Heddens 1
Research Paper
“ I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” This quote by Martin Luther King Jr. was spoken many years ago, yet there is still a racism problem today. Although some aspects of the problem have gotten better, most of them are still unresolved. Many people don’t realize how serious of a problem racism is all around the country. Racism in the criminal justice system is still a huge problem today.
In the novel To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, there is a trial being held for a black man who was accused of rape to a white woman. At this point in the story, Lee makes it clear that the man obviously didn’t do it. The black man was still put into
…show more content…
In the article The Color of Justice, Cole gives a personal insight to what different races are thinking. It also informs how citizens of different races feel about racism problems. The results showed that more white people supported the death penalty than both African-American citizens as well as Hispanic citizens. These results aren’t a coincidence for the death penalty, these results occur with many polls. Because racism rarely occurs with white men and women, they don’t believe that it is as big of a problem as it really is.
In the video “The War on Drugs Is an Epic Fail” the rapper, Jay Z gives a personal as well as factual information about racism. He explains how it was growing up in New York City, in a neighborhood full of colored people. He explains how the white citizens and the black citizens were treated differently because of their race. “Even though white people used... crack somehow it was black people who went to prison” (Jay Z). According to Jay Z, more white people used crack and still it is known as a black people problem. This clearly shows how unfairly colored people are treated even when it’s based on factual
…show more content…
They explain how black citizens are more likely to have their car searched than white citizens. They also say that black citizens are more likely to stay in jail while waiting for their trial. No matter what the charges were, they were still more likely to be put in jail than whites. It has been proven that the people that were put in jail while waiting for trial have a harder time preparing for their defense. All of these examples show unfair actions against black and white citizens. Heddens 3 In conclusion, racism in the criminal justice system is a huge problem today. There have been many different times that racism has been a serious issue. Although the issue has improved over time, the problem is still existent. It has improved in certain areas, but not others. We as a community need to be aware and proactive - always working towards a world of equality, respect and opportunity for all regardless of race or
With so many news stories and incidents surrounding the topic of race and the police these days, it is not surprising for people to come to the conclusion that racism may exist within the criminal justice system. We will be taking a deeper look into the problem to find out what other possible determinants may play a role in deciding how an officer makes an arrest or stop and continue to analyze what is happening in those contexts. The issues surrounding the topic of race is like the two faces of the same coin as there are usually two sides that we have to consider: reality and media portrayals. The reality side of situations is always there at the time, but it is so subtly hidden from society that nobody understands it unless they witness it firsthand and with the media spreading filtered information, it becomes even harder for us to identify the key issue; this is especially the case when dealing with the police and racial profiling. If you turn on the news and flip to a channel where it is reporting on the police and their arrests, you will most likely see more arrests pertaining to minorities than other ethnicities. In the news, we can often see a misrepresentation of ethnic minorities, usually African-Americans, being arrested when compared to others and this has caused problems around societies countless times. For this essay topic, I will be discussing the different issues surrounding race within the parameters of criminal justice and inequality; furthermore I will be
A large reason for the writing of this book is that there is currently not much research concerning or call for a criminal justice reform. According to Alexander, the main goal of the book is to “stimulate a much-needed conversation about the role of the criminal justice system in creating and perpetuating racial hierarchy in the United States” (2012:16). Another premise for this research is that it is no longer socially correct to use race to discriminate against people, so Alexander argues that society as a whole is now
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.
The first article I am going to focus on, Foreword: Addressing the Real World of Racial Injustice in the Criminal Justice System, was written by Donna Coker . Primarily, the article talks about the statistical evidence of in justice regarding racial profiling in policing and imprisonment. Official incarceration data speaks for itself when it shows that although African Americans make up twelve percent of the U.S. population, they make up of almost half of the population incarcerated for crimes (Coker, 2003). Researchers with the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimate that twenty-eight percent of African Americans will be imprisoned at one point in their life (Coker, 2003). A study conducted by the Sentencing Project reports that nearly one in three African American men between the ages of twenty and twenty-nine are under the supervision of the criminal justice system on any given day (Coker
There are large racial disparities in incarceration and related detainments for African Americans. They are more likely to be under the supervision of the Department of Corrections than any other racial or ethnic group (H.West, Sabol, & Greenman, 2010). Institutional racism is believed to be the reason why African Americans, especially males, are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. On balance, the public believes that discrimination against black people is based on the prejudice of the individual person, correlates to the discrimination built into the nation’s laws and institutions (Pew’s Research Center, 2017). This belief is actually supported through several experimental studies that provide evidence that African Americans are to be seen as more criminal and threatening than others thus more likely to be arrested or even shot (Greenwald, Oakes, & Hoffman, 2003). Racism within the criminal justice system very much exists and is still relevant.
