Critical Race Theory African Americans
The sentencing disparity for drug use by race is disproportionate for African Americans because of The War on Drugs. Matthew Lassiter (2015) explains, “In 1951, Harry Anslinger, the commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, collaborated with senate of criminal investigations to target black ‘dope peddlers’ who were luring pretty white blondes into drug addiction”(2015:128). According to Lassiter (2015), Anslinger believed that peddlers, who destroyed teenagers’ lives, required the most sever punishment (2015:129). Using this rhetoric, presidents like Nixon and Reagan would shape the way drug laws are enforced.
For example, Richard Nixon made it his goal to focus on treatment, rather than criminal punishment (Yuill 2009). The Reagan
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Derrick Bell, who was an African American law student at Harvard created the theory. Victor Caldwell and Kimberle Crenshaw (1996), emphasize it to better understand white hegemony and the subjection of African Americans. Amanda Carlin (2016) pronounces Critical Race Theory emphasizes two elements: 1) the use of speech, education, and whiteness as forms of credibility and 2) the invalidation of African American testimony before it is given. CRT proposes that courtrooms have intentionally been set up to exclusively hold white people, which have shaped the views on how legal procedures should be dealt with. Any person that does not uphold these standards is excluded from “whiteness” and not a credible source (Carlin 2016:453). This tactic has prevented many people of color from successfully testifying on the behalf of the …show more content…
It can be traced back to World War II and the housing market. Black Soldiers were drafted into the army to fight against the Vietnamese, but were seen as inferior, so the military created segregated units (Werner 2015). Once the war was over, all soldiers were promised a G.I Bill, which gave them low mortgage loans and interest rates when buying homes. Unfortunately, the bill only allowed them to rent out housing in the inner city, which was known for overcrowding of minorities. The crime rate was high and the education system was segregated and
A New Racial Caste System In The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander
947 Words | 4 PagesIn The New Jim Crow, published in 2010, American writer and civil rights activist Michelle Alexander argues that a new racial caste system was born in the United States after the death of Jim Crow. A system that was caused by the war on drugs, which was created in 1971 by President Ronald Reagan, as well as the Fourth Amendment. Alexander conveys her argument that the war on drugs, and the government's disregard for the Fourth Amendment, led to the unfortunate birth of mass incarceration using logical and ethical appeals. In the beginning of the excerpt, Alexander discusses the Terry v. Ohio decision and how it limited the effectiveness of the Fourth Amendment when it comes to drug crimes.
Critical Race Theory In Elie Wiesel's Night
957 Words | 4 PagesThis connects to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 2 & 7 because it discriminates against people and also makes the law unfair to people of color. Critical Race Theory is a set of ideas holding racial bias in inherent parts of western society, especially in the social and legal institutions. This idea is strongly believed because white people designed and created social and legal institutions. " CRT (Critical Race Theory) challenges white privilege and exposes deficit-informed research that ignores, and often omits, the scholarship of people of color" (George 9). The idea of Critical Race Theory is a national issue throughout the United States.
Mass Incarceration In The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander
841 Words | 4 PagesOne of the major causes of the mass incarceration epidemic has been the War on Drugs, which was officially declared by President Nixon in the 1970s. Alexander notes that, despite the White House’s aggressive rhetoric, the 1960s and 1970s were a period of relatively low drug-related crime. In the forty years since the War on Drugs began, it is overwhelmingly young black men who have been arrested, convicted, and incarcerated. The racial disparity in the criminal justice system does not correspond to actual rates of drug use between blacks and whites; in reality, it is due to a legal framework that allows law enforcement to target minorities (e.g., racial profiling and stop-and-frisk) and harsh prison sentences for minor drug offenses (e.g., mandatory minimum drug sentences and three-strikes laws). As our criminal justice system offers little to incarcerated individuals in terms of rehabilitation,
Racial Profiling: President Ronald Reagan's War On Drugs
437 Words | 2 PagesRacial Profiling” as it’s known today was started in 1980’s under President Ronald Reagans’ “War on Drugs” (a war Reagan declared while drug use and crimes were both on the decline (4). Regan’s “War on Drugs” was a partisan show of force that he, Bush Senior and Junior and subsequent Presidents used to try and convenience people they were concerned with public safety and American citizens who had fallen victim to crimes committed by drug users and drug dealers. (Even, while it was widely reported Ronald Reagans’ son, Ronnie junior and former President George Bush Senior’s son, former President George Bush Junior were both smoking weed and snorting cocaine (4). While the “War on Drugs” was based on political motives, (that is not the full story) as the “war on drugs” in hindsight proved itself to be a social containment strategy and ultimately a “war” on black and brown surplus people ().
