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Systemic Discrimination

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I am greatly fascinated by the law – an institution that can evoke feelings of safety and security within some, but fear within others. The divisions currently existing within the legal system, such as issues on the accessibility of justice, to more basic issues of misconceptions about the law, all play a part in exacerbating this disparity, while also paving the way for unfairness within the system. This, I believe, is deserving of much attention, especially so considering the great impact that the law has on every single person under its jurisdiction – shaping the way people behave and societies function.

Volunteering at the office of Cabinet Minister Lim Swee Say has brought me to the forefront of the inequality existing within Singapore’s …show more content…

The sheer number of African-American individuals who fall victim to police brutality is astounding, as is the recent People v. Turner (2015) conviction, which ultimately saw Turner only serve three months in prison for rape. With the law serving as an institution meant to uphold the rights and ensure the protection of its people, to have the death of individuals such as Terence Crutcher and Alton Sterling at the hands of the police is perturbing. I have faith that the law, when wielded correctly, can help protect, not exacerbate, the overt discrimination that these vulnerable communities currently experience, and I hope to work towards a remedy for these problems that arise in the implementation of the …show more content…

I further developed my critical thinking and argumentation skills gained as a competitive debater, while also capitalising on the value of objectivity honed in debates - considering opinions from an unbiased viewpoint, putting aside personal predispositions. Having also served as the president of the Debate Society allowed me to develop greater interpersonal, organisational, and leadership skills, which have proven to be useful during my tenure as Training Head of the Raffles Gavel Club, a subsidiary of the Toastmasters Organisation, as I negotiated between the differing demands posed by developing the skills of different members, all with varying public speaking abilities. Having to capitalise upon these skills developed in secondary school and through sport has also greatly affirmed my confidence in being able to apply these abilities in different contexts. As a tennis player and footballer, the experiences gained in both individual and team sports have enhanced my skills as an effective communicator, a team player, and in being able to cope with setbacks. I hope to be able to continue developing these skills in my future internships at the Legal Aid Bureau. Following my experience volunteering at the constituency legal clinic, I am motivated to learn more

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Images and video of Eric Garner’s murder by police generated outrage and protests across the nation. Many wept for the loss of this innocent, but for Black America, it was just another offense in a long series of transgressions against the black body. To them, the pain was familiar—they had known it by many names: slavery, Jim Crow, mass incarceration. Police brutality was nothing new. This situation was different, however.

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In America, criminal justice has been an issue for generations. People are convicted of crimes and their convictions are oftentimes based on their race and/or social status. Unfortunately, it is a reality that the criminal justice system privileges those who are “rich and guilty rather than if they are poor and innocent. Many African American men and women have suffered due to this. In the book Just Mercy and the movie 13th, both sources give great examples of how the criminal justice system continues to overlook the truth to keep black Americans incarcerated.

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Leonard Pitts Jr is the writer behind ‘What can I do?’ a powerful article about the police brutality toward African American males. The issue that is presented in this article center around the numerous cases where an unarmed African American males were killed by police officers majority of them white for undignified reasons. The authors position on this issue is police brutality on African American that led to the killings of over five males were injustice. Mr. Pitts would like to hear from the readers to find ways to prevent any more incident of racial motivated police brutality, he hopes this will help make a change.

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1001 Words | 5 Pages

Over the last couple of years at Dominican University, I have taken numerous courses in sociology and criminal justice. I have learned a great amount about the criminal justice system. Michelle Alexander, who is a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer, advocate, and legal scholar, speaks on the assault against on poor and vulnerable people in American society. In the book, The New Jim Crow, Alexander’s work takes on the systemic breakdown of black and poor communities overwhelmed by a huge quantity of unemployment, social disregard, and forceful police surveillance (Alexander, 2010). Alexander’s “subtle analysis shifts our attention from the racial symbol of America’s achievement to the actual substance of America’s shame: the massive use of

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428 Words | 2 Pages

Addressing police brutality must be done with empathy for and awareness of the plight of the African-American community. Historically speaking, there has not been a period wherein the African-American community was not inhibited by institutionalized barriers. American enslavement provided the foundation for later oppressive provisions that are especially prevalent within inner-city, predominantly Black communities, which, incidentally, many of the prominent instances of police brutality have taken place. Political regimes like the “war on drugs,” “school to prison pipeline,” and mass incarceration criminalize and dehumanize the African-American community, and thus affect the collective mindset of the population. I believe that an imperative first step that has not been taken is acknowledging the effects these may have on the Black community.

