with black girls representing the fastest growing segment. There are a variety of factors that contribute to this dismal situation and certainly one of them is poverty. It’s 2014 and over 40 percent of African American children live in poverty. The majority of African American babies in this country are born to single mothers. Many of these mothers and fathers are under the age of eighteen. They, too, are in fact our youth as well. The difficulties involved in any parent(s) raising a child are immediately accelerated when the parent not only lacks financial means, but is also in the process of developing the maturity needed to effectively raise a child to be a decent student and citizen. We must do more to examine the steps we can take to inspire our youth to have dreams, goals, and plans which will dissuade them from wanting to have children while they are still children themselves. In short, we must find ways to educate entire families from the oldest to the youngest with the hope of ushering in a way of thinking and believing, which encourages all involved to strive for education and preparation before parenthood. Like it or not, much of what we see as problematic areas with our youth is the result of what we used to call a lack of “home training,” which nowadays appears to span generations of ineffective parenting. Accomplishing such a revolution in thought may very well be one of the main challenges of the 21st century. Yet, colleagues, we must be vigilant and determined in doing our part to bring about positive change in this area if we are to safeguard our youth, our family structure, and our future.
Unquestionably, a game changer for our youth should be education, but even in the education system we are seeing disparities that impact our young people. Consider the facts: African American youth are suspended and expelled from schools at a rate three times greater than white students. Almost 20 percent of African American boys and 12 percent of African American girls are suspended from public schools each year. By age 25, almost 15 percent of African American young people drop out of high school without a diploma or any hope of continuing their education. Many of them turn to crime.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are sobering. In 2008, black youths who made up 16 percent of America’s youth population, accounted for over half of the juvenile violent crime arrests including homicide and robbery. In 2012, gun violence was the number one cause of death for black children and teenagers. Homicide is the leading cause of death in 2014 for young black men who are six times more likely to die from homicide than white men.
With respect to the financial strains inherent in single parenting, it can be very difficult for these, oftentimes adolescent mothers to provide food, shelter, clothing and the mature parental guidance needed to steer a child away from gangs while struggling to make ends meet. And it is not just gangs that pose danger: drugs, alcohol, and premature sexual experiences also contribute to a dangerous environment.
These are only some of the problems affecting African American youth, and talking will not save our babies. As state legislators, we need to work with our faith leaders, businesses, state and local governments, schools, colleges, parents, and young people to create a plan we can implement to save, not only children of color, but all children – period.
Representative Joe Armstrong (TN)
President, National Black Caucus of State Legislators
