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Racial disparities in the American Judicial system
Racial discrimination in the us justice system
Racial discrimination in the us justice system
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When the topic of segregation is brought up many instantly think of the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement. Many also think of the ‘separate by equal’ ideology that existed for years after the Supreme Court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson. Such an ideology created laws and norms to have separate facilities for people of color from whites. However, these ideologies did not just pertain to public facilities, but also within them, such as sports. In the book, Benching Jim Crow by Charles Martin, the author gives an in-depth analysis of the segregation and color lines that existed in college sports from the 1890s through the 1980s.
It is an existing theory that our society is constructed via racial dimensions, and that racial equality is a figment of the imagination. This very principle is highlighted in Michelle Alexander’s novel, “The New Jim Crow.” The specific dimensions covered within the text include the unjust aspects of the federal drug policy, and by connection that of mass incarceration as well. Alexander claims that racism is still very prominent in present day society and is direct and frank about the heavy influence of white supremacy. One of the main arguments pushed by Alexander in this book is that mass incarceration is “ a stunningly comprehensive and well-disguised system of racialized social control that functions in a manner strikingly similar
According to Alexander, “Today, most American know and don’t know the truth about mass incarceration” (p. 182). Before reading this book I did know of the inequality towards people of color in the criminal justice. book has made me realized how easily we as humans, jump into conclusion without thinking twice and judging a person by their look or race without trying to get who they are. Although most people know better and know how wrong it is to judge a book or person on their cover we often find ourselves doing just that when we first come into contact with a different culture. This book “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander has made me realized how the United State has one of the largest population in prison.
To Kill a Mockingbird is famous for its controversy. In fact, it has been banned from being read at many schools for its use of racial, sexual, and political content, all of these aiding the book’s “big ideas”. To Kill a Mockingbird has many themes. For example, one is about racial injustice. You would think a jury would establish their final decision based upon the facts, but in this book, the jury had already made up its mind once it heard that the case was a white man versus a black man.
The jury selection system has been fueled by systemic racism for years. In order to be placed into the Jury Pool, people must be registered voters and have their driver's license. This is an issue because decades earlier minority citizens of color had trouble getting licenses and becoming registered voters. In addition, lawyers are able to remove jurors from the trial who they are suspicious of, which tends to be minority groups (Chakaborty and Brangan, 4.08-6.00). An example from the book was, “When a serious felony case went to trial in a country like Monroe County, which was 40% black, it was not uncommon for prosecutors to exclude all African Americans from jury service” (59).
The Scottsboro Trials and To Kill a Mockingbird In the novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the famous father named Atticus says “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it (Judith 2). This quote is said during a time of intense racism. “Not long after Obama took office, the National Urban League released its 2009 State of Black America report. The findings showed that racial inequities continued in employment, housing, health care, education, criminal justice, and other areas” (Buckley 1). This essay will primarily focus on the criminal justice area of this when discussing the Scottsboro trials and comparing the trials to the famous novel To Kill a Mockingbird.
There are many racist caucasian people that serve in juries. They believe that African Americans should be in a position under them so they would do whatever they could to keep them down. During the Scottsboro Trials nine African American men were arrested for something that they did not do. They were accused of raping two white girls
In the movie To Kill a Mockingbird, we see that trial by jury is not always unbiased and fair. Although, prejudice and racism are not as prevalent as they were in the depression era, it is still a reality. We saw this same situation in the movie Twelve Angry Men. A jury of one's peers should, in theory, objectively decide guilt or innocence based on the facts presented to them in court. However, in reality what we see in both of these movies is a group of middle class white men who have decided whether the defendant is innocent or guilty before they even hear any testimony.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Alexander, M. (2012). The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (Rev. ed.). New York, NY: The New Press. Michelle Alexander in her book, "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness" argues that law enforcement officials routinely racially profile minorities to deny them socially, politically, and economically as was accustomed in the Jim Crow era.
In The New Jim Crow, civil rights lawyer Michelle Alexander makes the case that the system of Jim Crow never died. It just took a new form in the shape of mass incarceration. Today, African American men are labelled “criminals” and stripped of their freedom, their voting rights, and their access to government programs. Alexander’s thesis is that we are currently living in a new Jim Crow era; the systemic oppression of slavery and segregation never actually went away, Alexander argues, but merely changed form.
Annotated Bibliography Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press. Alexander opens up on the history of the criminal justice system, disciplinary crime policy and race in the U.S. detailing the ways in which crime policy and mass incarceration have worked together to continue the reduction and defeat of black Americans.
Atticus explains how colored people are at a disadvantage in court, despite the justice that must be served. Atticus explains, “The one place where a man ought to get a square deal is in a courtroom, be he any color of the rainbow, but people have a way of carrying their resentments right into a jury box” (Lee 295). Scout learns about the hypocrisy that is carried into a courtroom, where every man should have a fair chance. Even though the court is supposed to carry out proper justice for the innocent and guilty, a black person would still have a slim chance winning against a white person. The verdict should be determined based on evidence and witnesses, although the jury in Tom Robinson’s case manage to pronounce him guilty simply because of their opinion.
Race is one the most sensitive and controversial topics of our time. As kids, we were taught that racism has gotten better as times has passed. However, the author, Michelle Alexander, of The New Jim Crow proposes the argument that racism has not gotten better, but the form of racism that we known in textbooks is not the racism we experience today. Michelle Alexander has countless amounts of plausible arguments, but she has failed to be a credible author, since she doesn’t give enough citations or evidence for her argument to convince people who may not have prior agreement with her agreement.. Alexander’s biggest mistake when it came to being a credible author was starting off the book with a countless number of claims without any evidence in her Introduction.
In the book Atticus and the members of the court system express the reach of prejudice, justice, and fairness in the justice system. The justice system was filled with prejudice. In the book it states, “ Now don 't you be so confident, Mr. Jem I ain 't ever seen a jury decide in favor of a colored man over a white man…”(279). Reverend Sykes is witnessing the trial of Tom Robinson.
2) Death sentences were sought or imposed significantly more frequently as punishment for capital offenses against persons of one race than as punishment of capital offenses against persons of another race. 3) Race was a significant factor in decisions to exercise peremptory challenges during jury selection. Under the Act, if a defendant successfully shows that racial considerations played a significant part in the prosecution’s decision to seek or impose the death sentence, the court is required to vacate the death sentence and to resentence the defendant to life imprisonment without the possibility of
