“...Much of the recent crime increase threatens the vitality of America’s cities–and thousands of lives–it is not, in itself, the greatest danger in today’s war on cops. The greatest danger lies, rather, in the delegitimation of law and order itself’ (Mac Donald). In the book “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe,” published in the year of 2016, author Heather Mac Donald provides credible evidence to expand on her viewpoint of our country’s current criminal crisis. In addition to “The War on Cops, Mac Donald has written two other books. Her works “Are Cops Racist?”
Alex Sanchez’s interview with Steven Osuna entitled They’re Not Solving the Problem, They’re Displacing It, expresses the struggles, misconceptions, and everyday life of a Latino immigrant in the United States’ transition to a MS13 gang members in El Salvador. Alex Sanchez, former MS13 member, is a peacemakers and co-founder/ executive director of Homies Unidos in Los Angelos. This organization’s mission is to bring peace to the youth of Central America who are immigrants, involved in gangs, and criminalized. Sanchez reveals how his personal experiences as an immigrant and MS13 gang member has contributed to his present line of work. Further, Sanchez discusses issues such as being targeted by the INS and LAPD, death squads, and anti-gang initiatives
In the article “State Violence, and the Social and Legal Construction of Latino Criminality: From El Bandido to Gang Member,” by Mary Romero suggests that American culture, specifically the media, has changed the Chicano culture and used it to help define the criminality in the United States. One way in which American culture has accomplished that is by using characters on television as criminals that have Latino characteristics. For example, Taco Bell used to use a heavily accented Chihuahua named “Dinky” to advertise their product. Dinky was a portrayal of Che Guevara, a revolutionary bandit. Fritos use the Frito Bandido to advertise their corn chips.
In Leo R. Chavez’s ethnography, The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation, the claimed problem of Latino immigration, specifically Mexicans, is tackled using interviews, statistics, and other works of literature. Chavez’s ethnography not only discusses Latino immigration but Latino invasion, integration, organ transplants and even Latina fertilization. One of Chavez’s big topics is on how the media influences the public to believe that Latinos are planning an invasion or take-over in order to gain the land that was originally Mexico’s. The topic of Latina reproduction and fertilization comes up multiple times through Chavez’s ethnography. Another main topic that plays a part in Chavez’s argument is the Latino role in public marches and the citizenship aspect of their actions.
The article, “Immigrant Crimes: Cultural Defense--a Legal Tactic” by Myrna Oliver is published in the Los Angeles Times. The author’s purpose was to evaluate the use of cultural defense on actions that we, as American believed that it’s morally wrong. Oliver uses different examples and testimonies to display the effective use of culture defense to justified behaviors that violates American laws. The article argues that cultural defense is popular among immigrants to get lighter punishments since they have different values and beliefs in their hometown.
We live in a society where ethnic minorities are target for every minimal action and/or crimes, which is a cause to be sentenced up to 50 years in jail. African Americans and Latinos are the ethnic minorities with highest policing crimes. In chapter two of Michelle Alexander’s book, The Lockdown, we are exposed to the different “crimes” that affects African American and Latino minorities. The criminal justice system is a topic discussed in this chapter that argues the inequality that people of color as well as other Americans are exposed to not knowing their rights. Incarceration rates, unreasonable suspicions, and pre-texts used by officers are things that play a huge role in encountering the criminal justice system, which affects the way
This is not a racial issue, this is a social problem. By July of 2015, the number of police- related deaths extended to 664 making the country’s police force one of the deadliest in the USA. Out of the total of 644 deaths, 321 were Caucasian fatalities, 174 were African Americans, and 96 were Hispanics. According to the reports, 578 of these deaths were involved guns, others involved car
One of the greatest challenges law enforcement are facing is providing effective policing for minority communities. Some factors that prevent minorities from gaining access to justice or being taken advantage of certain criminal justice services are language barriers, racial stereotyping, and cultural differences. Since the 30 's and 40 's, and even during the 60 's, civil rights activists damaged the police-minority relations in the United States, believing that police only interest are protecting white communities. A big explanation of why there 's a poor police-minority relations in the United States is racism on the part of the individual officers. Many minorities in the United States have continued to complain about being treated more harshly than whites and the Department of Justice believes that racial profiling and police discrimination will continue to be a big problem.
Introduction In America, media overwhelmingly gives the perception that many immigrants are criminals, and focuses on immigration in a negative manner. This portrayal by the media shapes the American public’s perception of immigrants and crime. This media uses the idea of “if it bleeds, it leads,” which makes it mainly focus on negative stories in order to capture and keep an audience. This tends to portray immigrants and immigration in a negative light, even though Criminologists know from research that immigrants are less likely to commit crime than American born citizens.
A study by the California Judicial Council Advisory Committee on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts found that the justice system gives little attention or resources to investigating crimes against minorities and that minority defendants receive harsh treatment compared to white defendants in similar circumstances. The study also found that black-on-black crime or Latino-on-Latino crime is not taken as seriously as crimes against whites. Judges seem to believe that violence is more "acceptable" to black women because they are viewed as coming from violent communities. Minorities were judged by white, middle-class values in family law matters, and were the victims of racial and cultural stereotypes, which affects the courts '
Racism has always been the “elephant in the room”: everyone knows it’s there but no one really seems to acknowledge its. It has been affecting Latinos for a very long time now and it is something that people are still trying to fight against today. Latinos have been stereotyped, hated against, and treated badly simply for being of a different race. It seems like the discrimination against them can be seen everywhere. Many had hoped that by now racism would have stopped being a problem but the fact is that it 's still a relevant issue that affects millions of Latinos.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, departments that serve less than 2,500 people are 84.4% white and departments that serve millions are 53.4% white (as cited in Fifield, 2016). Notably, Over the years, a lack of diversity within law enforcement has become a pertinent issue. Notably, the underrepresentation of minorities within law enforcement influences the relationship between communities and law enforcement by engendering distrust with law enforcement. To say nothing of, underrepresentation of minorities have had many people question whether departments mirror a diverse community. Nevertheless, with that being said, underrepresentation of minorities have generated tension and distrust between communities and law enforcement and many believe that police department need to mirror the race composition within their cities.
Throughout history, disputes and tensions between law enforcement officials and communities of minorities have endured hostility and violence between each other. Racial profiling has become a “hot topic” for researchers as well as for politicians and by now it is likely that most citizens are at least aware of the common accusations of racial bias pitted against law enforcement (Cochran & Warren, 2013). Communities of color are being discriminated against and racially profiled by white police officers for any suspicion of criminal activities. It has been widely assumed by policy makers and citizens alike that allegations of racial profiling are mostly associated with the policing practices of white officers and their treatment of racial and ethnic minorities (Cochran & Warren, 2013). Also, individuals of minority descent will certainly recognize that they are being racially profiled during a stop that is being conducted by a white police officer.
An occurrence observed by the population of Los Angeles, California conveys the existence of racism and police brutality. According to The Polls-Trends: Racial Differences in Attitudes Toward the Police, “…three quarters of blacks, but only 38 percent of whites, continued to view police brutality as a common occurrence” (Tuch and Weitzer
Random sample surveys were conducted in Seattle, Washington by telephone, which asked citizen’s various questions concerning their feelings towards police. These questions included their level of happiness in regards to police problem-solving, their views on police hassling citizens, and if they had ever experienced, or perceived to experience racial profiling or bias by law enforcement (Wu, 2014). Of all the citizens that took part in the survey, 64% of African Americans felt that racial profiling was a problem inside their neighborhoods, 28% of Asians, 20% of whites, and 34% of Hispanics agreed (Wu,
