Minorities and the Death Penalty

Page 9-13: He first starts how he was privileged as a white by talking about how he his family was able to easily gain an apartment with the help of his grandfather, who was established way before because he was white. Also the complex was segregated at first and so even after the end of the “apartheid” it was still hard for the people of color to come in. He then talks about how he was able to gain a sweet job which would lead to his stardom as an antiracist activist. But the only way he ever got this job was because he knew two people. Two people he met a Tulane, his college. And the fact that he was able to go to Tulane was in itself because of white privilege. It was because he was white that his mother was able to easily gain a loan. And this loan was only gained because his mother’s family being white was able to have a house to use for collateral for the loan.

The Death Penalty in America has been a talked about issue for some time now. Americans have their own opinions on the death penalty. Some people feel it is too harsh of a punishment, some believe if you take a life you should lose your life. I myself do not believe in the death penalty. To me it goes totally against what Americas was built on God. Even though over the last fifteen years or so we have slowly drifted away from “In God We Trust”. Looking at the death penalty in a whole it was never something that the United States came up with. It was adopted from Britain. (Bohm, 1999)The first ever recorded death penalty in United States history was that of Captain George Kendall in 1608. He was executed for being a spy. The death of Captain Kendall started a chain of other colonies jumping on board for the death penalty. In some colonies they were sentencing people to death for petty crimes, such as steeling, or trading with Indians. Over the years after the death penalty would be reformed and revamped numerous of times. Until it was only used when murder or treason occurred. Matter of fact Pennsylvania was the first state

This essay will critique “Race, Capital Punishment, and the Cost of Murder” by M. Cholbi. The critique will discuss and point out some unnecessary concepts and flaws in the author’s argument along with logical fallacies. The author appeals for a moratorium among capital punishment due to racial disparities. This essay will analyze the author’s paper on the subject of race and capital punishment. The subject of capital punishment is controversial, as some citizens believe capital punishment is unconstitutional.

1. Disparity of application of the death penalty is a researched and heavily discussed topic. There is no disparity applied to the death penalty due to race. Many individuals believe that discrimination against minorities directly contributes to the amount of offenders on death row that are African American, Hispanic, or part of a different minority group. These trends exist for a reason, however I believe the reason is due to the fact that individuals strive to meet different goals dependent on their racial background. Currently, approximately 41 % of inmates on death row are black, and 44 % are white. There are more inmates who are white on death row, which makes it hard to determine that disparity was applied based on race or gender when individuals are faced with a death penalty sentence. There are far less women on death row. There are not many women on death row because the death penalty is not often applied to their cases. However, this is not due to their gender, it is based on the crimes that were committed and typically women commit less violent crimes than men.

The death penalty is one of the most controversial issues on American soil. Blacks are more likely to face the death penalty than whites in the commission of identical crimes(CNN, 2014). The history of capital punishment dates back to the days before Christ. The Old Testament adage 'an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,' has survived throughout the ages despite the New Testament's rendition of 'thou shall not kill'. Today's American victims endure a more demure of style of cruel and unusual punishment; death by lethal injection has replaced the barbaric traditions of the past.

When discussing the death penalty, rarely do we acknowledge the impact executions have on the men and women who facilitate the process. Although this process is solely voluntary, the side effects are not. According to several executioners, the first experience is far from what they had anticipated. To bring to light the stories of these men and women, Jim Willet facilitates an audio recording which covers the process of executing an inmate and the aftermath which is often felt by the executioner.

He explained in detail many of the issues with race that he believes “this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America: to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.” Many of the issues discussed were issues that have been a continual complication in America, such as segregated schools. He explained how segregated schools to this day, still are inferior schools. The inferiority of many segregated schools are responsible for countless obstacles for African American’s. Black children often receive a lesser education than white American children, which explains the common difference in achievement between black and white students. Likewise, legalized discrimination is one explanation for a substantial contrast in regards to white and black incomes. Oftentimes, blacks were rejected numerous opportunities to help their situation, such as “ the ability to own property, or approval of loans to African- American business owners, or black home owners who could not access FHA mortgages.” Although many of the racial problems in America involve African Americans, similar issues revolve around the white community. For example, many white American’s feel that they have not received any special treatment, and that black people have. Many times African

