Father's Day

This Father's Day in New Orleans went off without a hitch. Families poured out of churches and headed to brunches and family cookouts. Surely, there were second line parades, celebrating fatherhood and those who embrace one of life’s greatest challenges. This year however, was bittersweet for many who are currently or have previously been incarcerated.  New Orleans is home to the most incarcerated population in the world, a little less than 70% are African American men. Those men are fathers to many of our children, who this Father’s Day were missing their presence.  Their days were filled with long bus rides through Louisiana country sides, sharing family updates in crowded visitation rooms, or watching longingly at others who spent the special day with their fathers.

Incarceration has a devastating effect on families, leaving generations to hold the weight of one man’s encounter with the criminal justice system.  There are families on both sides, that suffer greatly, when one of their members is taken away.  Countless men and women seek our services, daily at JAC, all of them looking to remove the stain of their arrest or conviction. That stain permeates the bonds that tie fathers and their children together, even after they are released from custody.  One man said it best while speaking to a group of students this past Friday. “You have a kid with someone and everything is good. Then you get locked up and she moves on because she knows she cannot have a good life when you come out, if you ever come out. It makes it hard to be with your child man.”

The existence of a criminal record prevents men from re-entering the family home and repairing what was lost or broken during their time in jail. Establishing strong family bonds prevents recidivism and positively impacts the child, the viability of the family and our community. Children with an active father, whose parents have a healthy relationship, fare better in school, are more likely to be emotionally secure and are more likely to develop healthy social relationships. For the black children  that outcome is far less likely because of the mass incarceration of their father's. 

When thinking of justice and the notion that justice is only done when punitive measures are taken to ensure a man or woman will perpetually pay for their crimes. Be sure to remember the children of those we sentence to that fate, and the lifetime of consequence they suffer as well.  Remember that "justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both." 

AAR