Stermel 1

William Stermel
Dr. Amy Lynch-Biniek
English 023: College Composition
April 28th, 2016

What The Black Lives Matter Argument Should Be Focused On

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics most recent 2014 research,

there were 1,508,636 people in federal and state prisons. Black people
accounted for just under 37% of this group, while white people accounted for
almost 34%.
These statistics would be alright if the total number of people that make up
each race were the same. This, however, is not the case. The United States
population was 308,745,538 according to the 2010 census. Whites accounted for
63.7% of the total populace, while blacks only made up 12.2% of it. Shouldnt the
incarcerated populations reflect the United States racial populations?
The total prison population is another serious problem. The US has the
highest incarceration rates in the world. A large contributor to the 1.5 million
people currently in prison is recidivism (a persons relapse into criminal behavior).
A study done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics showed that out of 404,638
prisoners that were released in 2005, 56.7% of them fell into recidivism within the
first year of their release. Within 3 years, 67.8% were rearrested. Within five
years, 76.6% of the original 404,638 were rearrested (Durose Cooper Snyder 1).

Stermel 2

Why are people going through our correctional systems not correcting their
behavior after their release?
The Black Lives Matter movement has recognized that there is an issue and
want someone to do something about it. I believe that they have the right idea,
but only partially. Hopefully, the real problem and that something are addressed
in essay. In this essay, I will illustrate the perspectives of law enforcement and
black people to show that neither group is benefiting from the current relationship
that these two, seemingly different, but actually very similar communities have in
common with each other. I will describe the cause of this mutually damaging
relationship and what I think can be done to right whatever wrongs have been
occurring and solutions that could essentially decrease incarceration rates.
Alicia Garza is a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM). She
visited Kutztown University on March 29th to speak about the movement. Two
things became clear to me as I listened to Ms. Garza. The first is that there is
indeed a problem of inequality in America. However, I believe it has more to do
with social classes than it does race, even though the media portrays it that way
a lot of the time. The second is that the movement doesnt really have a clear
goal other than to inform people that there is a problem and then inspire them to
do something. Therein lies the problem that I have with BLM- their message is
completely open to interpretation.
According to Officer Down Memorial Page, 31 police officers have died in the
line of duty since the start of this year, 17 of which were killed by gunfire, and 2
by vehicular assault. 58 of the police officers that died in the line of duty last year

Stermel 3

were killed by assault, gunfire, bomb, or vehicular assault. Were only a third of
the way through 2016, but the number of cops killed by gunfire is almost half of
the total amount killed by gunfire in all of 2015. Obviously, all of these officers
deaths were not a result of the BLM message, but animosity toward police has
grown significantly since Michael Browns death and the riots and looting that
occurred as a result. Officer Ernie Williams of the Philadelphia Police Department
in What Its Like Being a Cop Now, said, Nowadays were in a culture where
everythings against police, at least in the areas I patrol. Social media, news
outlets, theyre really coming down on police. And we still gotta come to work. I
pray nobodys going to get shot or hurt, but the reality is, somebody probably is.
We still have a job to do. And sometimes it can be a very difficult job. Another
officer in the article, mentioned that he has had to answer for the actions of a
colleague, whom he has never met nor seen before on the other side of the
country (Vick 34).
In a violent city like Philadelphia, where there were 248 homicides in 2014,
guns arent the only thing police officers have to worry about anymore.
Everywhere a cop goes, whether hes wrestling a perpetrator or buying a coffee
at Dunkin Donuts, they probably have a cell phone camera pointed at them.
According to the Time article, Officer Trevor Peszko stopped a car for running a
red light in a high-crime neighborhood in the city. Peszko approached the drivers
window to find a cell phone pointed at him as the he issued a simple warning,
Just be straight with me: I know youre late for work, and next time it might be a
ticket (Vick 34).