Few in this country would argue with the fact that the United States criminal justice system possesses discrepancies which adversely affect Blacks in this country. Numerous studies and articles have been composed on the many facets in which discrimination, or at least disparity, is obvious. Even whites are forced to admit that statistics indicate that the Black community is disproportionately affected by the American legal system. Controversy arises when the issue of possible causes of, and also solutions to, these variations are discussed. It’s not just black versus white, it is white versus white, and white versus oriental, whatever the case may be, and it is not justice. If we see patterns then the judges should have the authority to say something. Jury nullifications cannot be overturned regardless of the cause. Exclusionary rule, according to CULS (2010) – Prevents the government from using most evidence gathered in violation of U.S. Constitution; like unreasonable search and seizure (Fourth Amendment).
Although African Americans may make up 13% of the U.S. population and 14% of monthly drug users, they are 37% of the people arrested for drug offenses. The chances of a policeman stopping blacks are higher than the chances of them stopping whites. It is proven that the police force will ignore the situation of a white person committing a major crime. Compare any case of a black person involved with drugs to the case of Dylann Roof, a white twenty-one year old that opened fire and killed nine black people, and nothing makes sense. Witnesses say he proclaimed his hate for black people right before he began shooting. When he was arrested, the police were very polite to him and never treated him
This essay will screen through the changes made in major areas of Criminal Justice System after the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry Report published and attempts to address changes that have already implemented, the supposed and actual outcomes, and effectiveness of these changes in tackling institutional racism mainly based on qualitative academic debates.
Is the Criminal Justice system racist? This question has been asked many times by people of many colors. According to Mac Donald (2008), the criminal justice system is not at all racist. The article depicts arrest rates of both whites and blacks and compares statistics on these arrests. It looks at the number of whites and the number of blacks in jails and prisons. In this critique, we will be looking into this article to see these points in which Mac Donald states proves that the criminal justice system is, in fact, not a racist one.
There is a very evident problem with racism in the United States Criminal Justice System. Society chooses to ignore this problem because many do not think they are a part of it. What they do not understand is they are a part of society, therefore a part of the problem. Even if a particular person is not doing anything to cause this problem directly, they are not helping the situation either. Society has to become aware of this issue and stop pretending as though it is something that will go away on its own. Others need to become aware of this issue so they can not only make others aware, but so they can find out the exact source of the problem and how to fix it before it is too late. The United States is supposed to be a free country where people feel safe, yet there are issues still happening today that people like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and others fought and risked their lives to change. Society likes to look back on history and say that things are different and the country has come so far and that everyone is equal. However, today’s news and statistics show that is not the case at all. If we do not take action now, we will be right back where we started. Many races are not treated fairly by citizens of this county and even the United States Criminal Justice System, especially African Americans. Nationwide, African Americans are stopped, searched, arrested, and incarcerated at rates much higher than people of other races.
Incarceration rates are a definite proof that racial discrimination occurs. “Incarceration rates in the United States have risen sharply since 1980”, stated Filip Spagnoli, “the racial distribution of inmates in the U.S. is highly negative for black Americans. Whereas they only make up 12% of the total U.S. population, they represent more than 40% of inmates”
Racism has a huge impact on society to this day. The greatest wrong doing in the U.S criminal justice system is that it is a race based organization where African Americans are specifically focused on and rebuffed in a considerably more forceful route than white individuals. Saying the Us criminal justice system is racist might be politically disputable in different ways. In any case, the actualities are debatable. Underneath I explain many cases of these issues. Information on race is available for each step of the criminal justice system – from the use of drugs, police stops, arrests, getting off on bail, legal representation, jury selection, trial, sentencing, prison, parole, and freedom.
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,
Almost every member of the black community in Maycomb County is admirable in their personalities and innocent in their nature, and this generalisation makes the crimes against the black community all the worse. Tom Robinson, a man discriminated and accused of a crime that he didn’t commit has come forth to the justice system. The color of his skin determines everything from his background too if he’s guilty or not. A black man’s life is unable to prove innocence because of his race. Poverty has affected many people back in the 1960’s but, if a black man or women were to experience this they would be put on the white
People in society are like crayons in a box; some are sharp and beautiful, some have weird names but all are in different colors; but they have to learn to live in the same box. Every day, many people encounter other people, creating many social issues and racism is one of them. Racism is one of the most controversial problem in our society. This is the ideal that many people engage in consciously and the way some people think without even realizing it. Racism is a racial discrimination but discrimination is not always racial. People focus on all different racial groups of people and discuss their fairness, discrimination and prejudice by appearance in their environment. The racism and discrimination throughout American history represented by the stereotypical ideology set by society, the progress in reforming the society and empowerment for younger generation nowadays. This can be seen in Eudora Welty’s literature work, “A Worn Path”.