Themes Of Slavery And Mass Incarceration In The Criminal Justice System

Mass incarceration is an issue that defines us as a society. Today, the United States of America makes up about five percent of the world’s population and has twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners. Also, one of every one hundred adults are locked up, and one in every thirty-seven adults in the United States is under some form of correctional supervision: in addition, African Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of whites. Young black people went through many difficulties; however, they are still called super predators by Hillary Clinton. One of many difficulties is the African slavery, although it was over a century ago, it left a scar and a horrible memory in everyone's mind. All the phenomenons that occurred in our country during the last century gathered thoughts and escalated the problem of mass incarceration which made the people including the police look differently at African American people. I am against the mass incarceration issue. Opposing Donald Trump, I think we should reduce the number of people behind bars with cautions, because It is a complex subject that has many causes and effects in the long term to the people inside and outside the prison.

When you think of mass incarceration it is imperative to look at the causes that affect minorities. One major thing that produced an increase in mass incarceration is the war on drugs. The war on drugs has impacted minorities in a major way. The war on drugs pushed policymakers to structure laws that were targeting underprivileged individual mainly minorities group. In addition, “The deinstitutionalisation of people with mental illnesses, and punitive sentencing policies such as three-strike laws (mandating life imprisonment for third offences of even relatively minor felonies) and mandatory minimum sentences for specific offence, even for some first0time offenders undoubtedly helped to both launch mass incarceration and keep it going” (Wilderman, & Wang, 2017, p. 1466). The war on drugs came during a time when crack cocaine became widespread in the black community. The popularity of crack cocaine became prevalent and accessible for many low-income individuals. Therefore, the high rate of crime that was induced by the crack epidemic forced many jobs to leave the communities. However, the structuring of laws put more emphasis on crack cocaine than powder cocaine. Not to mention, crack cocaine is prevalent in minority communities, and powder cocaine is present in the majority community. According to Martensen (2012), “Not only does this deny accessible goods and services to local residents, it likewise decreases the local job opportunities available for community members” (p. 214). Consequently, many African American called on the police to take action against the same people that looked just like them. Crutchfield, & Weeks (2015) states, “Some of the changes during this period of increased incarceration that disadvantaged people of color coming into the justice system were implemented with the help and support of African American political leadership” (p. 109). Therefore, lawmakers had to come up with a solution to address the issue. Law-makers created laws that put emphasis on arresting drug dealers for selling drugs. These small-time drug dealers were becoming a hazard to the community. However, the laws begin to cause harm to all that looked brown or black whether

Mass incarceration is defined as the drastic increase of people in prison and/or jail, and the high rates of racial disparities in prison. From slavery to the Jim Crow laws, now to mass incarceration. People identify how history seems to be repeating itself, but not being as straightforward as it was in the 1800s. Because of the “war on drugs” specifically people of color have been incarcerated for minor crimes. Most of these people cannot afford a decent lawyer so they have to plead out and do their time in prison. The problem with this is that when these people get out they cannot get a job or get housing because they have been labeled as a criminal. This affects the poverty percentage because when people are incarcerated they do not have an access for education or real world skills that they need when they get out. Therefore, when they are released from prison they resort to crime as a source of income because it is so hard for them to earn a job, or they even become homeless because they cannot live in government housing and have no place to go. Because of the stereotype that America has placed on blacks and hispanics, they become more targeted for police searches than white people, which heavily influences whether they are arrested and processed.

The 13th Amendment to the American Constitution is celebrated and known as the amendment to end slavery. The amendment provides that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (U.S. Constitution, Amendment 13). What is often overlooked is that this amendment abolishes slavery, unless you are a criminal. After the Civil War, this loophole was wildly used by slave owners, as they would convict African Americans of minor crimes to then use them as slaves again. This exception to the amendment is continually used today in the American prison system. The Criminal Justice System in America contains significant flaws that are detrimental to society. A few of these flaws lie within the actions and ideals of the prison system, the policies and laws surrounding the criminal justice system, and the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Through this, we witness the way state and federal governments use drugs to imprison black people. In turn, black people being imprisoned has become a private venture. However, there have been historical primordial forces that have contributed to the current racial inequalities and criminal injustices. Many Americans view the 13th amendment as one of the most significant milestones in the history of America. The 13th amendment seemingly established all former slaves to legal human status, there was a caveat in the clause: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or place subject to their jurisdiction" (DuVernay, 2016). In essence, slavery was illegal except for those who committed a criminal offense, which means a black person can be re-enslaved. Before the 13th Amendment, most convicts in prisons were white people. However, after the 13th amendment, most prisoners were black people. In addition, these former slaves were imprisoned and fined for petty theft, vagabondage and lack of keeping a

