Racial Boundaries

As a young colored women living in LA County, I have always been fascinated with the police approach and attitudes towards minorities and rural part of LA. I was aware with the gangs’ situation in major cities of country, including LA. Yet, I was unaware of the history and rise of gangs etc. When I came across the movie,”Bastards of the Party”, I was thrilled and excited. I could relate to this documentary with the theories such as racial segregation and white supremacy. I was also able to relate to this documentary with Coates reading the “between the world and me.” Coates work is not a work of inspiration or optimism. It is not written for white people - not written to comfort them, pat them on the back for their occasional acknowledgment

The following piece of work will discuss racism within the criminal justice system by viewing the Black Lives Matter movement, the roles of law enforcement and how that effects citizens, and potential solutions to the problems in the system. Within our criminal justice system, it is evident that there is a problem by the ratio of blacks in prison, and the number of police brutality cases in the country.

All in all, even after the fall of our first caste system, we have created another. The US has declared a “war on people” especially against those in racially segregated ghettos. (Alexander, 2011) Alexander makes great arguments in her book to try to engrain into the readers mind the issues surrounding our criminal justice system today, from mass incarceration, to the War on Drugs and how these issues are ultimately affecting, discriminating against, and destroying communities and families. (Alexander, 2011)

The book Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys was written by Victor M. Rios, containing 174 pages, and was published in 2011 by the New York University Press. In total, the book contains eight chapters with a preface, expanding on the methods and measures Rios used to collect information and interviews, and an appendix that Rios used to further explain the sociological impact criminology and race have had throughout history. The research for the book takes place in the ghetto of Oakland, California over a three-year period from 2002 to 2005. Having a previous history in Oakland, Rios decided to shadow and interview black and Latino adolescence males from poverty and lower-class

With the many conversations about the African-American communities and their issues with gang violence, government assistance, and the lack of jobs in their communities it is clear to say that the American Dream or even a moderate lifestyle was not created for all African Americans and Minorities and since we found a way to be noticed, heard, and felt like they’re rightfully a part of something America wants to now label it “war or Drugs” and “gang Violence” thus creating Gang Injunctions in those predominantly of color communities. Now I am not stating that the violence is not present, innocent lives are not being taken, nor are drugs consuming our communities, but what I am saying is that they act as if there is no other approach that could help clean up the streets, provide piece and harmony among all communities, and solve issues for the betterment of the community. Instead they are removing them from their communities, threatening them from going to their neighborhood, and as a consequence they get jail time, an institution that already houses half if not more than half of our black men. The gang injunction initiative is set up to tear apart the minority communities through driving up the prices and making them move, especially if they have a family member who is under the injunction’s rules. Its ironic how they put them in such enclosed space, while they make suburban home for the economically fit causing them to commute and now they are systematically removing them

I enjoyed the book Police, Power, and the Production of Racial Boundaries (Critical Issues in Crime and Society) by Ana Muñiz. Out of all the books we have read in class if found this one the most informative. It read more like a history, or law book than the last books we have read. The facts and figure and the transition of neighborhoods from white to minority neighborhoods was really informative. To know how to fix troubled neighborhoods know, we have to learn how they came to be that way.

Minority communities across the country are facing extreme adversity. They not only have to contend with assimilation to the western culture, but has become targets of hate crimes. The current political climate has exacerbated the hatred for Asian communities and communities of color. Rising crimes against Asians in Metropolitan cities such as Queens, New York has shocked the Asian communities, enraged activists, and prompted political actions. Members of New York congressional delegation has urged New York police department to examine and propose tangible solutions to the rise of crimes against Asian-Americans. There is an urgent need to for local law enforcement to establish open dialogue and build trusts with the impacted communities. Public engagement is extremely

In today’s modern world, many people would be surprised to find out that there is still a racial caste system in America. After witnessing the election of a black president, people have started believing that America has entered a post-racial society. This is both a patently false and dangerous mindset. The segregation and stigma of race is still very much alive in our society. Instead of a formalized institution such as slavery or Jim Crow, America has found a new way to continue the marginalization of blacks by using the criminal justice system. In Michelle Alexander’s book “ The New Jim Crow”, she shows how America’s “ War on Drugs “ has become a tool of racial segregation and how the discretionary enforcement of drug laws has

1. Given that there's no objective way to classify people, according to the “Race – The Power of an Illusion” website, discuss if you think the government should define racial categories. If not, why not? If so, how and what definitions would best help us remedy inequality?

