Why Are So Many Black Men in Prison?

African-American males are being imprisoned at an alarming and unprecedented rate. Out of the more than 11 million black adult males in the U.S. population, nearly 1.5 million are in prisons and jails with another 3.5 million more on probation or parole or who have previously been on probation or parole. Black males make up the majority of the total prison population, and due to either present or past incarceration is the most socially disenfranchised group of American citizens in the country today. This book, which was penned by Boothe while he was still incarcerated, details the author’s personal story of a negligent upbringing in an impoverished community, his subsequent engagement in criminal activity (drug dealing), his incarceration, and his release from prison and experiencing of the crippling social disenfranchisement that comes with being an ex-felon. The author then relates his personal experiences and realizations to the seminal problems within the African-American community, federal government, and criminal justice system that cause his own experiences to be the same experiences of millions of other young black men. This book focuses on the totality of how and why the U.S. prison system became the largest prison system in the world, and is filled with relevant statistical and historical references and controversial facts and quotes from notable persons and sources.

Why Are So Many Black Men in Prison? could not be timelier. The United States now has more people in prison than any other country in the world, and it is directly due to the disproportionate number of young African-American males that are incarcerated. Nearly 1.5 million Black families have a relative currently in prison or jail, and over 3 million Black households have a close relative presently or previously on parole or probation. Millions of Black males in the U.S. have had their voting rights terminated permanently due to criminal records. This is indeed a crisis. Many notable celebrities, activists, politicians, intellectuals, and national news programs have made extensive mention of this crisis and the devastation that it is causing within the African-American community and have wittingly and unwittingly made it a hot topic as of recent. Bill O’Reilly of “The O’Reilly Factor”; Former President Bill Clinton; Bill Cosby; President Barack Obama; author, political/social commentator Michael Eric Dyson; author, political/social commentator and news show host Tavis Smiley; award winning actor, film producer/director Charles S. Dutton; author, educator, scholar, and literary critic Henry Louis Gates Jr.; bestselling author Sister Souljah; bestselling author Nathan McCall; The Congressional Black Caucus; Rev. Jesse Jackson; hip-hop and apparel mogul Russell Simmons; Memphis Mayor W.W. Herenton; and Newark, New Jersey Mayor Corey Booker are some who have weighed in heavily on the subject of Black male criminalization and disenfranchisement.

The subject is also discussed in the classrooms of many Historically Black Colleges. Still, there are many elements involved that go unseen by those who have never actually been inside of a prison and had the opportunity to be privy to insights and information that can only be gathered from that direct experience. This book encapsulates that direct experience and relays it so that a complete understanding of the crisis is acquired during reading.This volume is the most comprehensive authority in print on the subject of Black male criminalization and disenfranchisement.