Black Americans And The Criminal Justice System - 994 Words

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†¦show more content†¦Certain law enforcers with racist ideals will sometimes exploit their position of power unfairly to target black Americans, or â€Å"racially profile†. In some cases, especially in conservative state s, it’s been known for police departments to advise their officers to suspect race in a key element of determining criminal activity. This detrimental generalization based on race has snowballed out of control, taking to events like the War on Drugs (find an article on the war on drugs and racial discrimination within to support your assertion). Another cause in the spike of black inmates is the push for prisons to remain functioning and full of inmates. The U.S. has the largest incarceration rate compared to any other country in the world, and according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the majority of those imprisoned in 2006 were black citizens at approximately 4.8%, whereas Hispanic inmates make up 1.9%, and white inmates make up 0.7% ( BJS.gov). Many will argue that the reason the rate is so high is because of the lack of education/lower class status of black communities, but evidence points toward how some law enforcers racially profile or are informed to do so when suspecting criminal activity, especially so with black people. In Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, Alexander explains how racism in the U.S. has been â€Å"redesigned† in order to be written off as nearly nonexistent (Alexander, 2). Alexander goes on toShow MoreRelatedThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1199 Words   |  5 Pagesperceptions on the American criminal justice system? Michelle Alexander was able to accomplish that by altering some people s entire perception on the American criminal justice system by focusing on our most pressing civil right issues of our time for some of those who did read her book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration In The Age of Colorblindness. Michelle Alexander stated that The most despised in America is not gays, transgenders, nor even illegal immigrants - it is criminals. That was anRead MoreRacial Discrimination And The Criminal Justice System1512 Words   |  7 PagesAlthough saying the criminal justice system is racist is a controversial statement, there is evidence and statistics t hat prove it to be true. Research and evidence validate the issue of racism to be undeniable. Equality and justice are out of reach with the racism that takes place in our criminal justice system and our country. Racial discrimination is prevalent amongst the African American culture in issues regarding drug use, and incarceration which creates unfair inequality for this race. I willRead MoreThe American Civil Liberties Union1630 Words   |  7 PagesSo far whites and blacks have been involved in many drug offenses, possession and sales, at a very comparable rate. â€Å"While African Americans comprise 13% of the US population and 14% of monthly drug users they are 37% of the people arrested for drug offenses† (Marc Mauer). The police usually stop blacks and Latinos at rates higher than whites. Within New York City, the people of color make up about half of the city’s population, while 80% of all the police stops were of blacks and Latinos. When whitesRead MoreSociali zation Techniques Of African American Male Within The Criminal Justice System1325 Words   |  6 Pagestechniques of African Americans, in particular black males in the criminal justice system are vastly dissimilar in comparison to their white counterparts. The dominant socialization indifference is theoretically associated with Marxist Criminology schools of thought, in particular conflict theory. Qualitative, empirical, and historical data supports Marxist criminology based on capitalism, conflict, and the disparity treatment of the Afro-American male within the criminal justice system: police, courtsRead MoreThe Dignity Of Black Americans1701 Words   |  7 Pagesdignity of Black Americans is being taken away by the same people who are getting paid by American tax dollars, to protect and serve. Because of this rash of recent deaths, Black Americas have started an initiative to ban together to fight the racial injustice in this country. Black Lives Matter is an organization of American activist who created a grassroots movement to abolish the degradation and demonization of Blacks Americans. This movement formed after the shooting death, of Florida Black AmericanRead MoreBlack Americans Receive A Stricter Punishment Than White Americans Essay1446 Words   |  6 PagesWithout a doubt, black men in the United States continue to be excessively â€Å"incarcerated, policed, and sentenced to death at significantly higher rates than their white counterparts (Kerby 2).† Portrayals in the media have depicted black men as thugs and common criminals; these negative stereotypes demoralize men of color and allow society to believe and internalize this destructive thinking. The racial disparities that exist in the criminal justice system are an indirect consequence of the portrayalsRead MoreThe Bearing of Race and Ethnicity in the Criminal Justice System1285 Words   |  5 Pagesto whether or not race and ethnicity have a bearing on an individual’s tre atment in the criminal justice system for many years. I will be arguing that race and ethnicity do in fact, have a bearing on one’s treatment in the criminal justice system. I will be backing up my position on this topic by providing evidence from five scholarly articles. My first source is African Americans and the Criminal Justice system by Phyllis Gray-Ray, Melvin C. Ray, Sandra Rutland, and Sharon Turner. The authors’ hypothesisRead MoreRacial Discrimination And The Criminal Justice System1725 Words   |  7 Pagesthe race industry within the criminal justice system in all level law enforcement, courts and court system. Racial discrimination can be researched back in history its leading enablers take it as undisputable that the African American community has the highest number of incarceration rates result within the criminal justice system. According to many evidence and statistics is can be stated that at a presidential primary debate Barack Obama made a statement that blacks and whites are arrested andRead MoreFairness And Equality Within The Criminal Justice System1361 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction The question of fairness and equality in the criminal justice system has its original roots dating back to the Magna Carta in 1215 AD. The latest document to define the criminal justice is the United States Constitution which specifically in the 14th amendment which states †no state can make or enforce laws on its citizens, nor shall they deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor will they deny equal protection of the laws†. Section one of theRead MoreRacial Discrimination807 Words   |  4 Pagesprejudice in the criminal justice system has had a profound effect on the lives of African-Americans and Hispanics. From policing to trial to sentencing, racism against minorities occurs throughout the entire process in the criminal justice system. This research paper will outline some of the aspects and evidence of racial discrimination in the criminal justice system. ​Keywords: criminal justice, discrimination, profiling, sentencing Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System ​Minorities