The Central Tenets Of Critical Race Theory
563 Words | 3 PagesCritical Race Theory (CRT) is an interdisciplinary framework that emerged in the United States during the late 1970s and seeks to understand how race and racism intersect with other forms of social identity and power relations within society. Proponents of CRT posit that race is not biologically determined but is a social construct created to maintain power and privilege for dominant groups. One of the central tenets of CRT is the recognition that racism is not only an individual problem, but rather an institutionalized and systemic phenomenon that permeates society at all levels. CRT allows individuals to examine how the legal, social, and political systems perpetuate racial inequalities, leading to systemic racism and oppression. Despite its importance as an academic framework, CRT has recently come under attack from conservative pundits who use it as a talking point to promote their fascist ideology.
New World Slavery In America
1000 Words | 4 PagesLike it is mentioned in the movie 13th “The so called war on drugs was a war on communities of color”. So, now black people are being arrested much more than White people even though the drug use is close to the same as Angela F. Chan points out in her article for the Huffington Post. “Even though Black people use drugs at the same rate as White people, they are incarcerated for drug crimes at 20 to 50 times the rate of White people in some states”. A law that was passed during the war on drugs was mandatory sentencing.
Tough On Crime Policy Analysis
784 Words | 4 PagesIn addition to greatly affecting the otherwise unlikely citizens of America, Tough on Crime policies have greatly affected minority groups in America; perhaps more so than of any other group of citizens. To begin, from the 1980 on through the year 1995, the incarceration rates among drug offenders increased by more than 1000 percent. Notably, by the year 1995 one out of every four inmates in any given correctional facility was a drug offender. In addition of that 1000 percent increase, drug offenders accounted for more than 80 percent of the total growth in the federal inmate population and 50 percent of the growth of the state prison population from 1985 to 1995 (Stith, web). In addition, once in the system, the probability of receiving harsher
Michelle Alexander The New Jim Crow Summary
1075 Words | 5 PagesIn The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in The Era of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, she begins by points out the underlying problem in our Criminal Justice system. The problem being prioritizing the control of those in this racial caste rather than focusing on reasonable punishment and efforts to deter crime. Alexander begins by speaking of her experience as a civil rights lawyer and what soon became her priority after seeing a poster that mentioned how the war on drugs is the new jim crow when it comes to the application and outcome of it. As Alexander points out the correlation between the war on drugs and it being the new jim crow, she discusses the mass incarceration that is prevalent in our society and the number of African American
Colorism In African Americans Essay
1384 Words | 6 PagesThe Fight Against Colorism in African American Communities Colorism is defined as a practice of discrimination among African Americans against other African Americans because of their skin complexion, for instance being too light or too dark. Colorism plays a large role in the low self-esteem in the African American community, from individuals, relationships, and employment. Colorism can cause psychological effects. Children are more affected because skin biased develops at a younger age.
Examples Of Critical Race Theory
1747 Words | 7 PagesWhy? Because in a time where there were no critical legal studies pertaining to minorities. A small group of intellectual figures gathered to create CRT. As Jean Harris describes in Foreword (2017), the only source of studies was focused on the typical immigration, welfare, and poverty that minorities are characterized by (Harris, 2017).
Annotated Bibliography: The New Jim Crow
1343 Words | 6 PagesAnnotated Bibliography Alexander, M. (2010). The new Jim Crow: Mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness. New York: The New Press. Alexander opens up on the history of the criminal justice system, disciplinary crime policy and race in the U.S. detailing the ways in which crime policy and mass incarceration have worked together to continue the reduction and defeat of black Americans.
Drug Abuse In The Early 1900s
130 Words | 1 PagesWe have been fighting drug abuse for almost a century. The war on drugs is a growing problem in America everyday. This war is becoming an unfortunate loss. Our courts, hospitals, and prisons are continuously being filled with drug abusers. Violent crime the ravages our neighborhood is a result of the drug trade.
African American Studies Reflection
1021 Words | 5 PagesAfrican American Studies was a great experience. Has opened my eyes to my surrounding and the world around me. This course with Dr. Sheba Lo, was something out of me confront zone. I learned so many things from race to cultural to the importance aspect of African American. We are isolated to an environment that hide so much history that we all don’t think they are important to who we have become.
Essay On Tom Robinson Lynched In To Kill A Mockingbird
354 Words | 2 PagesAttakis Finch was the lawyer of Tom Robinson and said” even if my defendant is black I will defend him as best I could all doe it is likely he will lose the trail. This quote shows how white people trying to stand up for black
Racism In To Kill A Mockingbird
921 Words | 4 PagesWhen there was a misdemeanor drug offence, black defendants were 27 percent more likely than whites to get a plea offer that included incarceration.” This shows unfairness
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