Modern Day Slavery?

- by Justin Brown | Cincinnati, Ohio 

From 1619 when the first slave arrived in the United States, to 2009 when the country receives it's first black president in Barack Obama(1), the African American male has faced some challenging obstacles to life and liberty.  Early on there seemed to be a clear sense of what the black man struggle was; a single rallying point to fight for civil liberties.  Whether slavery, the right to vote, or the equality in education, black folks could unite and fight for a thematic cause.

Today, much of the overt racism and discrimination we experienced early on in our American history is all but gone. It begs the question, is there nothing left to fight for? Has the Black man finally arrived? FFM argues, absolutely not! Modern-day slavery has morphed and disguised itself in numerous other forms today. Addiction, illicit/illegal drug distribution, absentee fathers, and inadequate education are among the top issues still plaguing the African American community today.

We have new fights, new struggles, and new rallying points.  Let's consider drug and alcohol abuse.  While the Black community abuses alcohol at lower rates than the rest of the nation, illicit drug use from 2004 to 2008 outpaced the rest of the nation, (9.5 vs. 7.9 percent) (2). Black abusers are treated like criminals rather than people suffering from a debilitating illness.  In many cases they are even targeted for prosecution, and often receive much stiffer penalties than their white counterparts (3). The majority of our incarcerated are black, male, their crimes closely related to the drug trade.The statistics for single parent homes among African-Americans reveals some astonishing patterns! 63% of our homes are headed by single parents, mostly working women (4).

The overall picture of our community is not all bleak however. In the 21 century we have achieved some great accomplishments. Our African-American community is more educated, more wealthy, and more responsible than it has ever been in it's history. However, if we are to continue to prosper and improve the black condition, it is paramount that we identify and continue to work on our modern deficiencies.

REFERENCES:

1.  Borgna, Brunner. “African-American History Timeline, A chronology of black history from the early slave trade through Affirmative Action.” Infoplease.com. Information Please. 01 Jan. 1998. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtimeline.html (accessed Jan. 17, 2011).

2. “National Survey on Drug Use and Health, NSDUH Report.” 18 Feb. 2010. http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k10/174/174SubUseBlackAdults.htm (accessed Jan. 17, 2011).

3. “War on Drugs.” Wikipedia. 17 Jan. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs#cite_note-hr... (accessed Jan. 17, 2011). 

4. Leverett, Sharon. “Single Black Parents.” 01 Jan. 2005. http://www.singleblackparents.com/ (accessed Jan. 11, 2011).