By The Bakersfield Californian Director Quentin Tarantino's
"Django Unchained" has twinklings of humor, but the reality is
that slavery was a travesty for our country. Slavery began in
British North America in 1619 and ended in 1865 -- 245 years. It
will take many years more for the negative ramifications of
slavery to end. Elements of "Django" exist in America right now.
More black males are in prison than any other race/gender.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice 846,000 black males were
incarcerated in 2008 -- 40.2 percent of all prison inmates.
Blacks' unemployment rate runs 15.8 percent, more than twice
that of whites. Blacks are seven times more likely to be
homeless. Black families account for 12.3 percent of the U.S.
population but represent 38.8 percent of the homeless
population. A quarter of black people in America live in
poverty, a rate three times that of white people. According to
the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, racial
discrimination complaints are the most prevalent of al