From The Back Of The Bus To Prison

The Black Holocaust, A Day of Remembrance

Stewart A. Alexander

Views and News

January 15, 2007

When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus 51 years ago it was the spark that brought about the American Civil Rights Movement; changing the lives for millions of Blacks. For a short while in the mid 60’s and 70’s Blacks made some social and racial gains, however today many Blacks are wasting away their lives in American prisons due to the unjust practice of the Three Strikes Laws.

Today there is a de facto form of segregation that has been brought about by the economic, social and political changes in America. Blacks were just beginning to enjoy many of their new freedoms only ten years after the arrest of Rosa Parks; more opportunities, better jobs and a better way of life.

During the late 70’s Blacks began to see those gains beginning to erode when job opportunities once again became more challenging and Blacks were asked to wait at the back of the line for many employment positions in America’s work place.

During the 80’s drugs had infiltrated every neighborhood in America where Blacks lived and in thousands of homes drugs were the source of income; many Black individuals and families were caught in a social web and drug culture that was destroying the lives of millions and entire communities.

The lack of employment in Black communities advanced the lucrative drug market; many Blacks engaged in the drug trade and dealing drugs became a way of life.

The politics of the 90’s engineered an easy fix to take hundreds of thousands of Blacks off the streets, the Three Strikes Law; this law began a process that would fill the courts, jails and prisons across America.

The Three Strikes Laws have taken away the gains made by Blacks over the past 51 years, before that December 1st day in 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on that city bus.

America’s Three Strikes Laws have over crowded and has over burdened the courts, jails and prisons across America and the implementation has gone far beyond the scope of what is reasonable and just.

Blacks in particular have received more convictions and harsher penalties due to their hair and the color of their skin. Some Whites have escaped jail time for serious offences and felonies because of the color of their eyes and hair; in America justice is not blind.

In California the Three Strikes Law has created a condition that has over burdened the prison system and state leaders have failed to offer any solutions other than to build more prisons; an approach that has already failed after building 22 additional prisons. Presently California has the nation’s largest prison population with over 173,000 inmates and the state’s Three Strike Law is only making the state’s problems worst.

The Three Strikes Laws across America are unjust and these laws have been established to institutionalize segregation and to benefit corporate America. The Three Strikes Laws have not proven to be an effective deterrent to crime and it is creating a severe financial tax burden on millions of Americans.

The Civil Rights Movement began with one Black woman, Rosa Parks; the movement gained the support of Whites, Blacks and people worldwide. Blacks across America now have growing support in the latest chapter of The Black Holocaust because it is not only taking away the freedom of Blacks, it is taking away the freedom of poor Whites, Hispanics, the homeless, thousands in need of mental care, and the youth of America.

For more information search the Web for Stewart A. Alexander; or The Black Holocaust, A Day of Remembrance.

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stewartalexander4paf@ca.rr.com