These huge racial disparities just show the divide in our country and the racial inequality that is going on. Behind all the statistics is a hidden fact, that being that one incarceration has effect on others. Just imagine now a kid is missing their father which also serves as inspiration or role model. It also has an effect on a family's income, it now limits them to a one household source of income which is why urban areas or otherwise known as “ Hood/Projects “ is one of the main contributors of the mass incarceration of African-American. Another effect of mass incarceration is the effect of an African-American’s right to certain citizenship right. These rights being the right to vote and the right to bear arms, which holds a great deal in America when it comes to choosing representatives and protection. As most of these are systematic there is also a problem that lies within the African-American community itself. But overall the justice system is systematically failing and being unfair towards African-American

In the U.S. many people may argue that racial disparity is non-existent in today’s time. Those people usually are ignorant to the fact that even though america has come a long way they still have so far to go. From the slavery days, to segregation, to now, a time where a white and black person can sit down together in the same setting and be civilized is great, but if the two get into an illegal situation and both have to be put on trial, who will be the one that is cruelly convicted? Who sentencing will have more time? The Black man, in all cases this may not be true, but in most cases it is. So therefore, even though america came a long way there still needs to be an improvement in their legal system because African-Americans

Imagine being locked up in a cramped prison alongside thousands of other inmates just for committing a minor crime. When you finally become liberated from the strict institution that’s been barricading you from society, you find that you’re stripped of basic rights to education, welfare, and so on. Scary is it not? That’s the harsh reality behind mass incarceration. Mass incarceration has been an issue ever since the dawn of the “drug wars” back in the 80’s and 90’s. It resulted in millions of people getting locked up for minor crimes, mainly nonviolent drug crimes, which then led lengthy prison sentences due to mandatory sentencing laws such as the Crime Bill that Bill Clinton enacted in 1994 (BBC). Consequently, the prison population nearly quintupled and thousands of men went missing from society. What could fuel such motivation to lock away millions of people? In “The New Jim Crow”, Michelle Alexander holds a firm belief that the racist fictional character “Jim Crow” is still alive and that black men are being wrongfully locked away due to racial prejudice. Although she has compelling arguments on the topic of mass incarceration, they simply don’t account for the entire truth. Only a slight percentage of the prison population consists of inmates serving mandatory sentences and the truth behind mass incarceration ultimately results from the prevention of drug-related violence along with improperly motivated prosecutors.

“The United States is home to 5% of the world’s population and is also home to 25% of the world’s prisoners. A little country with 5% of the world’s population having 25% of the world’s prisoners? One out four human beings with their hands on bars, shackled in the world are locked up here in the land of the free. In 2016 the United States had 2.3 million prisoners. The United States has now the highest the rate of incarceration in the world” (Averick, Spence & Barish, Howard & DuVernay, Ava, 2016). “The nation’s criminal justice system is indeed broken. People of color, particularly African Americans and Latinos, are targeted by the police and face harsher prison sentences than whites” (Coker, D., 2003). The money our government spends on mass

By looking at the history of Black African Americans we can further understand why they continue to remain incarcerated all over the United States. After 1865, southern states passed a series of laws called “Black Codes which are codes that control and limit the newly freed slaves’ right to be free from human bondage” (Stewart 1998). The Black codes were designed to maintain some elements of slavery after the Civil War (1888). The South had benefited from free slave labor, but after the Civil War, this readily available labor pool diminished. Thus, plantation owners sought state and local governmental officials to promulgate legislation and ordinances that would again bind African American plantations. Our present legal system especially the criminal justice system has remnants of the Black Codes in state federal laws (1998).

