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Racism in the criminal justice system essay
Racism in the criminal justice system essay
Racism in the criminal justice system essay
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Bryan Stevenson negotiates the prejudice and intolerance within the criminal justice system, and the biases within based on economic and racial status. This book exposed myself to a deeper level of injustice inside our system than what I already had a conception of. Each story Bryan talks about hits on different subjects that opened my eyes to how our system truly treats minorities so coldly. Those of a different race, economic status, are treated far worse than we can imagine. Within the past few years racial injustices have began to gain more attention in the media, allowing awareness into the discrimination still present in our system.
Racism is an ongoing issue which had been taking place for centuries. Racism can take various forms, direct, indirect, individual or institutional. Institutional racism however, has been questioned frequently recently in light of criminal justice system, especially and more noticeably in the US now, where many believe the police is treating/handling black people unfairly comparing to other ethnic groups. According to Macpherson (1999) institutional racism is where organisation does not provide appropriate service due to someone’s colour, culture or ethnic origin, and can take form of racial discrimination in forms of attitudes, behaviours and processes. Macpherson developed this definition when undertaking an inquiry of Stephen Lawrence, a black child who was murdered
These were some of my favorite readings so far that we had been required to read through. They were very enlightening and provided many great perspectives and stories from white and minority people alike. The three readings I enjoyed the most are Defining Racism: “Can We Talk?” by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Color-Blind Racism by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, and Smells Like Racism by Rita Chaudhry Sethi. What I liked about Bonilla-Silva’s piece is the quotes taken from the white privilege.
Why This Video Clip of My Practice is Significant to Me This video clip is a snap shot of the second semester of my second year teaching. At the time, I was a U.S. History teacher and department chair at South Atlanta High School. South Atlanta High was and is one of the lowest performing high schools in Atlanta Public Schools and serves a highly traumatized student population. This video clip is significant to me because of the high expectations and engaged class culture that is demonstrated in the video.
However, when comparing Aboriginal adults and non-Aboriginal adults with the same education and employment characteristics, the incarceration rates among Aboriginal adults were 3.3 to 5.1 times higher. In short, these socio- economic characteristics reduced the difference in incarceration rates of adults aged 20 to 34 by half in Alberta. A similar pattern occurs in Saskatchewan (Table 7). Still, even when comparing persons with the same characteristics, incarceration rates for Aboriginal young adults remain higher than those of their non-Aboriginal counterparts.” (statcan, 2015)
Indigenous people are more likely to be arrested and charged with offences, and once in the criminal justice system, they face harsher sentencing outcomes than non-Indigenous people for similar crimes. Racial profiling is another serious issue that affects Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. This occurs when law enforcement officers target individuals based on their perceived race or ethnicity, rather than on evidence of criminal activity. Racial profiling can result in unjustified arrests and charges and can contribute to the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the criminal justice system. The use of excessive force by police is also a major concern.
Many evidence support the view that there are biases in the criminal justice system against members of minority groups. One of the issues with discriminatory practices is that legal apparatus for antidiscrimination law is based on intentional discrimination. Many issues of overrepresentation of minority group individuals at all levels of the justice system have profound effects not only for those who are accused and convicted but also for the victims of crime. Victims from racialized communities, knowing that members of their community are unfairly treated under the law, may feel both personal pressure and community pressure to not report crimes committed against them or testify in court. Slavery, and the concomitant violence committed against
Racism is problematic because it is normal and has been happening for 148 years after the 245 years that blacks were enslaved. Racism is hard to recognize unless it is blatant. This problem is significant to me because i refuse to grow old and have my children be subject to oppression and racism. I have a strong belief that the system will refuse to change on it 's on and that issues surrounding race do not become proprieties.
TKAM ESSAY Throughout the history of mankind, racism has existed in many forms. Whether it was subtle racism, learned racism or even reverse racism, racism has been a part of the world for many years. Individuality in others also forces people to examine themselves and their beliefs, principles . If a person has different beliefs, values or even looks different, he or she is often mistreated or looked at differently by others.
Systemic Racism in the United States Many individuals today have different point of views on how the United States of America became what it is today. For instance, point of views such as how society learned to function the way it does, the law and order in place, and ultimately, how circumstances have developed throughout history. Unfortunately, institutional/institutionalized racism, also known as systemic racism is also a concept that has settled and is grown to be quite predominant in the United States all through times past. Systemic racism continues to take place in settings such as banks, courts of law, government organizations, school systems, and the like.
Pre-existing beliefs of ethnic minorities from the media, police sub-culture or other micro-level influences mean that ethnic minorities are more likely to be stopped by the police than white people in an occupational culture where targeting is encouraged (see Cashmore, 2001; Bowling et al, 2008). Such targeting mandates are guided by discretion and are likely to become entrenched in the structural policies of the police. It is in such a situation that institutional racism finds its expression. Oakley (1999, p.290) defines the term as ‘the way institutions or organizations may systematically treat, or tend to treat, people differently in respect of "race"’. When such patterns of ill-treatment are repeated continuously, they take on a ‘rule-like status’ and cannot be easily disrupted (see Haney-Lopez 2000, p. 1723).
The study of racism has a profound potential to become an ambiguous sociological endeavor. Incidentally, accounting for the multitude of factors which encompass this subject appear to make it the very heart of the matter and consequently the most time consuming. Although, it is my belief that all three of the main sociological theories (Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism) should be integrated in order to achieve a legitimate and quantifiable outcome, for obvious reasons the “Conflict Theory” logically renders the best possible method to obtain a valid micro analysis of specific agents in this case. The oxford dictionary defines racism as being: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior; a belief that all members of each race possesses characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.
Racism plays a large role in dividing entire groups of people and most of the time, the racism comes from stereotypes and assumptions made of each other. One example of insensitivity and divisiveness when maintaining stereotypes is when someone starts asking questions about the said stereotype to another who is affected by it. Such as if a white man goes up to an Asian girl to get help with math because ‘all asians are good at math’. These kind of stereotypes are very insensitive towards others. An example of racism that proves that society is oblivious to how people of ‘other’ backgrounds are treated is the pay and job gap.
“Racism distorts our sense of danger and safety. We are taught to live in fear of people of color. We are exploited economically by the upper class and unable to fight or even see this exploitation because we are taught to scapegoat people of color (Kivel, P).” This quote from the article, The Cost of Racism to White People, barely digs at one of the reasons why racism still occurs in today’s world. There are many motives out there for why racism still occurs.
“You don 't fight racism with racism, the best way to fight racism is with solidarity.” Naturally, societies don’t tend to understand change, and it scares them. Similar people in majority have their own principles, and when someone different interferes, they simply try to push it out. These people think that the minorities are their inferior. This belief is known as racism.
