But many African American men did not need to imagine speculative fears—they could recount firsthand experience with governmental intrusion or neglect. The African American men in our groups described being pulled over, hassled, or unfairly surveilled by police. Many lower-income black men also recounted ways that local governments denied basic services to their neighborhoods or failed to provide, support, or improve key infrastructures. Black men of all income levels described the profound generational impact of mass incarceration. “A lot of black fathers been on the street or been in the
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