Denzel Washington: Don't blame the prison system, 'It starts at the home'

Nah, yours friends and family are just a bad lot.. Sucks to be you.

If you want to be real just keep looking at the news reports on a regular basis and see the amount of black men that are being cleared by the courts after spending years in prison on false charges.

They were :dunno:

Now, back to my question. What percentage of black men in prison right now would you say are there on false charges?
 
They were :dunno:

Now, back to my question. What percentage of black men in prison right now would you say are there on false charges?

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/07/politics/blacks-wrongful-convictions-study/index.html

Anderson is just one of hundreds of black men who have been convicted of and exonerated for crimes they didn't commit. A new report from the National Registry of Exonerations, a joint project between the University of California, Irvine; University of Michigan Law School and Michigan State University College of Law, shows that black people are more likely to be wrongfully convicted than white people and are also likely to spend longer in prison before being exonerated for their crimes.
While black people represent 13% of the US population, they represent a whopping 47% of the 1,900 exonerations in the registry.
 
Keep in mind we don't know how in depth he went with the comments, this is based on what the writer included for the article. He isn't that disconnect, he also works within the community. I would love to see his comments on video as I'm sure the writer scaled back for the article.
 
GTFOH!

I wish these celebrities would stop giving their opinions and start learning and spitting facts.

The prison industrial complex and mass incarceration are real. The government is using the prison system to ignore/suppress dealing with real social issues (housing, unemployment, education, etc). Good parenting cannot stop a racist, overzealous cop from putting a bullet in yo ass, or a racist, overzealous prosecutor and judge suggesting and giving you time or more time than a cac because you are black.

On the micro-level can good parenting help? Maybe. An individual can point to him or herself and say that it did. But on the macro-level good parenting can't stop a damn thing. In a white supremacist society, not willing to deal with it's past and present shortcomings, the gauntlet has to fall on someone and america has proven over and over that it chooses to sell out its black population.

This!

There are a lot of can't see the forest for the trees assed niggas in this thread. There is a difference between a tree and the forest.

Also, according to some of the responses in this thread, Malcolm, Martin, Medgar and the countless thousands of people who got murdered, beaten and broken in the struggle had it all wrong. They shouldn't have been fighting for black liberation, they should have been sitting down some where working on their families. Neither do we need to fight for it now, just take personal responsibility for you and yours and it will all work out. Really?!

Ta-nehisi Coates did a hell of a job explaining all of this in his article "The black family in the age of mass incarceration" which also appears in the book "We were eight years in power". He explains how this whole argument/suggestion that black families are at fault for their social and economic state is garbage. It was started by a sociologist, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and it has blown out of control ever since, by politicians, racists, uninformed blacks and apparently Denzel.

Some of you need to get a grip on your emotions and educate yourselves before simplifying issues that are far from simple.
 
I know what he meant but many said he could've went a little deeper explaining it...

man we kno it starts somewhere but more importantly it's about that person doing right and wrong....

Now many of us get got on some fake shit(unlawful attrest that led to lengthy convictions)

Many of us have solid foundation and still choose the streets....

So there's no clear cut answer...


Man my hometown normally have issues for as shooting/killings once twice a yr...

Since Hurricane Harvey there's been bout 12 shootings resulting in 5 deaths...

So who's to blame for that...

One dude I know personal, shit he came by the house to pick up my stepson for Hurricane Nate....
Now he got a second degree murder tag attached to his name....he ain't the type, a solid kid, father wasn't in the house with him but he was around and involved. We leaved near each other, our kids grew up together....

So I do get Denzel pernt but that's just a piece of the pie....
 
Why does the truth pain you?

What pains me is that in the US before you are born as a black man you are faced with serveral setbacks. A judicial /financial system that is not in your favour. Strike 1

Then if your part of a family with a bad family structure the struggle becomes harder. Strike 2

And if you're poor or live in a bad neighborhood you get different sub optimal opportunity's . Strike 3

That doesn't mean that the black man can't make it in the US. They can.

They have to put in more work.
At the end of the day it starts with what you do.
 
that statement is true,.....when talking to black people.
but when talking to the white press you can't make "whites are not the blame" type statements. EVER!!!
 
The system starts at home.

The system divides the home.

