Criminal Justice System
Institutional racism still exists today in America and is exemplified throughout the Criminal Justice System. 70% of America has a racial preference towards European Americans. This bias tends to show itself through policies of the system that allow for decisions to be made based on the reasoning of individuals such as arrests, sentencing many other aspects.
A Theory: Institutional Racism exists today throughout the Criminal Justice System as a way to keep minorities as second class citizens. Slavery has been abolished for over 100 years and the laws that came with the Jim Crow era are now outlawed, but those two things were ways in which whites made blacks feel inferior to the rest of society. The Criminal Justice System proposes a 'legal' way for people to discriminate against blacks and other minorities allowing them to keep this racism under the radar. This discrimination causes a never ending loop. This loop being; Blacks and minorities being subject to discrimination by law enforcement, then becoming incarcerated and serving time in prison. Once out of prison (if they do get out) they are now impoverished and it is hard for them to make any progress within society. The more poverty stricken neighborhoods are claimed to have the most crime which causes them to be policed more often that the "better" neighborhoods which then creates more of a chance for these minorities to be arrested again. If they manage to not go to jail again they still live in poverty and are inferior to society. This never ending loop highlights exactly what conservatives throughout the country would desire because it causes blacks and minorities to be lower class citizens in comparison to whites, which is exactly what slavery and the Jim Crow Era did showing that it is in fact very possible for Institutional Racism to exist within the Criminal Justice System.
Sources:
Works Cited
"The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights." The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2011/09/1241-end-racial-profiling.html>.
"Race and Prison." Welcome. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/Race_and_Prison#sthash.t3ZvgOTK.I5spTrox.dpbs>.
"Stop and Frisk Law Is Racist and the Shame of New York City." PolicyMic. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http://www.policymic.com/articles/9914/stop-and-frisk-law-is-racist-and-the-shame-of-new-york-city>.
"The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in the United States." Name. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. <http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/03/13/11351/the-top-10-most-startling-facts-about-people-of-color-and-criminal-justice-in-the-united-states/>.
Banks, Cynthia L. "Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System." Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Institutional racism still exists today in America and is exemplified throughout the Criminal Justice System. 70% of America has a racial preference towards European Americans. This bias tends to show itself through policies of the system that allow for decisions to be made based on the reasoning of individuals such as arrests, sentencing many other aspects.
A Theory: Institutional Racism exists today throughout the Criminal Justice System as a way to keep minorities as second class citizens. Slavery has been abolished for over 100 years and the laws that came with the Jim Crow era are now outlawed, but those two things were ways in which whites made blacks feel inferior to the rest of society. The Criminal Justice System proposes a 'legal' way for people to discriminate against blacks and other minorities allowing them to keep this racism under the radar. This discrimination causes a never ending loop. This loop being; Blacks and minorities being subject to discrimination by law enforcement, then becoming incarcerated and serving time in prison. Once out of prison (if they do get out) they are now impoverished and it is hard for them to make any progress within society. The more poverty stricken neighborhoods are claimed to have the most crime which causes them to be policed more often that the "better" neighborhoods which then creates more of a chance for these minorities to be arrested again. If they manage to not go to jail again they still live in poverty and are inferior to society. This never ending loop highlights exactly what conservatives throughout the country would desire because it causes blacks and minorities to be lower class citizens in comparison to whites, which is exactly what slavery and the Jim Crow Era did showing that it is in fact very possible for Institutional Racism to exist within the Criminal Justice System.
Sources:
Works Cited
"The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights." The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http://www.civilrights.org/archives/2011/09/1241-end-racial-profiling.html>.
"Race and Prison." Welcome. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/Race_and_Prison#sthash.t3ZvgOTK.I5spTrox.dpbs>.
"Stop and Frisk Law Is Racist and the Shame of New York City." PolicyMic. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http://www.policymic.com/articles/9914/stop-and-frisk-law-is-racist-and-the-shame-of-new-york-city>.
"The Top 10 Most Startling Facts About People of Color and Criminal Justice in the United States." Name. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. <http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2012/03/13/11351/the-top-10-most-startling-facts-about-people-of-color-and-criminal-justice-in-the-united-states/>.
Banks, Cynthia L. "Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System." Web. 11 Mar. 2014.