Lisa Ling's 'Our America' Looks At Mass Incarceration Of Black Men

Lisa Ling has covered a range of topics on her documentary series "Our America," from underage sex trafficking to the difficulties of being gay and Christian. Now, the 38-year-old journalist is taking on the issue of black male incarceration.

In an episode titled "Incarceration Generation," Ling will explore the disproportionate number of black men behind bars and the challenges they face after being released. The show will also discuss the effect imprisonment has had on multiple generations, creating a cycle of poverty in the African American community.

Ling spoke about her work with the OWN network series that is now in its second season, a venture she took on after doing investigative work for the National Geographic Channel and a three year stint on ABC's "The View."

"It has certainly been the most gratifying work experience I've ever had,"she said, according to Eurweb.com. "I can't tell you how many times throughout the course of shooting this series, that I felt like I was in a foreign place or a distant place. But the reality is that all of these stories, in their greatest complexity, are in our backyards."

Statistics show that an incarcerated man is not foreign within the black community. According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, non-Hispanic blacks comprised 39.4 percent of the total prison and jail population in 2009, with an imprisonment rate that was six times higher than white males and almost three times higher than Hispanic males.

That number goes beyond prison doors and into homes. A Bureau of Justice Statistics special report found that over 1.7 million children had a parent in prison in 2008, usually a father. Of those fathers, four in 10 in state or federal prisons were black.

Studies have found that children of incarcerated parents face unique difficulties including increased chances of homelessness, agressive behavior, failure in school and future imprisonment.

In addition, ex-offenders are far less likely to find a job upon their release from prison, crippled not only by their criminal record, but oftentimes, additionally hindered by their lack of experience and education. According to a 2003 report by the New York University Urban Institute Reentry Roundtable, about 70 percent of offenders and ex-offenders are high school dropouts.

Ling takes on these issues and more in the episode, which airs Nov. 20 at 10pm ET/PT.

Comments

[JohnnyAce Okeke]

02:02 AM on 12/11/2011

And then Oprah wonders why her network has poor ratings. {{-_-}}

[Knowledgeseeker]

09:22 AM on 11/21/2011

excellent program.

[Black Female Commentator]

09:02 AM on 11/21/2011

@ John Woodhouse

Do research. There are more White women on welfare than there are Black women. (Correction) Furthermore, this article is about Black men and incarcerat­ion, and you arrogantly as well as ignorantly infer that poor people are Black and should be childless. However, there are no studies that indicate that poor people produce criminal minded children. On the contrary, this article clearly states that there is a higher propensity for children whose parent(s) have been incarcerated to have similar experiences. There are Whites who are poor and receive welfare. Do you still set the same standard?

There are numerous Blacks as well as Whites in this country who have rags to riches stories. Oprah Winfrey is one of them, and she is a billionaire.

[A real realist]

10:06 AM on 11/23/2011

Maybe there are more White women on welfare than there are Black women. But 100 white women will have 5 on welfare and 100 black will have 90 on welfare. They make a CAREER out of it!!!!!!! Also the blacks should know right from wrong naturally as they grow up. Majority of them do not. So they are obviously not god's children!

[Black Female Commentator]

12:45 PM on 11/23/2011

You are not a realist. There is nothing logical or accurate about what you present above, so that tells me a lot about you. I could refute you on your every word, but perhaps GOD will be your best teacher.

[Tyrone Harvey]

08:18 AM on 11/21/2011

INCARCERATION IN AMERICA IS FULL OF WHITE RACISM

Whether American acknowledge it or not white racism and the unwillingness to be fair plays a big part in the incarceration rate of black people! PLAIN AND SIMPLE! Throughout American history whites have been the majority. That static has been Americans detriment and down fall! Whites have never elected to be fair when in authority! Now I must say not all white there are allot of whites that want to be fair-minded! They hate white racism and anyone that participate in IT! But still laws had to be past blacks had to revoke and marching had to be done. Just to receive a little justice. But still today there are whites that refuse to be fair and use their static to discriminate and disrespect! With the domination of the media whites can control how all Americans and the world think of black people! Using the media to demonize blacks have been very successful!

[Dorian Mode]

06:37 AM on 11/21/2011

No Offense, but could it be because they commit crimes, and don't have fancy lawyers. I'm just saying.

[Gaaltero]

01:08 AM on 11/21/2011

I watched her special. It was ok, neither bad nor great. I wish she'd been more forceful, but I could see that that was not her style. Though, I think she wanted to play to a mainly white audience, i.e. not one mention of racism. She tried to say it twice without saying it, once citing statistics on the overwhelming difference in incarceration for Black males as compared to white males for similar drug offenses - enough to drop incarceration to less than an eighth for those offense...quite significant. So unless you were paying attention, the profundity of that statistical impact was probably lost...as incarceration itself begins the process of destruction for Black families leading to most of all the ills you see in the Black community today. The problem is that once anyone with any neutrality looks at the history of incarceration it's impossible to not see racism as he driving factor behind the "Mass Incarceration."

