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Black Rage Research Paper

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On December 7, 1993, a Long Island Rail Road train carrying commuters home at 5:33 pm, was interrupted by a man walking down the aisle train shooting people as he passed them. The shooter was wielding a 9mm handgun, and when he stopped to reload the weapon. That is when some terrified passengers utilized the opportunity to wrestle to the ground until police arrived. The gunman had fatally shot six people and left nineteen more seriously injured. The shooter is then identified as Colin Fergurson, a 36-year-old well-educated, unemployed immigrant for middle-class Jamaican family. Fergurson’s defense surrounded an elaborate conspiracy and mental illness. His erratic behavior created an unusual setting for legal proceedings to follow. After firing …show more content…

It is the product of long-term exposure to racism. It refers to a coping mechanism that blacks in America have developed to handle constant racial stress. The understated racism such as being followed in a store unwarranted, then being accused of shoplifting. Or as some African Americans have referred to as driving while black (DWB) another term for racial profiling, which some African Americans believes have attributed to the mass amounts of blacks being victims of police brutality. Black rage is not separated by class as successful blacks also harbor feelings of frustration, anger, and isolation. As their success insufficiently protects them against the “good ole boy” network that prevents promotions and raises the corporate glass ceiling. Authors of books such as the Native Son by Richard Wright or The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander have raised awareness od the sociological feelings and expressions related to black rage. (Snierson, 2017). When it comes to cultural variability, an individual must be able to recognize that there are differences or variations with the norms, customs, habits, and spiritual beliefs within a culture or society. These variables along with an individual's societal environments influence their action and state of mind (Williams & Arrigo, 2012). Our morals and values tend to reflect our social groups and time periods. The fact that Mr. Fergurson did not accept black rage as a defense for his actions leads me to …show more content…

V. (2009). Jim Crow Ethics and the Defense of the Jena Six. Iowa Law Review, 94(5), 1651-1701. Azibo Interviews Attorney Paul Harris on Black Rage Disorder. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2017, from http://www.jpanafrican.org/docs/vol7no5/6-Nov-PaulHarris.pdf. Colin Fergurson: 1995. (n.d.). Retrieved February 19, 2017, from http://law.jrank.org/pages/3671/Colin-Ferguson-Trial-1995.html. Sneirson, J. F. (n.d.). Black Rage and The Criminal Law: A Principled Approach to a Polarized Debate. Retrieved February 19, 2017, from http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3585&context=penn_law_review. Williams, C. R., & Arrigo, B. A. (2012). Ethics, crime, and criminal justice (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

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