Why racism and abortion are entrenched in same evil system!

Comparing abortion to racism may seem like a stretch, but they are actually part of the same atrocious system. Here's why and how.

I will only use the incarceration rate of men and boys of color in America and the number of induced abortions performed annually worldwide to explain how racism and abortion are fueled and justified by the same evil system. 

The Aspen Institute defines systemic/structural racism as "A system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and adapt over time. Structural racism is not something that a few people or institutions choose to practice. Instead it has been a feature of the social, economic and political systems in which we all exist."

Using this definition for systemic (racism), you decide if it applies to the incarceration rate for men and boys of color in America and the number of induced abortions globally. According to the NAACP 2015 fact sheet, 'the US makes up 5% of the world's population and has 21% of the world's prisoners. 1 in 37 adults in US are under some form of correctional supervision. African Americans (AA) constituted 34% of the correctional population and are incarcerated 5x that of white men. 

Sidenote: AA children represent 32% of children who are arrested, 42% of children who are detained, and 52% of children whose cases are judicially waived to criminal court.

While AAs and Hispanics make up approximately 32% of the US popl'n, they comprised 56% of all incarcerated people.

Sidenote: If AAs and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates as whites, prison and jail populations would decline by almost 40%.".

Ex. Paul Manafort's almost 4-yr. sentence for his corruption over decades and Kwame Kilpatrick's, AA former mayor of Detroit, 28-yr. sentence for similar crimes over a decade.

Now for abortion. 

According to the Guttmacher Institute, "during 2010–2014, an estimated 56 million induced abortions occurred each year worldwide. Globally, 25% of all pregnancies ended in abortion."

We have a severely disproportionate number of men and boys of color populating our prisons with sentences that last decades and 56M+ abortions performed every year worldwide! The tie that binds these two industries is money and worth, entrenched in an evil system. Black men and unborn babies are not viewed as fully human, worthy of dignity, respect and preservation, therefore, they are disposable. Unfortunately, our laws, policies, legal system and law enforcement perpetuate this reality.

When you view someone as less than human, you can kill 6M Jews because you deem yourself superior and they, subhuman; you can kill 56M+ unborn babies each year because they are an 'it', not a person; you can let 2-4M African slaves die on route to the Americas because they are seen as chattel or property, and not human beings worthy of care and attention; you can make 1.2M children sex slaves annually; and you can put men and boys of color in prisons for long sentences and minor crimes because they are deemed worthless and a menace to society. 

It is difficult for some to understand how an individual decision can have consequences that stem from a corrupt system. How can a system send you to prison for decades or get you shot and killed by a policemen if you were not doing something wrong? 

If you view an unborn baby as human, worthy of dignity and preservation and became infuriated when Congress did not pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act recently, you now know how something can become systemic. We are screaming at the federal government to do something to change the laws around abortion, not necessarily our local officials. Why?

Because our legal system and cultural practices support and champion abortion. Abortion has been a part of the American fabric (entire industries and divisions of government profiting from this practice) for almost 50 years. Too many institutions make money off incarceration and abortion. They are too entangled in our day to day lives to rid them on an individual, and even state level.

While racism and abortion may be too big for our government to eradicate, they are not too big for the Church! The same power that raised Jesus from the grave lives inside each of us. We can pray. We can confess and repent of our sins. We can adopt children. We can support nonprofits that care for pregnant teens. We can visit those in prison. We can offer newly released prisoners a job. We can mentor our youth and remind them of how God sees them (and any future pregnancy that might happen won't change how He sees them). We can become police officers, lawyers, policy makers, and judges. 

Let's be who we are made to be--salt and light!

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