Giving Compass' Take:

• Many reports and studies have proven the underlying racial bias in America's criminal justice system. Karol V. Mason, President of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, discusses the disproportionate disciplinary actions children of color face and advocates for all children to be given room to develop and make mistakes.

• Much of the change discussed here needs to begin within the education sphere, especially in administration, but nonprofits should look at the roles they play in creating a more equitable school environment.

• Read more about the effects of racial bias on children.

When a parent looks down at their newborn child, they’re filled with hope. A hope that if this child works hard in life, he’ll be successful. It doesn’t matter where he was born, how much his parents make, or his ethnicity. That hope is there. It’s a hope we pride ourselves on as a nation — we’re the “Land of Opportunity.” But in today’s America — where many black and brown children are often looked at with more suspension and less empathy — we have to start asking ourselves a tough question: Do we give every child the same opportunities?

Here’s a simple truth: We all have our biases. And many of us don’t understand our biases until we see the data. Today we have multiple studies and reports, proving that people of color are disproportionately impacted by the criminal justice system. The United States Sentencing Commission issued an update on its report, checking if the racial disparity in sentencing was because one group had more violent crime than another. But, when they normalized the data for that factor, they concluded that sentencing was still unjustifiably disproportionate. Black and brown people are just being treated more harshly. It’s why black parents tell their children, “You can’t afford to make mistakes that other people can, because you won’t get a second chance.” We’ve all made mistakes as kids. It’s part of adolescent development. The problem is that we’ll give some young people the room to make mistakes, but we don’t give black and brown children that same room.

Read the full article about giving children room to make mistakes by Karol V. Mason at The Aspen Institute.