Black men getting killed, imprisoned, ran out of the home so the woman can get free food and poor housing for the children. Even if the man is around after all that, the system has designed it to make it harder for him to fairly make an honest living.

These situations lead to frustrations and depression, and they force all these frustrated and depressed people into one part of town, basically box them in, so they end up taking their anger and sadness out on each other, themselves, and the area of town they've been assigned to.

And this was all designed by the white people whose families are still wealthy from 400 years of slavery.
 
When a kid goes to jail everyone says "Where was the father?" Funny how nobody asks about the mom.
who the fuck says that
:smh:

Is your self esteem really that low that you think no matter WHAT we do we'll be forced into a cell?

What do yall tell your kids? "Hey junior, I know you have hopes and dreams but it's pointless cause CACs will lock ya up eventually!"

CACs have done a number on yall.

Meanwhile I'm gonna estimate that 95% of BGOL members have never been placed in handcuffs. :dunno:
how is my esteem low..knock on wood i never been in cuffs.. i move to my own tune and self employed.. personally i don't give a shit about cacs or politics but i'm not naive to the fact of the system is truly unfair and the history of law enforcement and the court system.. id tell junior to treat cacs like the ultimate consumer and drain their pockets and to control his own destiny
 
Denzel is cool and I understand the point he was trying to make here but this culture of celebrity worship has to stop. Who tf cares what Denzel thinks about this? How well read is he on the subject? Obviously not so much.

Offering cutesy platitudes about personal responsibility is exactly what I've come to expect from these folks. Nothing wrong with his message but it's so incomplete that it borders on comical. There is so much fucking literature on this subject and the problems of the prison industrial complex, over policing in our communities, two tier justice system along racial and class lines and the nexus between crime and economic opportunity/mobility that it renders these kinds of celeb insights (and honestly many BGOL posts) meaningless.

If you're actually interested in the topics at hand beyond these kinds of pithy slogans log off and get to reading. Honestly.
 
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Right on!!

Tell d washington to focus on acting and leave politics and social issues to those who work in those fields..

GTFOH!

I wish these celebrities would stop giving their opinions and start learning and spitting facts.

Can't stand this point of view that actors or entertainers in general shouldn't speak on politics because ultimately their point of view isn't the one that the one giving the order not to speak shares. Republicans, racists, police and their supporters, etc respond the same way. with this bullshit all of the time. These entertainers are human first, even if they are by virtue of their success far removed from the issues on the ground. If Denzel shared your viewpoints, you would be cheering him on. As you must know, the popular target of that direction are football players. If Colin and others listened to those that tell them to stick to whatever entertaining profession they're in, there would be much less awareness of the issues raised by the protest.
 
Can't stand this point of view that actors or entertainers in general shouldn't speak on politics because ultimately their point of view isn't the one that the one giving the order not to speak shares. Republicans, racists, police and their supporters, etc respond the same way. with this bullshit all of the time. These entertainers are human first, even if they are by virtue of their success far removed from the issues on the ground. If Denzel shared your viewpoints, you would be cheering him on. As you must know, the popular target of that direction are football players. If Colin and others listened to those that tell them to stick to whatever entertaining profession they're in, there would be much less awareness of the issues raised by the protest.

FOH!

If your opinions are not supported by facts, you should shut the fuck up and listen or learn and then speak. I couldn't give a damn who it applies to. Me, Denzel, the pope, who ever. If you haven't put the time in to research a topic and speak intelligently about it, keep your mouth shut. That goes double for anyone with a platform whose words can be misconstrued, disseminated to thousands and used as a political weapon.
 
It does start at home,whether it's the path of doing right or wrong,for most of us it started at home and that predetermined more likely than not how our lives would turn out and there are exceptions to that rule.

As a young black man,growing up I was taught that there was a target on mines and other's like me backs,you can make it easy for them to pick you off(prison or death) or you can make it harder for them to single you out by doing what you have to do and staying out of the spotlight(in the thick of the action,around certain area's,people,places and doing things).After my teens I learned quick to stay the fuck outta the way,cut off certain types of people,avoid conflict but I learned that from my father and I learned that also from watching how that being in that light makes you a target from my older brother's and their friends who by the 90's were in prison,dead or still shaking and moving,that's all I needed to see to say I would rather be a broke working man than a foolish hustling dumby in prison or a grave site.
I was bless to have that but I know some don't but with tec where information is at our hands and we're all connected in some form where you gotta know and understand that the odds are stacked up against us all over this country and it's not going no where anytime soon so why take chances with your life and future.....
 
