Speech On African American Rights

The criminal justice system in the United States is evident of several deep flaws relating to the treatment of black men and women accused of committing criminal offenses. It is logical to believe that due to the U.S.’s rather dark past surrounding the treatment of black Americans, systematic racism is included under the guise of the criminal justice system. The U.S. is historically infamous for it’s open racial discrimination against black Americans, up until systematic racism became one of the more dominant forms of discrimination in the most recent years. Systematic racism has been shrouded under societal ignorance and regulated particularly by social and political groups in order to keep the human rights of black Americans frigid and

At the prosecution stage, African Americans are subject to racially biased charges and plea agreements (TLC, 2011). African Americans are less likely to have their charges dismissed or reduced or to receive any kind of alternate sentencing than their white counterparts (TLC, 2011). In the last stage, the finding of guilt and sentencing, the decisions of jurors may be affected by race (Toth et al, 2008) African Americans receive racially discriminatory sentences from judges (TLC, 2011). A New York study from 1990 to 1992 revealed one-third of minorities would have receive a lesser sentence if they were treated the same as white and there would have been a 5 percent decrease in African Americans sent to prison during that time period if they had received the same probation privileges (TLC, 2011). African Americans receive death sentences more than whites who have committed similar crimes (Toth et al, 2008). Because of the unfair treatment from the beginning to the end of the justice system there is an over represented amount of African Americans in prison (Toth et al, 2008). Some of the problems faced by African Americans in prison are gangs, racial preferences given to whites, and unfair treatment by prison guards (Toth et al, 2008).

I want you to know your opinions are a refreshing point of view. I want you before you continue reading, I am white and very conservative, but not a racist or prejudice by any means. I think the awareness you are trying to bring is good and I'm sorry for the trouble you are being given. The threats and negativity come from the insecure, guilt-ridden and lazy, regardless of race. Thank you for standing up. Of course, every good comes with opinions. You have so many likes, followers and supporters. At the risk if overstepping, I am offering a suggestion. You are successfully bring the Black movement controversy from a different point of view. What happened a little over a week ago is an injustice to the American people. Now that the group is spending, maybe consider changing the name. I see for as much support you are giving, Beyoncé is benefitting financially from the attention. I'm not certain if this is a valid point, but the group name could pull away from the objective. Just a suggestion, I'm sorry for offending you, Mr. Harrison, and any of your followers. It's good to see those speak out. The young lives that will be stepping up to run our country and continue to mold our society, need to see and understand all sides of the issues. As I pointed out, I am white. Should I come forward and speak out strongly about these tense issues I believe would create larger issues. The more your (and my) opinions finally are supported publicly, the more confident will become to step up.

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.

I’m not African American, but I am an ally; I have friends and loved ones who are African American, and I cannot stand by and watch people die.

President Kennedy said that “… the rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened and I believe this is true because if it can happen to someone else why could it not happen to you?

In Martin Luther King Jr’s speech he fights for the rights of African Americans and establishes a hopeful tone for the future. He states, “But we refuse to believe

Joy is a professor at the Washington in St. Louis. The authors are famous for their education and knowledge in legal ethics, criminal justice and trial practice. McMunigal is a professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of law. U.S. crime policy and mass incarceration have worked together to continue the subordination and subjugation of black Americans. The article is different from Cao (2015), Hickman, Powell, Piquero, and Greene (2016) and Joy (2009) articles. The authors focus on fact that attorneys need to comply with the rules of ethics and to give their best efforts to ensure that all witnesses within their control comply with the rules. The public have the right to be informed about the rules and policies whenever the media

“ I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character “ quoted by Martin Luther King Jr. ( Brainyquote.com). Martin was a great man because he was a great helper, a good leader, and believed in being fair and kind to people. I loved what Martin Luther King did for us to make our country better. I think that if Martin didn’t do what he did we would still be struggling with trying to be free. I am so glad that we had Martin Luther King in our lives because if we didn’t it would be different

Martin Luther King Jr. was a minister and inspirational speaker who fought for equal civil rights for everyone including blacks. In one of his speeches, he mentioned this quote, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” It’s simple for everyone to be caught up in their concerns and ignore the concerns of the world. He wanted everyone to understand that an individual has not been figuratively born until they can place the worlds concerns before their own.

Tell me, how do you start a revolution? Do you begin by protesting in the streets? Do you demonstrate your independence and beliefs aggressively, or passively? What are the challenges you are willing to face?

In Unit 2 lecture on Civil Rights, I learned there are implemented parameters of laws discriminating against specific groups. (Unit 2 Lecture 1 Video) The Equal Protection CClause fought to end public discrimination, prohibiting “states from denying any person the equal protection of the law.” (Gateways to Democracy, p. 150) Courts decide whether laws or actions violate this clause by determining the government’s reason for passing such a law and the connection to the specific classification. There are three different tests used with three different levels of scrutiny, depending on the classification in question; in descending order, these three are the Strict Scrutiny Test, Intermediate Scrutiny, and Rational Basis test. The level of scrutiny depends on the group’s classification. “Depending upon the group whose right has been violated, the Court sets different standards of how closely it will scrutinize the law alleged to violate equal protection.” (Gateway to Democracy, p. 151)

Many believe that there is racism within capital punishment, as well as many other aspects of life. The race of defendants executed in the US since 1976 are 34.5% black, 55.6% white, 8.3% Latino, 1.6% other. This shows that though there may have been racism geared towards African Americans in the 1930’s, it has since changed and

“Savage yells, blood-chilling oaths...the crack you heard was the sound of the slave-whip.” --Frederick Douglass . These are the words Douglass uses in the 1800’s to describe the American internal slave trade in his speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July”? Today’s sex-trafficking rings, are no different. Literal slavery. Sexual slavery. These are two forms of imprisonment and theft of personal freedom that should not exist in, “The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.”

In the last decade, 398 people in America have been executed for the crimes they may or may not have committed. In a study conducted by the law branch of the University of Michigan, in 2015 alone, 149 people were exonerated(Registration of Exonerations 1), released from Death Row, with a majority of those exonerated being of a few minority categories. Of these exonerations, two-thirds were people of racial minorities, many of which were falsely convicted for what can be assumed racial prejudice by those who testified against them. 92 of these exonerations were based on false convictions and false guilty pleas, most of which were committed “by defendants who were under 18 or mentally handicapped or both(Registry of Exonerations 2).” Because of the fact that so many people convicted were under 18, or mentally handicapped, one could logically say that in the case of most of these false convictions and false guilty