Unfortunately the signs of the racial segregation can be tracked even in the most developed and most democratic societies. US is known as one of the biggest democratic countries of the world in terms of social equality of its individuals and fadedness of the social stereotyping. but it is very sad to see that discrimination raises head in one of the most advanced states of our world.

Owning a home is something many people yearn for. According to the racial wealth gap by Janelle Jones “Overall housing equity makes up about two-thirds of all wealth for a typical household”. Many blacks would like to own a home but either are discriminated against in the housing market or cannot afford it. According to the Chicago Tribune, in 2016 only 42.2 percent of blacks owned a home while 71.9 percent of whites owned a home. Less than half of black people own a home. This then leads to education, African Americans not being able to own a home and live in metropolitan areas leads to a low education rate. According to the HuffPost “Children that grow up in poor neighborhoods have a significantly reduced chance of graduating high school. This is a significant quote, I have seen from personal experience coming from a public school, in a metropolitan area that many minorities drop out. This is still an ongoing problem today in Milwaukee. A significant part of blacks going to public schools, with low education rates is because of racial segregation.

Social justice issues take place at various levels: global, national, regional, and local. The article, “The racist NYPD captain who ruined my career for not targeting enough blacks and Hispanics got promoted,” surfaces a prevalent social justice issue of racism. Racism is holding prejudices on the basis of the race. The issue of racism is complex one because of its far-reaching effects and implications. It makes people feel inferior, creates a gap between the people of the society. The members of racial groups that are discriminated against face unequal access and opportunities. It is harder for them to find well-paying jobs or live in good neighborhoods. Racism exists not only in employment but also in law enforcement. It “concerns the invidious use of race or ethnicity as a criterion in conducting stops, searches and other law enforcement investigative procedures” (The Reality of Racial Profiling). This news article buttress this statement as it states that the white men were not arrested for the same crimes that the black men were arrested for. Despite the passage of numerous laws to prohibit racism, it till persists. For instance, the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), prohibits employment discrimination based on race. Yet, the close scrutiny shows that the black Americans are less likely to get that job.

Throughout history, Racial segregation has been used as a means to power and control, often for a minority, and South Africa was no different in any manner, almost a perfect, textbook case of oppression. Source 1 explains how the Apartheid first began in the 1940’s, developed and used due to economic and political instability. The English and the Dutch controlled South Africa, vying for its fertile lands, people, and its profusion of precious and strategic minerals, leading to Boer War. When South Africa gained its independence from England, there was an internal power struggle for decades until the Afrikaner National Party devised the apartheid, enacting it in 1948 as a means to control the economic and social landscapes that they had lost their grasp on. The Apartheid, however, did not instantly create the

Drug has been a serious issue in our society and criminal justice institutes due to many problems associated, including the violence, negative health benefits, social disorganization, and other negative consequences. The police agencies have adopted a policy called “The War on Drugs”, as a response to the rising drug problems. The War on Drugs has popularized variety policies and practices that significantly increased the overall number of drug arrests, and other drug related offenses(The war on drug). In addition, The War on Drugs approach particularly targets the low-level drug offenses where many drug users have affected. Although, the basic intention behind the War on Drugs approach was to establish the fundamental goals, including to increase the safety of public by reducing drug-related crime and violence, to reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use, and other public benefits(DGJS,2016). However, despite the good intention of the approach, the War on Drug tactics have consequently affected specifically to the minorities in our society. Therefore, many critics argue that law enforcement agencies routinely engage in racial profiling, arresting and charging a disproportionate number of individuals who are from visible minorities. Unfortunately, police agencies simply explain that they have not targeted the race, but they target the crime. As a result, this paper will examine the relationship between the racial profiling by police

Now that the United States has created the image that black people are only known to be criminals, this image has also infected the minds of the police department. Black and Latinos are often the targets of police brutality, constantly being stopped, searched, and arrested with no suspicious activity. Then once they are in the system, it seems impossible to get out. The police has now been militarized because they believe these people are so dangerous that departments need to equip their officers with helmets, masks, assault rifles, and in most extreme cases mine resistant vehicles, as if they are truly going off to war. Discrimination created this horrible tension between communities and their police officers, in which minority communities are unable to trust their police officers because all they see are war machines patrolling their streets, and police officers are unable to trust their communities because all they see are criminals trying to harm them.