Think About It...

African-Americans have been the victims of conditioning for hundreds of years. From race induced inequalities, to biased systems that shape our society, Blacks have been shafted time and time again. As crime continues to sky rocket in African-American communities, and blacks continue to overcrowd prisons all around the nation, one can only ask if the conditioning of African-Americans and crime waves are synonymous. The sociological theory states that crime results from social or cultural forces that are external to any specific individual, exist prior to any criminal act, and emerges from social class, political, ecological, or physical structures affecting large groups of people. So have African-Americans become programmed to commit criminal acts as a direct result of external situations that are beyond their control? Some argue the “Hood” is only as handicapping as you make it. However, in light of recent studies, the “Hood” is not only attributed to poverty prone external surroundings, but a mentality – an ideology. Carter Godwin Woodson, author of “The Mis-Education of the Negro,” states a concept implying that if you control a man’s mind, then the man himself you control. Once the brain has been conquered, the body has no choice but to react as it’s told by the superior power – i.e. the conqueror. How does all of this come to a head in discussing whether African-Americans were/are programmed with a pre-disposition to commit unlawful acts? Where do we start in finding the common thread that runs all throughout the Black community, in pertaining to their take on crime and how it affects them?
THINK ABOUT IT___X