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The Knotted Line

Evan Bissell, Author

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2007: Impossible Situation #2 (Differential Treatment)

2007: Black youth are six times more likely, Native youth four times more likely, and Latino youth twice as likely as white youth to be incarcerated.* (To compare States, click here)

1993: Black youth are 48 times as likely and Latino youth are 13 times as likely as white youth to be incarcerated for drug offenses.* Black and Latino youth use and sell drugs at a slightly lower rate than white youth.


Actions for Self-Determination:

2002: Youth Rights Media in New Haven, Connecticut, forms as an organization for youth to teach and advocate for their rights through video and media production Their video on the School to Prison Pipeline draws public attention to the rarely heard concept and the increasing use of suspensions.
2009: Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper characterizes the U.S. drug war as the longest war in U.S. history and "an abysmal failure...and the most destructive and damming social policy since slavery."
2012: The School-to-Prison-Pipeline gets its first hearing in the Senate due to ongoing organizing efforts.


Discussion Questions:

  • Discuss the education achievement gap in light of the above studies. How might this racial disparity affect even students who aren't incarcerated or suspended?
  • Describe a time you've been suspected of something you didn't do or been punished more harshly than someone else.  How did you react to the same authority in the future? How did you regain some of the power you lost in the situation?
  • How does the War on Drugs and/or differential treatment of youth of color create an illusion of a more safe society? Who do these policies and trends seem to protect?

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