Stermel 4

The average 8-hour shift of a 19 th district police officer in Philadelphia

consists of 15-20 car stops and answering around 80 calls according to Vick.
Most of the time, when cell phones do come out in each of these situations, they
rarely capture the context of it as a whole. This is simply because the crowds of
people that gather at the scene of an arrest, for example, dont show up or really
care until force is applied. Is force always necessary? No, but according to
Officer Linder in Vicks article, If someone doesnt want to be arrested, and you
have to arrest, them, its not going to be pretty. The fact is, our culture today
encourages people to resist arrest in one way or another. Its good for
entertainment on social media, and the more the individual resists, the more
savage they seem to their peers. Disrespect for law enforcement and overall
disregard for the law itself is celebrated not only among todays youth, but of the
average person in a run-down neighborhood with a high crime rate.Officer
Damon Linder smiled as he turned the corner where a woman yelled, F*** the
law, through the window of his police cruiser. His remark, Thats the public, right
there! illustrates just how accustomed he and many other officers that work the
area have become to the constant negativity.

On the other hand, the black community have had more of a struggle for an
even longer time. This struggle was captured perfectly in Dr. Martin Luther Kings
Letter from a Birmingham Jail. Most of the serious injustices mentioned in his
letter, such as lynchings and racial segregation have been resolved since the
letters publishing. However, one, key, solvable inequality mentioned in the

Stermel 5

document remains, although not as significant as in the 60s and 70s. That is that
the number of black people in poverty is more than double that of white people in
poverty according to the United States Department of Commerce (Bishaw). With
the populations of people from each race being what they are, black people
should not have a higher percentage of people from their race in poverty than
whites, all else being equal.
However, all else is not equal. The populations of each race in American
prisons also misrepresents the the actual population of the American people.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice in a presentation given by Dr. James
P. Lynch in May 2012, the number of black people per every hundred thousand
people in prison was over 3,000 in 2010. White people accounted for less than
500 people per every hundred thousand people in that same year. The same
graph shows that the rates at which each population were sentenced to prison
differ greatly as time has passed. From 1980 to about 2001, the number of blacks
in prison per hundred thousand rose from just over 1000 to 3500. After 2001,
there was a large decrease from the 3500 but that population has remained over
3000 people per every hundred thousand. The number of whites increased
steadily from about 200 to just under 500 per every hundred thousand people in
1997. That group has remained just below the 500 mark since then. (Lynch Fig.
9)
Furthermore, mass incarceration that took place in that time period, 1980 to
2000, is one of the main causes for the United States inability to reduce poverty
rates despite our overall economic growth. Some key things to note when

Stermel 6

considering this idea, according to the study, The Impact of Mass Incarceration
on Poverty, by Robert Defina and Lance Hannon, are: (1) Incarceration rates
have risen by more than 300 percent; (2) The incarcerated population of the U.S.
is not included in the poverty head count; (3) and previous research has focused
on two basic mechanisms that mass incarceration affects the head count poverty
rate.(Defina 563-564).
The first method uses the re-categorizing of individuals into an institutional
population and out of the total head count on poverty, essentially causing an
artificial poverty decrease. (Defina 564). This means that inmates social class
and income before being sentenced are completely disregarded in the count.
Thats significant because a large portion of inmates reported being impoverished
in Wheelock and Uggens study, Race, poverty, and punishment: The impact of
criminal sanctions on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic inequality. In fact, the
number of inmates that reported being impoverished rose from 40 percent in
1974 to 60 percent in 2006. (Wheelock 13)
So, not only did the total number of inmates increase from the 70s to the
2000s, but the number of impoverished inmates did as well.
The second mechanism accounted for the removal of primary earners from
low-income families as well as the difficulties that ex-convicts experienced in
employment and earnings. This method suggests that mass incarceration has
caused an overall increase in poverty even though people are taken out of the
big picture. Defina and Hannons study concluded that poverty rates have been
significantly and negatively affected by mass incarceration.

Stermel 7

Something had to have caused the increases in incarceration and

impoverished prisoners. Many suggest that legislation passed during this time
period specifically targeted the impoverished. Another possibility is the ways in
which people are being sentenced might have changed, for example stiffer
sentences. The statistics that provide evidence for mass incarceration and
impoverished inmates definitely have a correlation. The problem, therefore, lies in
defining the specific sources of their correlation.
One source of these increases is Ronald Reagans Anti-Drug Abuse Act of
1986.
Subtitle B of the Act established criminal penalties for simple possession of
controlled substances. In other words, people would now pay a penalty to society
for their addiction. How is this acceptable? Alcoholics arent treated as criminals,
they receive treatment to ease them off their bad habit. Shouldnt drug addicts be
treated similarly?
Subtitle F increased the penalties for repeat drug offenders. So, individuals
were put to blame for not recovering from their addictions after being put through
the correctional system that was tasked with helping them.
Subtitle K authorized the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to
provide grants to state and local law enforcement to assist in the control of
narcotics. This became an incentive for law enforcement agencies to focus on all
types of drug busts, even if it meant making an arrest for a meaningless amount
of an arguably harmless drug like marijuana. More arrests meant that an agency
was eligible for more funding. Small amounts of a cheap drug also, more than

