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Discrimination Against African Americans Essay

1425 Words6 Pages

Discrimination against African Americans has been throughout America’s History. Jim Crow laws were the first to impose racial segregation and discrimination on African Americans. Jim Crow Laws opened the door for African Americans to be targeted backhanded ways by law enforcement. They feared for their lives to make it home safely before sundown, not to be lynched or stopped by law enforcement. This same fear lingers in the American justice system to this day. Since the 1970s, the criminalization of drugs has perpetuated mass incarceration of African Americans; the stigmatization of acquiring a criminal record creates a long-life struggle to access housing, jobs, finances, and education. The incarceration of African Americans is higher than …show more content…

African American males are targeted more for racial profiling over race. Many times, the interaction between law enforcement and African American typically ends with tragedy from African Americans getting killed, unjustly arrested, or going to jail for initially being investigated in the first place. African American males disproportionately have more correctional supervision than those enrolled in college. The inspiration of African Americans to pursue a life without coming into contact with the prison system seems unreasonable. Growth within the prison system from drug offenses of African Americans increased from 1990 to 1980. Drug offenders make up an increasingly large part of the prison population. In addition, the polarizing stigma of having a criminal record restricts the quality of life even further after getting out of prison—the over-representation of African Americans in the prison systems for a drug offense. The use of legislation to criminalize and imprison enslaved people shifted the objective of the prisons. Prison contrition development boomed during the 1980s to 1990s, and the construction of prisons created a shift from education to incarceration. The Bill Clinton Administration advocated for prison construction during 1993-2004 for “economic …show more content…

The struggle to gain freedom is costly. The diversion system to expungement of criminal records is an expensive long process and still on record even for minor misdemeanors of small possession of drugs. The bail system perpetuates mass incarceration further depending on the drug offense. The amount needed to pay is above the cost of low-income African American households. The justice system has been systematically racist since its inception of being created. African Americans were never supposed to leave the plantation to live out the modern American dream. This issue's significance is looking at how things can change in law enforcement, drug policy, and the justice system. As inflation increases and housing increases, ex-felons are at a disadvantage. Job employment continues to push the measure of quality education needed by an employee. As the cooperate world remains less open to people with a criminal history, African Americans continue to struggle to access housing, financial assistance, job opportunities, and higher

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