There are many societal leaders who think that the current infrastructure clearly has separated society into the “have and the have-nots,” or the higher social-economic, middle class and lower social-economic classes. This fact has helped keep people struggling for years. We are all familiar with the history of the African-American plight throughout the years; some of the institutionalized racism and policies help to perpetuate the state of being for this group of people. Although a great number of African Americans have gained the education and strength to rise up above environmental situations and thrive, there are a disproportionate number of people who have found it too difficult to do the same. The sale and distribution of illegal drugs within our community is a major cause, period! Drugs and alcohol are often used to escape reality but perpetuate problems. It is difficult to reason, grow and thrive when the mind is cloudy from drugs and simple reasoning goes out the window. You will simply do things that you would not do while on drugs.

The spiraling down affects, resulting from inferior education, lack of jobs, and the human psyche has easily contributed to placing a good number of young Black males in “The System.” Once these young Black males try to better their situations with “quick fixes” and knee jerk responses, their personal situations become worsened, which also helps to solidify their fate. Some find it extremely difficult to obtain employment once they establish the stigma of a felony record, imprisonment, crippling education, a minimum skill set and an unproductive attitude that will help prolong their lifelong struggle. The combination of needing financial resources to exist, but no legitimate means of income can easily lead to the life of crime and frustration. Some individuals have little to no peaceful resolution or conflict skills, resulting in them using guns to resolve issues. Similarly frustrated people with conflicts are dangerous combinations.

Once the element of an easily obtainable firearm enters the equation, it becomes a recipe for disaster. To make matters worse, some of the illegal activity that individuals chose to participate in involves using, promoting and distributing illegal drugs. Sometimes self-medicating through alcohol and select drugs add to the problem. When one has lost all control of their lives and feel the need to command control and respect, they find that it is not easily acquirable given their history. When this perpetual condition evolves into an explosive confrontation, they feel the only control, or source of power comes from “the gun.” This situation is exemplified on an exponential basis all throughout the country and on a daily basis. There are literally thousands of examples of street violence and death resulting from nonsensical situations that could have been resolved by reasoning, logical conversations and resolute discussions. Just talking it out would help! Statistics suggests that there are more Black males entering the prison system then any other race, which will affect their potential of finding a job if they ever released from incarceration.

Jobs and the lack of money play a key role in continued frustrations. "A drastic U-turn is needed. Public policies have and continue to play a major role in creating and sustaining the racial wealth gap, and society must play a role in closing it," said Shapiro, author of The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality and the co-author of Black Wealth/White Wealth. IASP, in a research brief, reported that many African Americans hold more debt than assets and at least 25 percent of African-American families had no assets to turn to in times of economic hardship. The fourfold increase in the wealth gap, it said, reflects public policies, such as tax cuts on investment income and inheritances, which benefit the wealthiest and persistent discrimination in housing, credit and labor markets. All these facts simply add to the group of people who are in the category of “the have-nots.” In the last three years, a good number of gains that African Americans have acquired have been eliminated including the fact that some have fallen out of the middle class back into the poverty category. Once people fall into the lower-socioeconomic group, coupled with institutionalized problems and traits that this group might have, the chances of more violence and death has been proven to increase. As of 2012, more African Americans who have struggled to achieve middle class status are falling back in to the lower socioeconomic status. In some cases it will be a privilege to be a part of the working poor because at least one would have a job!

Unemployment might be at the center of most citizens’ frustration. The Detroit Rebellion of 1967, though sparked by police violence, is attributed largely to rising unemployment.
The official Black unemployment rate is 15.1 percent, compared with 8.9 percent for
Whites. The official unemployment rate among African Americans is projected to reach
20% by next year. In New York City, the official Black unemployment rate has been rising four times as fast as that of Whites. And a 2006 Joint Economic Committee Study chaired by Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., reported that 37.7% of Black men in the United States had no jobs. Now that we are in 2012 and coming off the worst three to four years that this country has ever seen economically, African-Americans are certainly a group that continues to field the short end of the stick. The next wave of bank foreclosure is about to be announced and more people will enter the suffering zone.

Because many African-Americans do not have in-demand technical skills, sufficiently high education levels, and cannot compete in the global market place, they have collectively lost value in the American economy. In addition to what government should and must do to help ensure that Black America survives the recovery process, African Americans must take control of their own economic destiny. As a way to improve their personal finances, family wealth, community economies, and to help lift Black America out of this downward economic spiral, it will take an accumulative effort from a personal level. Corporations and government also have their role in making the playing field even. It will have to start with every young Black male wanting to uplift himself and his group as a collective unit, as well as the power base taking on this issues as “a priority agenda.” In order to build, we have to stop the violence and stop the killing, then concentrate on education, jobs, family and the attitudes that will place one’s personal growth in a productive direction. A paradigm shift on every level is needed to increase productivity.