Social Structures Essay

637 Words3 Pages

These unfair statistics towards the discrimination of minorities are allowed and institutionalized are the result of social structures. Structures are the building blocks of social justice within society. The word is a very loose yet defined term, as a structure can be anything from a ideology to a sect of government. Different structures effect different areas and issues within social justice by affecting the relationship between individuals and society as a whole. Institutionalized Racism, is racism that occurs as a result of different societal structures. For example, courts, non-diverse juries, and individual racism are all different common structures in society that contribute to make our social justice standards what they are. When combined …show more content…

In addition, Courts or in other words our Criminal Justice system, is far more vast of a structure then non-diverse juries and individual racism. The latter two are a far more specific scenario and ideology respectively. They all have a connection that allows them to combine and create injustice. Courts and non-diverse juries go hand in hand. Prosecutors are given a number of peremptory challenges to remove jurors, and these challenges are lopsidedly used on minorities. In addition, those who are against the death penalty in death penalty cases are discharged, and the majority of minorities in America are against the death penalty. The laws and process behind our courts leads to non-diver juries. Non-diverse juries go hand in hand with individual racism. Not every single juror in death penalty cases with minority defendants is a “racist.” However, bias against a defendant because of the color of his/her skin is individual racism. Black defendants of course get the death penalty at an astonishing rate when the victim is white where as when the tables are turned, the same can not be said. The racism that occurs in death penalty cases are clearly an unfortunate result of these three structures combining to create social injustice. (Racism Common in Jury