To look closely at many of the mechanisms in American society is to observe the contradiction between constitutional equality and equality in practice. Several of these contradictions exist in the realm of racial equality. For example, Black s often get dealt an unfair hand in the criminal justice system. In The Real War on Crime, Steven Donziger explains,

Over two-thirds, of 141, have the death penalty laws and in 2010 the majority of executions US has been the top 5. Many young black teens are killed by cops all the time, but there shouldn’t legally be a person dying because of another man’s hands. Death penalty or execution is punishment by death. The sentence that someone be punished in this manner is a death sentence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The majority of execution victims are of African-Americans in the US. Also the penalty is affecting people throughout the world by using this law in different countries. Another thing going on is the innocent people who are affected by the death penalty because many Americans have been accused but later they have been released because they were found innocent.

Being sent to Death Row is the highest prosecution a criminal could be sentenced to and the process when determining of someone deserves a death sentence is a very bias decision. Since 1977 when capital punishment was restored there has been about 20,600 homicides and only about .7 death sentences for every 100 homicides has been given in the Cook county. The decision to impose a death sentence is not only based on the crime done but also the race of the victim. Attorneys at a state level has a less formal guide when giving death sentences. It is commonly seen how race plays a major role in the justice system. As apart of attorney protocol of determining if the death sentence is given it is seen black males will be given a higher sentence versus a white male even if the crimes where similar. In this article “Disparities on Death Row” published in Grumman points out the unjustness in the justice system. Through ethos, pathos, and logos Cornelia Grumman effectively persuades her audience to spread the issues of capital punishment assignment.

On September 9, 1993 a seventeen year old boy, Christopher Simmons, and a few of his friends met up to discuss and devise a plan to commit a robbery and possibly even a murder, just for the sake of fun. Simmons’ plan was not complicated: find someone to burglarize, tie up the victim and either leave the victim tied to a tree or push them off a bridge. Simmons and his accomplice climbed through a window and proceeded into the bedroom of the victim, Mrs. Cook. The two teenagers tied the woman up and loaded her into the back of her own minivan. They drove to the state park at the edge of town, where they had planned to dispose of the body and that is exactly what they did. The boys were caught later on that month and put on trial for cold

Those pushing towards the use of capital punishment argue that hate crimes are especially unacceptable, and to not issue such a drastic form of punishment would be setting an example of letting these crimes go without recognition or penance. The argument that hate crimes are absolutely unacceptable is an idea that both facets of the issue can agree with. There have been far too many heinous crimes committed under the name of hate crimes, deserving some punitive form of chastisement. One horridly infamous example of a mass hate crime that had deep impacts all over the world is the Holocaust, a genocidal lash out against anyone seen as impure in the eyes of the fascist leader and party that held control (“History of Hate Crime”). Despite the

The Death Penalty Discussion In today’s world terrible crimes are being committed daily. Many people believe that these criminals deserve one fate; death. Death penalty is the maximum sentence used in punishing people who kill another human being and is a very controversial method of punishment. Capital punishment is a legal infliction of death penalty and since ancient times it has bee used to punish a large variety of offences.

The death penalty is an important social issue to discuss because it effects all of us. The death penalty is a punishment used in extreme cases which allows the court system to sentence a convicted felon to death. Since the death penalty applies in some states, people may think they can do wrong to someone and still get away with minimal or no punishment. The death penalty should be in place in all countries and states, because I believe that if there is a large amount of evidence that someone committed a crime, then an eye for an eye applies. If someone was to kill a person they should be sentenced to the death. There may be an exceptions for people who are mentally ill. The article states, “Another goal is to exempt certain classes of prisoners, such as the mentally

Martin Luther King without any details that support her purpose. Not a single line of one of King’s monumental speeches or his historically significant views that address race and poverty in America are cited. Sadly, the author also misses the point that most acts of racism, and racial violence, perpetrated every day, receive little attention or outcry, certainly not on national television. She also fails to include real people of color in her own life and real examples of her own white privilege as it relates to them. Certainly, if the author has truly gained insight into her own white privilege, it would have been a much more effective use of ethos and pathos to use an example of at least one person of color who may have been unjustly impacted by hers or her sons’ white privilege.