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The highly publicized shootings of , and several other African-American men has shined a spotlight on how the criminal justice system interacts with men of color. But with Sandra Bland鈥檚 recent death in the Waller County Jail, some are now asking how that same justice system treats women of color.
On the cover of the largest African-American-owned paper in the City of Houston 鈥� The Houston Forward Times 鈥� the headline reads, 鈥淭he New 鈥楯ane鈥� Crow: Black Women Are The Target For Mass Incarceration.鈥� Jeffrey Boney is the author of that article, and he lays out some pretty staggering statistics on African-American women being involved with the criminal justice system:
- 1 in 100 African American women are in prison.
- African-American women are seven times more likely to be incarcerated than White women.
And Boney says these numbers shouldn鈥檛 be ignored. 鈥淚t just speaks to what a lot of African-American civil rights organizations and others have been saying for some time,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hrough and other issues 鈥� like mandatory minimum sentencing and the three strikes rule 鈥� they鈥檝e negatively impacted African-American people.鈥�
And not just African-American people, but African-American women in particular. 鈥淭hirteen percent of the entire female population in the United States are African-American, yet they represent 50 percent of the entire female prison population,鈥� Boney says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 extremely startling and it鈥檚 something systemic that many believe is negatively impacting鈥� African-American people.鈥�
So why does the media always focus on African-American men? 鈥淚t goes back to鈥� there was a book called 鈥� 鈥�, written by Michelle Alexander, which challenged everybody to stop ignoring this issue and to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America,鈥� Boney says. 鈥淲hat we see is the same things that have impacted African-American males, they鈥檝e impacted African-American females.鈥�
But Boney says it isn鈥檛 a mystery to him why so many African-American women are filling up county jails and state prisons. 鈥淎 lot of it has to do with the fact that many鈥� African-American women find themselves incarcerated for a mass period of time [for] low-level offenses,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t could be anything from check fraud or some level of theft, or even drugs.鈥�
So if African-American women are spending too much time behind bars for low-level offenses, is the problem our policing or our laws? Boney says we need to fix both. 鈥淭hose laws that are on the books that are implemented by members of Congress or state legislatures鈥� have to be carried out by members of law enforcement,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd so when you have an emphasis on those laws being carried out by law enforcement, then you ask yourself 鈥榃here do I find individuals who may be the biggest violators of, say, drugs, or certain types of crimes.'鈥� Boney argues that that incentive to arrest pushes police to lock up more minorities.
鈥淭he majority of folks that are in prison that are African-American 鈥� whether they be male or female 鈥� are really in there because of drugs and this war on drugs,鈥� Boney says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why you see even President Obama here recently having because of drug offenses where they were in prison for life sentences,鈥� Boney says. With presidential pardons in short supply, Boney and advocates like him are hoping for more systemic change to our country鈥檚 drug laws and minimum sentencing laws.
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