So I started filling out my FAFSA tonight, right? And while I was filling it out, I was reading the fine print and came across the fact that if you've been convicted of drug possession or distribution, you're not eligible to receive financial aid from the government. And you have to pay back all the money you've received prior to the time of your conviction if you get convicted of one of these things while receiving financial aid.
Well, given the exorbitant rates at which blacks and other minorities are convicted of these crimes (as the "War on Drugs" targets us disproportionately...check out the facts here), this means that the ridiculous percentages of Blacks and Hispanics that are going to JAIL for having a bag of weed in their back pockets are also unable to turn their lives around by going to college because they can't get help from the government to pay for their educations. When we're already living in a world where it's easier for a white man with a criminal record to get a job than it is for a black man with no record--see Marked, Devah Pager (my Sociology professor from last year)--AND like President Obama said about ten minutes ago during his address, a high school diploma no longer guarantees a good job, then this little piece of fine print in the FAFSA application can be viewed as a direct attempt on the part of the government to keep those of us who have lost our ways from ever finding them again!
This is not okay. Not okay at all. WE NEED REFORM IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PRISONER RE-ENTRY SYSTEMS. Kthnx.
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