[Blackjaxxx]

12:40 AM on 11/21/2011

There's a DVD called "What black men think" by Janks Morton that needs to be seen by so many.

[Shogun of Harlem]

12:15 AM on 11/21/2011

Why is there another story about this? There have been studies after studies after studies on this topic. Every pundit has a reason or theory as to why their is a high incarceration rate amongst african americans. They're a bunch of excuses ranging from a lack of personal responsibility to a culture of poverty to racism. I think all the above applies. Yet, there is no study on pedophilia within the white community. First, it was the Catholic Church child rape allegations and convictions. Second, it was the Boys Scouts of American child rape allegations and convictions. Third, the TV show to Catch a Predator clearly demonstrates the thirst for some white men to have sex with minors. Fourth, the Penn State University sex rape allegations. Those are four examples of pedophilia running wild in the White community, yet there is no national story. Why not? We continue with these types of stories, really! This story has already been told.

[edtastic]

11:23 PM on 11/20/2011

I think black people have firm grounds to launch another civil rights movement to deal with the criminal justice system. Since we are most affected we have the most to gain by this winning battle. Instead of our emerging middle class forgetting the issues of those still struggling in poor communities we need to make sure the leaders who want our vote push this issue to the forefront.

The platform could include things like drug legalization, education and rehabilitation in our prisons, and dealing with police brutality. We also need to deal with the violence in our communities, young black men have a murder rate that 30 times that of the general population. No other group is more impacted by gun violence. If we ask for more police we will see more black men in prison. This has to be stopped by changing our culture. We should reject the glorification of violence in our music and confront those young men terrorizing our communities.

It's time we end our love affair with the thug. These men don't deserve our respect and young ladies in particular need to find better suitors. Their is no reason to date a man engaged in illegal activities or who is violent towards others. Black women can lead the culture in a new direction by rejecting bad men and embracing the good ones. Young black men need to keep each other from going of down wrong path in so they can get to adulthood with clean records.

[kchybrown]

10:08 PM on 11/20/2011

We as black people need to lose the slave mentailty, when we become our own nightmares we only harm ourselves as a race and a indivilual. I am a black woman indepent and look upon my ways now, I fall in a portion of the things listed below BUT it's ok I can admitt I have made bad choses, I wasn't taught any better but again knowing is half the battle, we can, I can change the stereo type many has posted on us by behaving, engaging in more political affairs, wedding may not be for everyone but find someone to commit to who is supportive male/ female from the begining to as long as it takes to trust, education is important, arm yourselves we will need it for the future to come and stand up for what you or I believe in and stick together as race we can not lose garenteed! That's how every nationailty does it if you can conquer you can divide, that's been proven!!! We are a very strong creative race of people we can not continue to hate who we are and what we stood and stand for, we need to lose ego's accept being wrong it's ok sometimes, respect comes in all shapes, forms and intities.

[khanremmy]

07:58 PM on 11/20/2011

Blacks comprise 39.4 percent of the prison population with an imprison rate 6 times of whites. That settles it. I'm joining the Klan. HAHAHAHA

[JohnnyAce Okeke]

01:24 PM on 11/20/2011

Lisa Ling should not get to speak about the incarceration of Black men unless she's posting bail for each and every last one of them. Until then, she can mind her own beeswax. {{-_-}}

[KayCutie1]

06:19 PM on 11/20/2011

Out of the mouth of an ignorant black male!

[JohnnyAce Okeke]

03:08 AM on 11/21/2011

Happy Flagging. {{-_-}}

[Ryan Webster]

01:20 PM on 11/21/2011

Why should she not be able to tell this story?? I don't see anyone else lining up to make this documentary. Perhaps you should stop posting comments , because you only make yourself look foolish.

[JohnnyAce Okeke]

06:00 PM on 11/21/2011

Because she is only trying to profit off of these men. She sure isn't trying to help. I'd rather no one else say it than for someone to only bring it up when they can make a quick buck off of it.

There is no punishment for treachery against Black people. We are the only race on this planet who can say that. Why is that? Because there's always someone like YOU ready and willing to excuse it. {{-_-}}

[OOOHWEEE]

01:12 PM on 11/20/2011

Here are some facts to ponder:

42,000,000 Black Americans
(13.6 percent of the U.S. population in 2010, up from 12.9 percent of the population in 2000)

14,771,000 Black Americans 16 years of age or over employed in a civilian job (35.16 percent)

1.9 million black owned businesses generating $137 billion in receipts

7,056,000 Black Americans Unemployed (16.9 percent)

The annual median income of black households in 2008 is $34,218, a decline of 2.8 percent (in 2008 constant dollars) from 2007. It’s the lowest in the United States.

