Donald M. Payne: “From their health outcomes to their unemployment income, from their education rate to their incarceration rate, Black…”

“From their health outcomes to their unemployment income, from their education rate to their incarceration rate, Black men and boys are disproportionately impacted by government policies. It is not that Black men and boys are falling behind. It is that they have never been ahead. For centuries, government policies have redlined Black men and boys into a lower social status than their White counterparts. This is an institutional problem. Yesterday, I joined with many of my colleagues at the House Triangle to stand in support of Congresswoman Frederica Wilson's bill to create the Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys. We were joined by young men who want nothing more than to live the American Dream free of discrimination. This country owes them that. H.R. 1636 will bring together experts to tackle the wide range of issues that have kept Black men and boys behind for hundreds of years. It will mark the beginning of the end of racial disparities that have kept communities across the country down. Madam Speaker, I am proud to support it. ____________________”