The Institutional Racism In The Criminal Justice System

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Race is “A social category defined on the basis of physical characteristics” (Yetman, p.3). Race is a abstract concept that society has constructed to group people based on their physical appearance. Institutional racism is an covert form of discrimination, but historically institutional racism was overt. My focus is on the Muslim and black community in America, because I relate to these two groups since I am muslim and black. I will discuss the institutional racism the Muslim and black community face in American society.

Bringing awareness to instituional racism is crucial, because this will shine light on the issue of race in instituions that are ignored and swept under the rug. Institunal racism is often ignored by society, because …show more content…

Blacks (I use this word because I am speaking about the black community as a whole, not only African Americans) face racial discrimination from the criminal justice system as well. Treyvon Martin was gun down because of a hoodie he was wearing. When George Zimmerman went on trial for his actions, he was “innocent” and he said it was in self defense. “The Justice Department announced today that the independent federal investigation found insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida” (justice.gov) . This was very devastating for the black community as a whole. This was clearly a hate crime. I fear for my future children, because I don’t want them to live in a society where, being black is feared. I don’t want my child to ever get harassed by a white man because of his skin color. I want my children to have the same respect and rights as a white child gets in …show more content…

Slavery and 9/11 is the cause for the hate towards these two communities. Society being predominantly white for centuries instilled this white supremacy ideology. When society puts the white community on a pedestal, and they degrade and discriminate towards the Muslim and black community. This shouldn 't be swept under the rug. This backwards thinking shouldn’t persist to this day. Institutions play a key role in spreading hate. They discriminate in a very discrete way, whereas, in the past , institutions were very up front with the discrimination. Apart of me believes that racial discrimination will always be an issue, as long as America continues to have the white supremacy

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