June 19 marks Juneteenth, a celebration of the de facto end of slavery in the United States.
For hundreds of thousands of African-Americans stuck in pretrial detention 鈥� accused but not convicted of a crime, and unable to leave because of bail 鈥� that promise remains unfulfilled. And coming immediately after Father鈥檚 Day, it鈥檚 also a reminder of the loss associated with the forced separation of families.
On a very personal level, I know how this separation feels. Every Father鈥檚 Day since 2011, I鈥檝e been reminded of the unexpected death of my dad at the age of 48. But also on a professional level, as a criminologist who has been for the past decade, I understand the disproportionate impact it鈥檚 had on African-Americans, in the process.
Blacks Behind Bars
Juneteenth is a celebration of African-Americans鈥� triumph over slavery and access to freedom in the U.S., which occurred in Galveston, Texas, in June of 1865, over two and a half years after President Lincoln鈥檚 .
While Juneteenth is a momentous day in U.S. history, it is important to appreciate that the civil rights and liberties promised to African-Americans have yet to be fully realized. As legal scholar Michelle Alexander , this is a consequence of Jim Crow laws and the proliferation of incarceration that began in the 1970s, including the increase of people placed in and .
currently incarcerated in American prisons and jails 鈥� including those not convicted of any crime. Black people , even though they represent just 13 percent of the U.S. population.
Not Yet Guilty But Not Free
More troubling is the number of incarcerated individuals currently held in jail for crimes of which they have not yet been convicted.
The , a nonpartisan think tank that focuses on mass incarceration, that over a half million citizens are languishing in pretrial detention. And like most criminal justice outcomes, the burden of this , especially black and .
In local jails alone, over 300,000 people are awaiting trial for property, drug or public order crimes. And again, these are confined and separated from their families, friends and jobs simply because they lack the means to post cash bail 鈥� the only reason they can鈥檛 get out.
Toll On Families
It should be no surprise, then, that now has a parent behind bars, compared with the national rate of 1 in 28.
And many of these children are at an increased likelihood of experiencing , and a range of . Children of incarcerated mothers are also at heightened odds of and .
Being the partner of an incarcerated individual is another that also falls disproportionately on black citizens, particularly women.
Some Good News
The good news is that such injustices are receiving growing attention nationwide.
, a nonprofit organization working to reduce the harms of the criminal justice system, to raise funds and promote awareness of its project for Father鈥檚 Day 鈥� in part because nearly half a million of the black men behind bars .
is to provide both financial and legal support for defendants lacking resources to independently secure their pretrial release, with being the release of jailed fathers so that they could be with their kids for the holiday.
Bail funds similar to Just City鈥檚 have the U.S.
On one hand, the multiplication of these organizations is encouraging and reason for optimism. On the other, their growth is another reminder that many of the freedoms celebrated on Juneteenth remain unrealized.
A Long Road Continues
In cities like Detroit, , it is a monumental task to make sense of the short- and long-term impacts of incarceration for black families.
Children suffer. Parents struggle. Relationships deteriorate. And as a result, so too do so many African-American communities. Lost wages matter to families, but they also matter to communities. The lower tax base that results makes it for struggling public institutions, like schools, to progress. And with such a large share of individuals removed from some communities due to incarceration, and upon their release, these communities lose potential voters and the political capital they carry. They are too often disenfranchised and stripped of their full power and potential.
Juneteenth celebrates the freedom of black Americans and the long, hard road they were forced to traverse to gain that freedom. But as criminologists like me have maintained time and again, the U.S. criminal justice system remains biased, albeit implicitly, against them.
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, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice,
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