Works Cited
1 Shmoop Editorial Team. "Invisible Man Race Quotes Page 6." Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 8 Sep. 2019.
Author's Note
Why I Wrote This Book
The late, great Toni Morrison, once said, "If there is a book you want to read and it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." For more than five years, I carried the conceptual framework for this book in both my heart and my head, with the idea that someone, anyone, should author a comprehensive narrative on the challenges impacting Black Males in America, particularly in the wake of a more awakened populace who, through the proliferation of cameras and social media technology, have more recently discovered what African-Americans already know: racism, discrimination and disparate treatment, based on conscious and unconscious bias does, indeed, exist and is played out repeatedly in law enforcement interactions between minorities and the police each and every day.
While this book is, in no way the answer to the greatest challenges facing our country, the challenges examined herein, and the prescriptions for progress proposed, make up what portends to be the beginnings of a meaningful national dialogue on one of the most pressing sociodemographic issues of our time: the perilous prognosis facing African-American men and boys.
Offensive Language Warning
Please be advised that this book contains discussions of race, culture and stereotypes and, when contextually relevant, uses the "n-word" in its historical application. The purpose of this book is to explore mischaracterizations and epithets, including the un-redacted use of the "n-word", with the goal of bringing greater understanding around the use of this and other pejoratives, their origins, applications and impact upon African-Americans and other individuals of color. Historically in the United States, the term "nigger" (also known as the "n-word") was first used as a racial epithet in the early nineteenth century. Today, however, while usage of the word within the African-American community is complex in that it is used interchangeably as a term of endearment, as a political descriptor or as an insult, it is still considered an abusive slur when used by whites.
Survey Methodology
To complete this most-important research component for this book, I partnered with an experienced third-party vendor, Pollfish*, and utilized proprietary technology that natively integrated with partner apps, to randomize the delivery of our survey to real consumers, in targeted demographics, while they were organically engaged with the apps on their devices. This survey's audience consisted of actual and real consumers like you and I, who were selected automatically through a vast network of partner smartphone apps and websites. The survey methodology deployed is based on a revolutionary way of targeting audiences and collecting data, through the use of proprietary and third-party mobile phone applications. Additionally, our research process applied several safeguards, like weighting adjustments, which provided fast and reliable data, whilst keeping selection and/or non-response bias under control. Furthermore, to ensure our data's integrity, we utilized a set of automated techniques and algorithms to ensure that this project received only legitimate responses. Some of those processes took into account Unique Device I.D., IP, proxy, device type, location, and more. Just as importantly, as a researcher, because I understand that, without quality, the data that we have painstakingly gathered means nothing, we implemented a number of technical measures to ensure the integrity of our results, by injecting quality questions, avoiding pitfalls such as speeding through surveys and checking on the survey results to ensure accuracy, reliability and validity.
Finally, it should be noted that all of the demographic data we provide on each of our respondents is first-hand information, gathered through comprehensive questionnaires completed by each of our survey's respondents prior to their participation.
Survey Demographics
As a key component of this book, we conducted a survey of 400 Americans from various walks of life, to gauge their opinions, attitudes and perspectives on the various issues discussed in this work. we aimed to have a research sample that was reflective of the current demographic makeup of country, to as great an extent as possible, based on the statistical findings from the 2010 United States Census. Additionally, the poll's population size was 321,646,250 individuals; hailing from all U.S. States except, Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota. Furthermore, with a confidence level of 95%, the poll's overall margin of error is (+/- 5%). An acceptable margin of error used by most survey researchers typically falls between 4% and 8%. Our calculations used a normal distribution (50%) to determine our optimum margin of error. To that end, the following data-points are critical to understanding the demographic composition of our research population, to include the following demographics:
50% - Male Respondents
50% - Female Respondents
11.75% - 18 to 24 Years Old
34.25% - 25 to 34 Years Old
24.50% - 35 to 44 Years Old
10.75% - 45 to 55 Years Old
18.75% - 55 Years and Older
Ethnicity
Racial Demographics of Respondents
Other - 2.00%
Multiracial - 2.00%
Hispanic - 18.00%
Black - 13.00%
Asian - 5.00%
White - 60.00%
Career
Jobs/Professional Services Represented
Information Services and Data - 2.25%
Retail - 1.75%
Real Estate Rental or Leasing - 1.00%
Legal Services - 2.00%
Transportation and Warehousing - 2.25%
Homemaker - 2.25%
Science or Technical Services - 1.00%
Unemployed - 24.50%
Telecommunications - 0.75%
Software - 4.75%
Arts, Entertainment or Recreation - 4.00%
Education - 5.00%
Retired - 1.25%
Hotel and Food Services - 5.50%
Manufacturing, Computer and Electronics - 3.25%
Military - 0.25%
Finance and Insurance - 4.75%
Manufacturing