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Clayton tackles tough issues feeing black femilies
College Relations/SPECIAL
Continued from page 2
hold a student conference in
the spring for AUC students to
look at issues of marriage and
family — how do we
strengthen it, how do we make
the family the economic
cornerstone of that institution.
MT: Your message to the
conference participants was
profound. Could you recap the
main points?
OC: I looked at the public
perception of African
American males. The study
was called "A Multi- City
Study of Urban Inequality."
Prejudice and discrimination
were addressed. We asked
people how would they
describe Black men. Some of
their responses were angry,
threatening, suspicious, and
dangerous.
The National Research
Conference, in 1989,
documented that from 1939 to
1989, racial attitudes and
behaviors had not changed,
and most people were
suspicious of African
American men.
If you are suspicious, or
you feel threatened [by them],
are you going to hire them? In
addition, if you feel that they
are dangerous, threatening, or
less intelligent, what do you
do? You lock them up. And
that basically is what I wanted
to show.
MT: Were African
Americans included in the
interviews?
OC: Just random people,
Blacks and whites. A lot of
people don't realize that we
are afraid of ourselves. Some
crime statistics that tie into
these perceptions: we have the
highest prison incarceration
rate of any country in the
world; and we have more
Obie Clayton gives
commentary on the
degeneration of the Black
family structure.
African American in jails than
in colleges.
We always talk about not
having jobs to pay a decent
minimal wage. Last year, the
US spent $16 billion to
incarcerate more than 1
million Americans in prisons
and jails. Of that amount, $7
million was spent on keeping
Blacks in jail.
Why not take half of that
amount and put it into
prevention programs? The
Blacks that we have locked up,
three-fourths of them do not
need to be locked up. Very few
are there for committing
violent crimes.
Those that are in there for
violent crimes, you keep them
locked up. But you don't lock
up young people and ruin
their lives, because once you
get a record you'll keep a
record.
MT: And this
obviously impacts
African American
families?
OC: Let's look at
impacts on family
formation. Last year
alone we had 470
thousand African
Americans
incarcerated. These
persons are between
the ages of 20 to 29.
Those are the ages that
you should be
finishing college,
getting a career, and
starting a family. But
where are they? In
prison.
Prison return
rates are as high as 89
percent. This means,
that as prisoners get out, they
are faced with having a record,
and therefore can't find a job.
These obstacles force them to
return to the same criminal
ways, which lands them back
into the system.
Marriage pools for young
females are then down by 470
thousand. And that number is
going to grow until we change
some of the laws. Primary
prevention is key: we must
work with 8 and 9-year-olds to
keep them out of the juvenile
justice system.
MT: What do you want
people to take away from the
conference?
OC: If you looked at the
participants on the panel, you
had liberals, conservatives,
Blacks, whites, males and
females. I think one of the
things that people went away
with, especially the
conservatives, is a look at the
economic disparity that exists
between Blacks and whites
and how economics is
somehow tied into all the
Conference a dream come truefor Rahming
Continued from page 2
special attention on
Morehouse, not only by virtue
of the fact that Morehouse is
one of the official organizers of
the conference, but also by the
inclusion of a few Morehouse
students," says Rahming.
Lance McBride, a senior
English major, and Marc
Joseph, alumnus and former
editor in chief of The Maroon
Tiger, were selected as student
participants.
Another aim of the
conference was to strengthen
bonds between Morehouse
and institutions in the
Caribbean.
"Morehouse has
demonstrated its good will by
awarding a scholarship to a
Bahamian student," said
Rahming. "It is my hope that
this becomes a permanent
arrangement."
Rahming notes that this
extracurricular pursuit on his
part does not set him apart
from other Morehouse
professors.
"Morehouse professors
are very busy on the whole,
not only providing service to
the institution and community,
but also developing their
personal and professional
credentials," said Rahming.
"In fact, my intent to bring
global attention to Caribbean
literature is no! a trend setting
endeavor. I am following the
path of other scholars here at
Morehouse, the Caribbean,
and in the world."
issues that we discussed.
I hope the liberals took
away the idea that there is
such a thing as responsibility.
You have a personal
responsibility. If you are a
father, you owe that child; it's
not all on the system.
I hope what students took
away is the idea that marriage
is important. You are in
college; you're not in prison.
You're in a position to start a
family, to be responsible to the
children. But also to realize
that marriage is changing and
sex roles are changing and
these factors should be
considered when starting a
family.
What it takes to
be a father.
What it takes to
be a dad.
It takes i mm to be a dad. (Tali 1 800-790-DADS.
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