More than half of black American (59 percent) rent their homes—that’s the largest percentage of renters among the races in the U.S.

Nearly one out of two black households (49 percent) are headed by a single woman, the highest percentage of female-headed households in the U.S.

Nearly half of the black population never married, the highest percentage for all racial groups. Only 28 percent of blacks are now married.

Things to make you go HMMMM

[medic628]

03:17 PM on 11/20/2011

You forgot there are more Black people in jail or prison than were slaves at the time of emancipation. Of that number the majority are men. There is a lot of fear there!

[OOOHWEEE]

03:55 PM on 11/20/2011

So true indeed...I was aware of that factor, but forgot to mention it. Incarceration, parole/probation and court dockets/criminal records are the rules for the new institution of slavery...oops I meant the prison-industrial complex.

[sevlosoya]

10:00 AM on 11/21/2011

These losers are in prison...because they commit crimes.

[OOOHWEEE]

01:12 PM on 11/20/2011

white's laws to protect their "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness"
white's judges, juries, lawyers and cage keepers to protect the "american way"
white's military and police to maim and murder while enforcing white superiority
white's senate, congress and house to keep the status quo of white privilege
white’s banks, taxes, money printing and credit/loans for the financing of their power elite
white's total media control for confusion and diversion while keeping the subversives pacified
white's drugs, tobacco, alcohol, sugar, aspartame and MSG to keep the subversives numb white's hospitals, doctors, pharmaceuticals and insurance to keep the subversives weak
white's farms, grocery stores and fast food to keep the subversives unhealthy and Ill
white's industries, corporations and jobs to keep the subversives underemployed
white's food stamps, welfare, section 8 and handouts to make the subversives totally dependent
white's claim, rename and settlement of all the land in this country for his manifest destiny
white's god, religion and church industry to give the subversives an image to emulate

If all of the previously mentioned attributes and traits are being utilized for the maximum effect, then how would a black person in this country stand a chance?

Granted, there are a chosen few token "moguls", entertainers, celebrities or athletes that are dangled in front of black society like christmas tree ornaments, yet the problem of forced inferiority exists. Less than one twentieth of one percent are millionaires.

[realitycheck101a]

04:30 PM on 11/20/2011

PREACH ! ! ! I don't know how this made it past the moderators, but I'm SO glad it did. You've got BIG BALLZ man. You put the TRUTH out there in no uncertain terms.

Talk about a "REALITY CHECK" ! ! ! You're teaching "REALITY CHECK" at the PhD level ! ! !

[OOOHWEEE]

04:56 PM on 11/20/2011

Thank You...Each one teach one...

"It Africans were left in peace on their own lands, Europeans would have to offer them the benefits of white civilization in real earnest before they could obtain the African labour and assets which they want so much. They would have to offer the African a way of life which was really superior to the one his fathers lived before, and a share in the prosperity given them by their command of science. They would have to let the African choose what parts of European culture could be beneficially transplanted, and how they could be adapted ... The African is conditioned, by cultural and social institutions of centuries, to a freedom of which Europe has little conception, and it is not in his nature to accept serfdom for ever."
Jomo Kenyatta 1938

This principle should have been instituted in EVERY country that the european "settled"...including america.

[khanremmy]

07:51 PM on 11/20/2011

Don't forget whites hiway system to make the subversives wreck their cars and white girls to bilk the subversives out of their money.

[OooZzzzz]

10:12 AM on 11/20/2011

If Lisa Ling, Oprah and OWN network want to make an impact on the mass incarceration of Black men in prison, then don't go to the prison to visit prisoners but instead take those very same statistics and go directly to the source:

Whites.

Racist, corrupt federal/state/local law enforcement and the justice system judges/overwhelmed, non caring, court appointed lawyers/gov't officials that take money/perks kick backs who purposely & illegially apprehend, charge and imprison thousands of innocent Black men 24/7.

The prison system is totally saturated; overflowing with innocent Black caught up in the mix with crooked law enforcement/legal officials who are either pressured everyday or simply race haters to meet their strict quotas for case solving.

In the case of drugs, just go to the top. Drugs by the mega tons, imported in this country and initially received not by the drug dealer on the streets but the rich/powerful who live levels above it....Don't go after drug cartels/drug lords in Mexico or wherever, go directly after Americans; the next in line to receive those drug mega tons; Identify them and cut that part off the head of the multi-headed snake.

Stop them first, put them in prison, stop the downward flow starting from the topdown to the bottom streets.

DNA has released innocent Blacks who falsely spent decades in prison for no reason except for being Black & the needs for law enforcement/justice system to solves cases, many illegially.