Structural Racism In The Criminal Justice System

Racism in the United States has not remained the same over time since its creation. Racism has shifted, changed, and shaped into unrecognizable ways that fit into the fabric of the American society to render it nearly invisible to the majority of Americans. Michelle Alexander, in her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness shatters this dominantly held belief. The New Jim Crow makes a reader profoundly question whether the high rates of incarceration in the United States is an attempt to maintain blacks as an underclass. Michelle Alexander makes the assertion that “[w]e have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it” using the criminal justice system and colorblind rhetoric. (Alexander 2). The result is a population of Black and Latino men who face barriers and deprivation of rights as did Blacks during the Jim Crow era. Therefore, mass incarceration has become the new Jim Crow.

While the Civil Rights Movement is considered a success, there is still racism in the United States today, in which blacks are still viewed as overly aggressive and overtly dangerous compared to whites. The racism we are familiar with today is called “institutional racism” and is not only shown in workplaces, but in schools and courtrooms. Institutional racism is defined as a pattern of social institutions who give negative treatment to a group of people based on race. To elaborate on institutional racism, starting with pre-school, black children make up only 18 percent of the pre-school population, but make up almost half of out of school suspensions. In K-12 black children are three times as likely to be suspended than white children. Now moving to the court system, black children make up nearly 60 percent of children in prison and are more likely to be sentenced as adults than white children. These statistics show that black’s, even black children, are more likely to be viewed as dangerous and subject to worse sentences.

Racial inequality is growing. Our criminal laws, while facially neutral, are enforced in a manner that is massively and pervasively biased. My research will examine the U.S. criminal justice policies and how it has the most adverse effect on minorities. According to the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics, out of a total population of 1,976,019 incarcerated in adult facilities, 1,239,946 or 63 percent are

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.

In today’s society, discrimination continues to affect millions of minorities from inappropriate name calling to being shot by a law enforcement officer because you were perceived to be dangerous. The underlying effects of racial discrimination are seen in all aspects of our society, especially in our social institutions. These social institutions range from the educational system to our government, yet racial discrimination is more evident in the criminal justice system. When analyzing how the criminal justice system discriminates against minorities we are able to do so through the visible disparities within the system. Unfortunately, these disparities display African Americans having the highest population rates in the criminal justice system, therefore, we can immediately conclude this disparity in population is due to the injustices conducted by the system. Thus, there is a need for urgent change not just within the criminal justice system but within all social institutions beginning with our government. This change should create greater opportunities for minorities to enter the political field in our government as well as promoting higher participating in voting. Yet, the criminal justice system within all its aspects practices discrimination due to its deeply interwoven prejudice, institutional racism, and socioeconomic status.

The existence of racial disparity and structural inequality within the criminal justice system renders the concept of true justice for all unobtainable. The statistics of convictions and prison sentences by race definitely support the concept that discrimination is a problem in the justice system as well as the insignificantly number of minority judges and lawyers. There are a multitude of circumstances that influence these statistics according to the “Central Eight” criminogenic risk factors. The need for programs and methods to effectively deter those at risk individuals has never been greater and the lack of such programs is costing society in countless ways.

Structural racism also exists because of flaws in the Criminal and Justice System. Although the U.S government has been intensified its efforts of eradicating racism in the U.S. there is still a lot to be done. Cases such as Brown vs. Board education cases have had little impact on the racism in the U.S. Fulbright-Anderson, et al. (2005) provides a statistical overview of the relationship between structural racism and the CJS. This overview makes it clear that while CJS has developed immensely over the recent years, the burden of its expansion has been felt more by the communities of color. As a result, people of color have been more on the receiving end of injustices than the white counterparts. For example, “In many cities, about half of young African American men are under the control of the criminal justice system.