Can't stand this point of view that actors or entertainers in general shouldn't speak on politics because ultimately their point of view isn't the one that the one giving the order not to speak shares. Republicans, racists, police and their supporters, etc respond the same way. with this bullshit all of the time. These entertainers are human first, even if they are by virtue of their success far removed from the issues on the ground. If Denzel shared your viewpoints, you would be cheering him on. As you must know, the popular target of that direction are football players. If Colin and others listened to those that tell them to stick to whatever entertaining profession they're in, there would be much less awareness of the issues raised by the protest.


Whatever man!!! I see talking about desire washington is a no no!! Its amazing how people defend these actors and actresses as if they really know them..
 
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/07/politics/blacks-wrongful-convictions-study/index.html
Anderson is just one of hundreds of black men who have been convicted of and exonerated for crimes they didn't commit. A new report from the National Registry of Exonerations, a joint project between the University of California, Irvine; University of Michigan Law School and Michigan State University College of Law, shows that black people are more likely to be wrongfully convicted than white people and are also likely to spend longer in prison before being exonerated for their crimes.
While black people represent 13% of the US population, they represent a whopping 47% of the 1,900 exonerations in the registry.

Ok...big picture....so they got a little less than 900 exonerations on their registry...out of millions of black men incarcerated....

Well, he's partially right BUT he should have expanded further about the fact the too many innocent black men have been imprisoned by the system on false set-up charges. That's obviously one of the main contributing factors of our people being imprisoned.

Nah.
 
Unless of course he's spouting liberal talking points. Then we'll be ready to photoshop him into pics with Martin & Malcolm.

Haha fair enough but the reality is that if a celeb says 2+2=5... who tf cares? Ofc the ones who have rational contributions to the subject at hand should be celebrated. Denzel offered a bunch of platitudes here that don't accurately capture the complexity and nuance involved... but then again, who cares?
 
I don't have a dog in this fight but I am curious about one thing. Most of the people on this board have avoided the trappings of a crooked justice system. I'd like to know how you did it and to whom or what do you give the most credit for not becoming one of the social statistics that so many black men can't seem to avoid. I'm not trying to make any points here. I'm just curious.

Avoiding predators like this was a great motivator.
200.webp


However to answer some other parts of your question this society is designed to destroy people which is why so many black men and women for that matter get caught up. Proper guidance in your life is necessary to teach you about the pitfalls.
 
Whatever man!!! I see talking about desire washington is a no no!! Its amazing how people defend these actors and actresses as if they really know them..

I'm defending a person from a response meant to shut up different thoughts. You're really ok with people being told they shouldn't voice their opinion and particularly valid or well thought out opinions because they are entertainers or lay persons on the topic of focus? Just to be clear, I agree with the sentiment, that part of the reason people end up on a path to prison is sometimes because of the environment at home. However, I also agree that the deck is and has been stacked against black people, and that the prison industrial complex/mass incarceration is part of that stacked deck, which has a major part in those disfunctional environments. Those views are not mutually exclusive.
 
Brooklyn crack era street legend Kendu:

“I was convicted of distributing a large amount of crack cocaine. I was offered sixty months to cooperate, but I turned it down. My family is still mad about that. They say I chose the streets over them. But I couldn’t bring someone else down with me, so they gave me five life sentences. I’ve been here twenty years. I’ve seen a lot of these younger kids come back two or three times already. I try to guide them but it’s no use. They only seem interested in finding a better way to do bad. The library is always empty. None of these young guys take advantage of the programs. I encourage them to get their GED’s while they’re here, but they laugh at me. They don’t respect their elders. Crack changed everything. So many of these young men saw their mothers and fathers doing drugs in the street. So many of their parents went to prison. These kids were forced to raise themselves. So they aren’t about to listen to anyone. I did the same thing to my kids. My son got murdered. My daughter had to raise herself because her mom is doing thirteen life sentences. But she’s the exception. She’s got every excuse to be bitter, but she doesn’t even talk about it. She’s got a 4.0 at the University of Virginia right now.” (Federal Correctional Complex: Allenwood, Pennsylvania)

http://www.humansofnewyork.com/tagged/inmate-stories#15

But Denzel doesn't know what he's talking about.....
 
