NOT EVERYONE CAN GET THIS TOOL OF MERCY

This is an open letter to black men.

Earlier this week, the Miami Herald ran a jaw-dropping series called
"Justice Withheld." It detailed the abuse of a legal procedure called a
withhold of adjudication. This is a tool Florida judges can use at their
discretion that allows felony offenders to avoid a conviction.

Receiving a withhold allows you to legally say you've never been convicted
of a crime, even though a court found you guilty. You retain your right to
vote and hold office and you don't have to put the crime on your
application for a job or a student loan.

In theory, withholds are handed out sparingly to deserving people in
extenuating circumstances. The Herald found that in practice, they are
handed out like Halloween candy. Four-time losers get withholds. Rapists
and car thieves get withholds. Drug dealers and batterers get withholds. If
you commit fraud or forgery, you've got an even chance of getting one.
Abuse or molest a child and your chances are actually better than even.

All those folks enjoying all that judicial mercy. Guess who gets left out?

Yup. You.

A Matter Of Socioeconomics

Even if you commit the same crime and have the same record, a white
offender is almost 50 percent more likely to get a withhold than you are.
Some folks say that's not a function of racism, but of socioeconomics.
Meaning that whites are more often able to afford private attorneys, less
likely to have to rely on some overburdened public defender.

There are two answers to that. One: socioeconomics can't be disconnected
from racism where black people are concerned; the disparity in black and
white accumulated wealth is hardly an accident. And two: The report shows
that, even when you adjust for type of attorney, black defendants are still
much less likely to receive withholds.

So I have a question for you:

Can we stop being such good customers of the American injustice system? I
am sick to my soul of watching shaggy-haired black boys and men in orange
jumpsuits led into courtrooms to be judged for doing some stupid and
heinous thing. I'm weary of the truth in that old Richard Pryor line about
how he went to court looking for justice and that's what he found. Just us.

Contrary to what society has told us, to what so much of our music claims
and to what too many of us have internalized, the reason isn't that we
carry some kind of criminal gene. No, it's that we don't get second
chances, don't have the same margin for error a white guy would. One
strike, and you're out.

We need to recognize this. Need to make sure our sons and brothers
recognize it.

Dinosaur In A Tar Pit

The injustice system sees no value in us, is comfortable throwing us away
like so much used tissue. It doesn't give a damn about us.

But our children do. Our women and mothers and fathers do. So let us love
them -- and ourselves -- enough to stay as far from that system as humanly
possible. Because once you're in it, you're like a dinosaur in a tar pit.
Dragged down.

No, it's not fair that we are held to a different standard. Say that loudly
and clearly. Fight to make it right. But do not stop there.

You see, when you discover that a game is rigged against you, you have
every right to complain that you're being cheated. But a smart man does one
thing more:

A smart man stops playing.