Research shows that African Americans and Latinos have been the victims of racial profiling by the criminal justice system. African Americans and Latinos are at a higher risk of being arrested, prosecuted and sentenced that Whites. The main cause of racial disparities occurs because law enforcement agencies believe that African Americans and Latinos are at high risk of engaging in crime and violence. During prosecutions and court hearings, the jury and judges give harsher sentences to minority groups. As a result, minorities view the criminal justice system as unjust since it favors whites. This research paper reviews relevant literature to show white privileges and racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Additionally, the paper provides linkages between racial disparities in the United States criminal justice system and the law. In this regard, the main objective of the research paper is to give detailed insights on racial discriminations in the criminal justice system.

The Mass Incarceration in the United States is a major topic of discussion in our society and has raised many questions about our criminal justice system. There are few topics disputed as much in criminal justice as the relationship between race, ethnicity, and criminal outcomes. Specifically, the large disparities that minorities face regarding incarceration in our country. Minorities such as Hispanics and African Americans are sentenced at far higher rates than their white counterparts. There are multiple factors that influence this such as the judicial system, racial profiling by law enforcement, and historical biases (Kamula, Clark-Coulson, Kamula, 2010). Additionally, the defendants race was found to be highly associated with either a jail or prison sentence; with the “odds increasing 29 percent for black defendants, and 44 percent for Hispanic defendants” (King, Johnson, McGeever, 2010).

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.

I like how Best brings up the past chapters to make things easier to understand. Best brings up the claimsmaking, media coverage, public reaction, and policymaking chapters on the first page of this chapter (Best 231). I also liked how best talked about how social problem workers need to somehow find a place between reality and the unreal expectations put onto them as I feel like many people do not think about that (Best 233). I noticed that chapter three of The New Jim Crow and chapter eight of Social Problems connect. Social Problems talks about how cases are constructed but The New Jim Crow talks about some social cases, like racism in the criminal justice field. So, after reading both chapters, you can see how the cases are made and how these cases can go.

Racism and the criminal justice system cannot be separated from each other. The migration of many people from different ethnic background and parts of the world to the United States (Gabbidon Greene, 2006) has led to racial influences, attitudes and inequality among people in this country. Racial discrimination has also pervaded in the criminal justice system of the country. Discourses of racism in the criminal justice system involve many different issues, such as those involving the sources of racism, its manifestations, and the solutions to the problem. Below are articles that discuss these various aspects of interaction between racism and the criminal justice system.

US society reflects systems and institutions that act in concert with one another to maintain a class infrastructure that in large part finds its roots in race. A critical analysis of public education lends discussion to African, and Hispanic Americans having a close relationship to chronically failing schools; an evaluation of the American welfare system reveals a disproportionate minority representation, a discussion of public health crises note an overabundance of minority emergence, and a deep look into the criminal justice system uncovers a similar, and potentially even more ruinous fate for minorities. For example, almost one in three (32.2%) of young black men in the age group 20-29 is under criminal justice supervision on any given day -- in prison or jail, on probation or parole (Mauer and Huling (1995), moreover, in recent years, African American women have experienced the greatest increase in criminal justice supervision of all demographic groups, with their rate of criminal justice supervision rising by 78% from 1989-2004. While these sobering statistics point to a bias by police and the interworkings of the criminal justice system toward minorities, they also beg the question: are minorities committing more crime than their majority counterparts? The New Century Foundations offer in its study that: Blacks are seven times more likely than people of other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery. Further adding that Hispanics commit

In Ferguson, it is hypothesized that white officers and court staff members in power use their position in the system to further oppress the community of color and create a cycle of marginalization. This is a new form of keeping African Americans away from white people by keeping them in poverty or behind bars, reflecting modern day segregation. The impact of structural racism in the community creates fear and a hold on life to those who identify as a person of color. This gives law enforcement the power to act as they would like and not consider the constitution, depriving these individuals from their rights. In Ferguson, manner of walking or waiting for the bus could be interpreted as an offense for a person of color. The citizens are outraged and terrified that such injustices happen in the community and no one in power takes an effort to address the problem or make steps in the right direction. Law enforcement treats this injustice as a joke and a way to make revenue. There is some dissonance on making this a profit as they are taking the money out of those in the community who do not have it.