The institution of slavery dates back before written records. The term slave was originally a derivative from the historical French and Latin medieval word for Slavic people of central and Eastern Europe. [ (wikipedia, 2010) ] In North America, the class system is systematically at the root of every socioeconomic and political issue resulting in Super companies, multibillionaires and the formation of lobbyists and special interest groups; there always has and always will be the have and have-nots. Unfortunately, for African Americans who have historically been the have-nots, that does not seem to have changed as evidenced by recent events like the Jenna 6. African Americans have a history uniquely

Mass incarceration and systemic oppression is hurting our society. Bryan Stevenson demonstrates mass incarceration in our generation by constantly stating the statistics. He said, “ Most of the hundred or so death row prisoners who had been sentenced to execution in Alabama since capital punishment was restored in 1975 were black, although to Walter’s surprise nearly 40 percent of them were white”(53). He continues to add the increase in prison population has been from less than 300,000 in 1972 to 2.3 million today(15). Through this facts, I was exposed to the deeper issues of inequality in the US. The poor and black are being marginalized and mistreated. Like historical slavery, numerous lawful and legal structures have the immediate effect of constraining the energy of African Americans and isolating out poor and minority populaces from whites. As Bryan states, “... Monroe County, who was 40 percent black, it was not uncommon for prosecutors to exclude all African American from jury service”(59). This stood out to me because now I am reading this from a person, who is witnessing the inequality personally and knows the ins and outs of the Justice System. This issues are not only on the News in which we watch one day and ignore it the second day. By laying the facts down, it's a wake-up call that the poor and marginalized are being mistreated. This mistreatments could be a response to fear. Meaning, the white community feels unsafe or threatened by the “uncivilized”

I believe that it sets the premise for the documentary 13th. African Americans are said to be slaves again because of the justice system. The film acknowledges the many legal policies that targeted African America thus creating the "slave like" mentality. Laws like the war on drugs, three strike, and truth in sentencing were behind the rapid increase of the prison population. Slavery was considered an economic system in the south and it is present in today prison. The rate of mass incarceration has led to an economic system due to housing inmate by filling up beds or in Arizona where prisons were housing immigrants. There is also the idea of inmates in private prison making products for big companies. This mentality was brought up in 13 where the punishment for certain crimes like drugs or other offense were higher for African Americans then white. And the consequences given would stripped African Americans from voting, from obtaining a job, federal aid and housing. So, this relationship can be seen back then when the democrats wanted to prevent it from happening. Now there is prevention not through racism but through

Starting in the 1970s, the rising rate of imprisonment came to be known as Mass Incarceration. What was once an average of 100 people getting imprisoned for every 100,000 adults, prior to the 1970s, has now grown to become more than 600 individuals per every 100,000 adults imprisoned. With only five present of the total world population, The United States holds an astonishing 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. From 1980 to 2013, the number of people who are in United States prisons and jails has risen from a little over five hundred thousand to over two million people (Kilgore, 2015). The amount of people in prisons has risen more than 450% than what it was prior to the 1980s, despite the fact that crime in the United States has declined steeply since the 1990s. Why and how did this occur? What role does Mass Incarceration play in our Society?

The 13th amendment focuses mainly on blacks becoming enslaved again. The law states  "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." –Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. This law made slavery legal in a sense because it is easy to criminalize minorities for petty crimes rather than the oppressor. For this reason, different companies and organizations support laws arranged to break the Black community. The Prison System is used to enforce slavery once again, prisoners are being used as workers in companies like JC Penney to manufacture clothes and Walmart, just like slaves were forced to pick cotton. The Thirteenth Amendment was created solely to dismantle minorities. In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander discusses how a system of Jim Crow laws replaced slavery, and how mass incarceration replaced Jim Crow laws. During the Reconstruction period, Southerners took full advantage of the Thirteenth Amendment enslavement loophole by arresting minorities for minor crimes, such as loitering, gambling and, mostly importantly drugs. Even Though Blacks are more likely to be arrested for drugs, White Americans uses drugs at the same rates as minorities. The difference is minorities receive a harder sentence for such crimes. The the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People reported, “African Americans are incarcerated at more than 5 times the rate of whites”. The statics displays that minorities are more likely to be arrested.  The “Loophole” in the thirteenth Amendment allows racist whites to imprison black citizens on minor charges and put them to