Stermel 8

likely, meant that the offender ranked low on the socioeconomic scale.
(Congress).
This Act definitely had a tangible effect. However, the effect it had was
probably not the intended one. The number of federal prisoners incarcerated for
drug related offenses increased from below 25,000 in 1988 to just under 100,000
in 2010. Yet, if you walk through the halls of any high school in any major city in
the country, youre bound to find one of the controlled substances. Therefore, I
believe the war on drugs has only been a detriment to our country. Poverty is still
as high as ever. The United States has the highest incarceration rate per capita
in the world. Drugs still run rampant throughout the streets of every major city.
Therefore, I believe the war on drugs has only been a detriment to our country,
specifically to its poor minorities.
In relation to the oppression that the Black Lives Matter Movement has
brought to the national spotlight, it is not just the black race that suffers, but
impoverished people as a whole. The institutional racism that Alicia Garza
spoke of in her lecture does not capture the entire picture. I believe this
oppression is really institutional classism. I think people are using racism as a
tool to keep the nation divided so that even the most rational of people, become
passionate and, therefore, irrational when this subject is brought about. After all,
it is an emotional topic for many people.
There is one step that can be taken to reverse this oppression. It is to change
sentencing in the judicial system. Allow judges to apply whatever sentence they
see fit. Do not place a minimum sentence on crimes. If a judge recognizes that

Stermel 9

someone is struggling, they should not be forced to sentence someone to jail

time, when that is the last thing that is going to help them, particularly in drug
addiction cases. If we can reduce people going through a correctional system
that has been proven to do just the opposite in recidivism studies and actually get
people the help they need, there are a couple things that can happen. Taxpayer
money will be saved. Less inmates to pay for would mean more funding can be
applied elsewhere (i.e. Education). Recidivism, or repeat offending, can be
decreased. That will mean less dependence on the state to provide for low
income families whose primary earners are stuck behind bars, unable to provide.
All of this equals out to the reverse of mass incarceration and if that were to
happen, poverty rates would likely decrease.
In conclusion, to public officials and police officers: more prisons and stiffer
sentencing have only damaged the country. Reversing these mistakes could
mean reversing their effects and eventually, improve our society. Think about that
next time you arrest someone in need of real help, the next time you sentence
someone to the maximum sentence for an insignificant offense, or pass a law
that targets impoverished people. That may be the beginning of a career criminal.
In conclusion, to BLM leaders and supporters: be careful with the message
you send to impressionable people. Your message can be interpreted poorly and
remember: with great power comes great responsibility.

Stermel 10

Works Cited
United States. U.S. Department of Commerce. Economics and Statistics
Rates for Selected Detailed Race and Hispanic

Administration. Poverty

Groups by State and Place: 2007-2011. By Suzanne

Macartney, Alemayehu Bishaw, and Kayla Fontenot. U.S. Census Bureau, Feb. 2013. Web. 28 Apr.
2016.
Lynch, James P., Ph.D. Corrections in the United States. Digital image. Bjs.gov.

U.S. Department

of Justice, 4 May 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

Vick, Karl. What It's Like Being a Cop Now Aug. 2015: 34-41. Academic Search

Complete. Web.

26 Apr. 2016.
Wheelock, Darren, and Christopher Uggen. Race, Poverty and Punishment: The

Impact of

Criminal Sanctions on Racial, Ethnic, and Socio-econimc Inequality. Working paper no. 06-15.
National Poverty Center, June 2006. Web. 28 Apr.

2016.

United States. Cong. House - Armed Services; Banking, Finance, and Urban Affrs; Education and
Labor; Foreign Affairs; Government Operations; Energy and
Affairs; Judiciary; Merchant Marine and
and Transportation;

Commerce; Interior and Insular

Fisheries; Post Office and Civil Service; Public Works

Ways and Means. H.R.5484 - Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. 99th Cong. Cong

99-570. Rep. James C. Wright. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.