Section 4-23-31-1 - Reason for commission The 1992 interim study committee created by the legislative council, on the problems of black males, found that the following conditions exist:
(1) Statistical studies chronicling the status of black males in American society reveal startling and disturbing conditions and trends.(2) By all indicia measuring achievement, success, and quality of life in American society, black males are facing a prodigious struggle for survival while fighting formidable opponents.(3) Black males make up only five and one-half percent (5.5%) of the population of the United States but are the victims of forty-four percent (44%) of the nation's homicides annually and comprise forty-six percent (46%) of the nation's prison population.(4) Statistics show that one (1) of every twenty-two (22) black males will die as a result of homicide and that one (1) of every six (6) black males will be arrested before becoming nineteen (19) years of age.(5) A major proportion of black males in America is virtually trapped in urban areas defined by poverty, violence, and drug abuse.(6) Black males suffer from more debilitating health problems, a higher death rate, and a lower life expectancy than males in other ethnic and racial groups.(7) Black females at least sixteen (16) years of age outnumber black males by more than two million (2,000,000).(8) Between 1973 and 1988 the average real annual income for black males between twenty (20) and twenty-four (24) years of age fell by more than fifty percent (50%).(9) The increasing misfortunes and the social distress bombarding black males in American society threaten the survival of black males.Added by P.L. 133-2012, SEC. 29, eff. 7/1/2012.