:smh:

Is your self esteem really that low that you think no matter WHAT we do we'll be forced into a cell?

What do yall tell your kids? "Hey junior, I know you have hopes and dreams but it's pointless cause CACs will lock ya up eventually!"

CACs have done a number on yall.

Meanwhile I'm gonna estimate that 95% of BGOL members have never been placed in handcuffs. :dunno:
You can be what ever you want to be in America as long as they control you. Most people in prison weather they committed a crime or not are losers in a game played on the masses or like Jesus something caused this white man's world to start losing control of them and other programming begins. As long as junior is no threat to a white reality these devils consider him one of them.
For some of us this is things we have lived thru.
 
Nah, yours friends and family are just a bad lot.. Sucks to be you.

If you want to be real just keep looking at the news reports on a regular basis and see the amount of black men that are being cleared by the courts after spending years in prison on false charges.
Yea in the old days it was kind of a privilege. To keep the black community scared when ever they arrested a black sometimes they would take them out in the woods and just kill them. But to make their job easier when ever they had cases that they did not feel like working on they just pick up a black and beat his ass and force him to confess. There were some blacks they asked why did you make a statement if you did not do it. They said that they would rather be alive. And they had no choice either accept the case or be killed and they would go and find someone else to take the case.
Also in the old days police made more money off of blacks than they did with their checks. Most blacks had to work a regular job and hustle. If you hustle you have to let the police know first so they can get their cut. If not you may pay with a trip to the hospital or grave yard. Also the cops were white in those days and when a black man got off of work and a police car was parked in front of their place they had to go somewhere else until the police leave. If they touch that door they would be beat to death. What would be going on inside would be the police taking turns on the person wife. Back then you may be ashamed and mad but you better not try to do something about it. Most black men tried to hide their wife from the police if they had a good looking wife.
When a police car was parked in front of a person house and this was going on the rest of the black community just pray the police do not ever park in front of their house. Also in those days if you hustle and have not told the police so they can get their cut other blacks would tell on you and the price to pay would be terrible.
 
You can be what ever you want to be in America as long as they control you. Most people in prison weather they committed a crime or not are losers in a game played on the masses or like Jesus something caused this white man's world to start losing control of them and other programming begins. As long as junior is no threat to a white reality these devils consider him one of them.
For some of us this is things we have lived thru.

Nigga wha?

Who is "they"?

Countless black folks are out here getting theirs without the white man's approval. Miss me with this fake woke defeatist bullshit.
 
Nigga wha?

Who is "they"?

Countless black folks are out here getting theirs without the white man's approval. Miss me with this fake woke defeatist bullshit.
You may have your opinion but that does not mean you are right. This country and the white man's world has it's roots in witchcraft. We was born in a world ruled and owned by demons, witches and warlocks (white people). The average black has no real knowledge of self and kind. No real idea of what has happened or what is really going on. Why you think the worship of war is so powerful? All throughout history mass murders are honored and rewarded. What put blacks in slavery and systematically killed off all over the world? It is still going on and falling for the same spells and curses. Passing that shit on to the children.
 
You may have your opinion but that does not mean you are right.

LOL same goes for you....

This country and the white man's world has it's roots in witchcraft. We was born in a world ruled and owned by demons, witches and warlocks (white people). The average black has no real knowledge of self and kind. No real idea of what has happened or what is really going on. Why you think the worship of war is so powerful? All throughout history mass murders are honored and rewarded. What put blacks in slavery and systematically killed off all over the world? It is still going on and falling for the same spells and curses. Passing that shit on to the children.

My nigga are you serious? :lol:

Put the weed down bro.
 
LOL same goes for you....



My nigga are you serious? :lol:

Put the weed down bro.
Hey brother if you are black you should already know some of this by now. How do you think we went from being the original people of the earth and the only people to being niggas, nothings, and poor junkies unless you become a carbon copy of white devils?
 
Hey brother if you are black you should already know some of this by now. How do you think we went from being the original people of the earth and the only people to being niggas, nothings, and poor junkies unless you become a carbon copy of white devils?

Yeah, how don't I know we really live in Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings :rolleyes:

I've seen some bad takes on this site but I think you reached a new high (low).
 
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