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In recent news we have seen massive riots following the killings of African American men by caucasian police officers. These all follow after one of the most prominent not guilty verdicts of the 21st century on the Rodney King beating. With these riots we see the words of Teju Cole begin to take life.

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Recently the media has been covering stories of the amount of black lives being taken by the police. Statistics have shown that is not the case, that the loss of black lives are due to “black-on-black crime.” In this article, the mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu makes an effect to understand the root of this problem, of why African Americans are killing each other. The problem of race has been a continuous issue in America. New Orleans happens to be one of the top city in America with high rate of murder.

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According to The University of Michigan's law education, African Americans are seven times more likely than white Americans to be falsely convicted of serious crimes due to their race (law.umich.edu). Bryan Stevenson who is a human rights lawyer and author wrote the memoir by the name of Just Mercy. This piece focuses on the idea that the criminal justice system is discriminatory. In this memoir, he defends and fights for citizens to protect their rights as a person. Bryan Stevenson beautifully utilizes strong word choice, repetition, and emotional appeal to emphasize and persuade the readers that the efforts to fight institutional cruelty and raise the most vulnerable to a “higher ground” is what matters most.

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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

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1467 Words | 6 Pages

Over the last 500 years people of color, especially African American, have endured a pattern of state-sanctioned violence, civil and human rights abuse. To enforce capitalist exploitation and racial oppression the government and its police, courts, prisons, and military have beaten, framed, murdered, and executed private persons, while brutally repressing struggles for freedom, justice, and self-determination” (Fitzgerald, 2007). More often than not, police brutality has been a persistent problem faced by African Americans. “Historically, racist violence has been used to impose racial oppression and preserve white power and privilege. Racist violence has served five primary purposes: to force people of color into indentured, slave, peonage, or low wage situations; to steal land, minerals, and other resources; to maintain social control and to repress rebellions; to restrict or eliminate competition in employment, business, politics, and social life; and to unite “whites” across ethnic/national, class, and gender lines” (Fitzgerald, 2007).

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752 Words | 4 Pages

The number of shootings involving law enforcement officers and unarmed African American men has increased in the United States in recent months to the point where there is social unrest in one particular community: the African-American community. Groups such as Black Lives Matter have been created in the recent past to create tranquility between the police and the people of the Unites States. If media accounts of these incidents are accurate and these recent trends are taken together, the country is on the tipping point of a deadly unprecedented racial divide. It is safe to say that the majority of Americans would agree that the Civil Rights Movement achieved many of its goals, most would also agree that racism and racial profiling

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1575 Words | 7 Pages

Police Brutality in America and the 1990s The legal system in the United States has been broken since it’s inception, disproportionately attacking, and punishing anyone who is not white. As the country grew, improving, growing prosperous, the broken system continued its work. One result of this broken system is police brutality, and overstepping of police power. In fact, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, of the black people questioned, 70% said they felt they were unfairly treated when dealing with police.

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1725 Words | 7 Pages

Introduction Attention Getter: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “One in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime” (Kerby 1). Bridge: People of color are going to prison at a drastically high rate for something they may or may not have done. Introduction of Topic: Racial profiling is happening all around the country and it is violating the rights and equality of African Americans.

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383 Words | 2 Pages

“The more things change, the more they remain the same”. While many Americans feel like the years of enslavement in the United States are a thing of the past. Most do not realize the harsh reality that minorities are faced with on a daily due to the color of their skin. It isn’t that the American people are turning their cheeks to this injustice, but rather, they just aren’t aware that in some cities and towns minorities are racially profiled and subjected to harsher punishments than those of their white counterparts. According to an article posted on American Progress, one in every fifteen African American men and one in every thirty-six Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to one in every one hundred and six white men.

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922 Words | 4 Pages

When an individual commits a crime, the police make an arrest, the defendant stands trial in court and, if convicted, the judge sentences the defendant to prison (corrections) where he or she is required to serve the sentence. Although racial discrimination is viewed as morally wrong, several studies on racial disparity in the criminal justice system conclude that African-Americans are affected by such discrimination. The race industry and its elite enablers take it as self-evident that high black incarceration rates result from discrimination. In 2006, blacks were 37.5 percent of all state and federal prisoners, though they’re under 13 percent of the national population. About one in 33 black men were in prison in 2006, compared with one in 205 white men and one in 79 Hispanic men.

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