Essay On African Americans In The Criminal Justice System

The hallways erupt with shouts and screams. People running and screaming. Blood all over the prison walls. Guards scramble rapidly, attempting to restore order. This is the environment that African Americans are all too familiar with. African Americans are disproportionately represented in prisons, making up “33% of the prison population” while only making up 13% of the US population(Gramlich). Although some may argue that African Americans are disproportionately represented in the prison population as a result of higher crime rates, African Americans are actually a victim of deep rooted racial bias that has infected the criminal justice system.

First of all, the harsh and tragic history of slavery has contributed to the current racial bias

Soon after slavery was abolished in the south, as a form of retaliation, southern states utilized “criminal justice for racial control”(Eji). All in all, by using criminal justice for racial control, the south effectively executed the mass incarceration of African Americans, which had become so deeply ingrained in American society that it is still present in today’s world. Not only are black people in disadvantaged communities, but they are constantly criminalized, and because of this, represent a high percentage of the prison population. The effects of slavery are still present in the current criminal justice system and it is important to acknowledge that even though efforts are being made to reduce its presence, it will likely take decades to fully eradicate the racial bias that African Americans face in the criminal justice system. Furthermore, slavery contributed to the racial bias in the criminal justice system by forming a gap

This ideology is true in some ways, however fails to acknowledge the reason that black people are in positions where they are forced to commit crimes. Not only were the ancestors of African Americans ripped from their homes, but they were then owned like property for centuries. Because of this, African American families have “significantly less wealth than White families”(Paige). It is important to acknowledge this because African Americans are only in a position where they have to commit crimes because they lack the generational wealth that white people have. These people have to do what they can to survive, and because of the racial bias in the criminal justice system, they are severely punished for doing