Day by day, we continue to see black men get killed out in the street by police. They are targeted because they are poor, and we live in a system that works hard everyday to keep the colored people in low socio-economic status. Although people may believe that anyone can accomplish anything in America, the land of opportunity. I will tell you that, this statement is false. Children growing up in poverty are set up to fail! The reason that only very few students excel in these conditions is not because these are the only kids that have the capability to learn, it is that there are so many obstacles working against them all that make it very hard for most of them to succeed.
America is a cruel place for African American boys. The racism kills their fathers, and discriminates against their mothers, then the children are hammered with the question as to why they aren't doing so well. It is not that they are born programmed not to have any dreams or aspirations. How are they suppose to aspire to be someone when they do not see it happening for the older generations? They do not have role models, and they know the system isn't meant to help them. A child cannot go to school and learn with a clear mind knowing his mother might not afford dinner tonight, knowing he might not come home to a living father, or knowing he can be shot and killed when simply walking home from a 7-Eleven with a bag of skittles and an Arizona.
These children grow up in poverty. Where you have poverty you have drugs! You have violence! Their education system is absolute trash, and very little money goes into keeping these children safe and out of the streets. Since schools are funded by the community, going to a public school in a low SES neighborhood is going through a drop out factory. Most parents are working multiple jobs to afford food and a place to live. Not having both parents, or having absent parents really takes a toll on the children's lives and learning environments.
They see their parents stressed about money, living paycheck by paycheck. When they are constantly going hungry, they do not want to be poor anymore. They either drop out of school and start working or they resort to selling drugs because that's easy money. No one sells drugs because it's fun, most of the time it is a last resort necessity. Then when they get caught selling drugs, they get handcuffed, tossed in the back of a cop car and go on their way to jail. They do not have a chance in the criminal justice system. Just as famous rapper, Kendrick Lamar, mentions in his new album, untitled unmastered., "justice aint free therefore, justice aint me." The criminal justice system only speaks money, and unless you have it, you might as well sit back and just take whatever they throw at you. This cycle will continue as long as poverty in these communities lives.
