Racial Injustice Essay

America’s criminal justice system is racially biased and influenced due to the fact that the punishment a person gets is not related to the crime that 's done, funds that help African

Discrimination and racial disparities exist at every phase of the U.S. criminal justice system, especially when it comes to sentencing. The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, as there are over 2 million people imprisoned today. The drawing is a visual representation of my annotated bibliography. In it, I stated that the criminal justice system is broken, as it discriminates against people of color. The left side of the illustration depicts the scene of the courtroom during the trial of a white defendant.

African Americans are more likely to be arrested, convicted, and sentenced to harsher penalties compared to their white counterparts for similar offenses. The over-policing of African American communities, racial profiling, and biased sentencing practices contribute to the lack of opportunities and a cycle of incarceration. Reforming the criminal justice system by addressing racial bias, implementing alternatives to incarceration, and focusing on rehabilitation can help create a more equitable society and provide opportunities for individuals to reintegrate successfully into their

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

Perpetuation of issues such as these in the law can be changed with research and the implementation of new policies that serve to address the underlying causes of these issues, which is racial inequality and the continued oppression of people of color in the United States. I plan to research the psychology of oppression and its effects on government and society in graduate school, and work to combat these effects as a clinical psychologist and community change agent. The overall structure of oppression, which has made itself known as I investigate the root causes of more common social issues such as mass incarceration and food deserts, is created and perpetuated through government and public policy, regardless of the emergence of national social awareness of issues such as inequality, economic disparity, and social injustice. I believe that inequality can be changed one step-or one policy-at a time, and I plan to help with this as I examine the different forms of oppression on people of color at both a national and international level and work to lessen its force. Through non-government organizations such as the Marshall Project or the American Civil Liberties Union, I wish to add my knowledge of social science to the ongoing effort for equal civil rights for all citizens.

Unfortunately, the most popular form of discrimination these days in racial bias in the justice system and police brutality. Based on the United States Bureau of Justice, “Despite a seemingly smaller “footprint” of police interactions in the community that year [2020] — fewer people came into contact with police overall — those interactions were still too often racially discriminatory and too often involved improper or harmful conduct.” Indicated in the study as well, “Black people were also nearly 12 times more likely than white people to report that their most recent police contact involved misconduct, such as using racial slurs or otherwise exhibiting bias.” This study shows that although the Civil Rights Movement positively impacted society, that impact was still not enough to get rid of the prejudice ingrained within the system. The Civil Rights Movement was able to bury the bigotry and intolerance of the United States government, but never fully unroot

There is an ongoing problem of marginalization and discrimination of African Americans in the criminal justice system, rooted in racist attitudes and prejudices inherited

Legalized Discrimination is Contributing to Mass Incarceration Mass incarceration has been an issue for decades, with no clear solution in sight. One major turning point in the development of mass incarceration, based on reading The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, is the idea of legalized discrimination. Alexander said, “What is painfully obvious when one steps back from individual cases and specific policies is that the system of mass incarceration operated with stunning efficiency to sweep people of color off the streets, lock them in cages, and then release them into an inferior second-class status” (pg. 100). This idea of legalized discrimination allows police officers to intentionally target black individuals because of prejudices

These issues are particularly pronounced in the criminal justice system, where African Americans are disproportionately arrested and incarcerated. This inequality is a direct result of the legacy of Jim Crow laws and continues to perpetuate racial inequities in the United States

Racial inequality in the criminal justice system can be found on many different levels, from policies, to policing, down to the study of crime itself. This can be seen with the policies that are passes into law especially in regards to punitive measures. Non-Hispanic Whites are more likely to be in favor of punitive measures which will affect the overwhelmingly black prison population (Drakulich). The inequality within the polices becomes greater when one looks at the civil restrictions placed on ex-convicts, without the ability to vote on said polices the whites have a greater say in what will happen to the blacks that are imprisoned, exacerbating the racial inequality (Wheelock).

Racial inequality is an American tradition. Relative to whites, blacks earn twenty-four percent less, live five fewer years, and are six times more likely to be incarcerated on a given day. Hispanics earn twenty-five percent less than whites and are three times more likely to incarcerated.1 At the end of the 1990s, there were one-third more black men under the jurisdiction of the corrections system than there were enrolled in colleges or universities (Ziedenberg and Schiraldi,

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.

Race is an issue. Our culture tries to pretend that it’s not, but our minds can’t help but compare the people with the stereotypes. It’s easy to identify yourself based on your race, but it’s even easier to pre-judge others. Our race has nothing to do with potential, with success or with what a person is capable of. What can we do to fix this injustice is to raise awareness and give people knowledge that we shouldn 't judge people based on their race.

Racism is systemic, and it has infected everybody from our systems of education to incarceration. CONCLUSION In every way, the criminal justice system is weighted to favor the wealthy. While someone of means slide through the system and experience some minor inconvenience, while the less fortunate will go through the process of their life destroyed.

Racial inequality has plagued our society for centuries and has been described as a “black eye” on American history. It wasn’t until the passing of The Civil Rights Act of 1965 that minorities were given equal protection under the law. This was a crucial step on our society’s road to reconciling this injustice. However, the effects of past racial inequality are still visible to this day, and our society still wrestles with how to solve this issue. In 1965, President Lyndon B Johnson said: “You do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line of a race and then say you are free to compete with all the others, and still just believe that you have been completely fair.