The skin is the largest organ of the human body and can display a range of different colors depending on the amount of melanin, a protein produced by special skin cells, that is in the skin. The more melanin that is created, the darker the skin tone. Despite the fact skin color is such a minor physiological difference, many have decided that it is enough of a reason to hate and discriminate against the minorities who possess a little more melanin than they do. This prejudice has managed to extensively infiltrate the justice system and law enforcement, causing black men to face multiple injustices such as being more likely to be convicted and given longer prison sentences than white men for the same crimes, having higher chances of being shot …show more content…
The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world with about 2.3 million people in prison. According to Vitanna.org’s statistics, an estimated one million of these prisoners are African American. 12.3 percent of the population is black, yet over 43 percent of America’s prisoners are black. This disparity is certainly unnatural, seeing as how African Americans are no more likely to be criminals than whites. Black men are overrepresented in prisons because of the unfortunately common stereotype that they are all remorseless criminals. This stereotype makes it easier for those in the justice system to see all black men as people who need to be locked up. Racism (whether conscious or subconscious) makes jurors especially willing to put minorities behind bars by overpowering their doubt and blinding them to the …show more content…
In a study done by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the authors found that, "Across a range of different stimuli and dependent variables, perceivers showed a consistent and strong bias to perceive young Black men as larger and more capable of harm than young White men (at least among non-Black participants).” This study shows that there is a tendency in American society to view black men as more threatening than white men of equal or slightly larger size. This misperceived threat can create unnecessary fear and panic in the general public that escalates over time as the idea that black men are dangerous is reinforced with every arrest, no matter any other evidence. The perceived danger makes it easier for police officers to justify the use of physical force against black men, often
When it comes to the perceptions of the criminal justice system and the role that the police play in society, blacks and whites live in different worlds. African Americans do not receive equal
As a society, we have both positive and negative perceptions of people with the same or different racial and gender identities. As we strive to improve America’s tolerance, it is still common for black men to be mistakenly seen as criminals. When discussing his ability to “alter public places in ugly ways”, Brent Staples considers the impact he has on others around him. Brent Staples’ goal is to draw attention to the continuous stereotypes toward black men, who are usually represented to be stereotyped as being a threat. By explaining how these unfair ideas make black men feel, the author seeks to influence others’ perceptions of them.
Police officers are more likely to stop and arrest African Americans, compared to other ethnic groups in America, and this has to do with stereotypes. Mainstream media portrays black men as violent, thugs or drug sellers which shapes the perceptions majority of Americans have towards African Americans (Hurwitz & Peffley, 2005). Therefore, these stereotypes become a method to dehumanize and make it acceptable for black people to be treated in a certain way in the criminal justice system. Also, there is a big gap when it comes to how to black people and white people view the criminal justice system because they experience it differently. Whites are significantly more likely to approve police aggression compared to their black counterparts, because they are not subjected to violence from Criminal Justice system (Hadden, Tolliver, Snowden, & Brown, 2016).
Michelle Alexander, similarly, points out the same truth that African American men are targeted substantially by the criminal justice system due to the long history leading to racial bias and mass incarceration within her text “The New Jim Crow”. Both Martin Luther King Jr.’s and Michelle Alexander’s text exhibit the brutality and social injustice that the African American community experiences, which ultimately expedites the mass incarceration of African American men, reflecting the current flawed prison system in the U.S. The American prison system is flawed in numerous ways as both King and Alexander points out. A significant flaw that was identified is the injustice of specifically targeting African American men for crimes due to the racial stereotypes formed as a result of racial formation. Racial formation is the accumulation of racial identities and categories that are formed, reconstructed, and abrogated throughout history.
It is apparent that public spaces can be frightening for women, as they face fears of sexual harassment and attack by men. In fact, research on fear of crime and public space usually examine the experiences given by women. Though there are many accounts exploring and emphasizing women’s vulnerability and fears, there are few which take into consideration the apprehension that males have about public spaces. In particular, anxieties that Black men are plagued with. In North America, black men have historically been depicted as aggressive, hypersexual and violent – to be controlled, exploited and tamed (Hackman, “‘It’s like we’re seen as animals’: black men on their vulnerability and resilience”).
Over the past couple of years, the instances of discrimination against people of color has increased exponentially. From Sandra Bland to Michael Brown, the injustices against people of color seems to have no bounds. As with any conflict, many people seem to be picking sides in these situations. Whether they side with the police or victim, it is hardly fair to do so without gaining an adequate understanding of what happened. Unfortunately, people fail to acknowledge both sides of the conflict in question.
The racial disparity can be accounted for through the mass incarceration of black offenders in terms of sentencing with mention of a racial caste in place, not allowing those of color to move from their position. As such, mass incarceration has led to prisons being filled with an overpopulation of those who are black than any other race. Interesting enough, it has been proven through surveys that those who are white are more likely to engage in drug crime rather than those who are black. I found this to be an interesting point to discuss as it raises the question as to just why are more people of color incarcerated at a growing rate than
The culture of aggression and violence surrounding black men is a consequence of a psychological and sociological term known as hypermasculinity; associated with extremely negative connotations and contributions to harmful and damaging stereotypes about black men. “The hypermasculine image of the black male as a violent and aggressive being has been perpetuated throughout history and continues to be reinforced in contemporary society”(Wadley 60). Black men have adapted behaviors and attitudes, like the need to be aggressive, tough, and unemotional which are reinforced by societal pressures and expectations. These expectations stem from the legacy of slavery because of black men's need to assert masculinity in the face of oppression. The black
The Color of Justice There are countless injustices in America’s judicial system because of racism, whether it be subconscious or completely conscious. The racism deeply embedded within the American Judicial System needs to be radically reconstructed. Racism has to be recognized and then legally obliterated in order for African American men and women to ever receive a fair treatment by our justice system. The same subconscious racism that results in unfair and prejudicial treatment by judges and juries starts young, at home and in schools.
Overrepresentation in the US prison and criminal justice system is a product that has historically targeted Blacks. During the Jim Crow era, black people were imprisoned for the color of their skin, and police brutality against them was common. It seems that things are becoming less and less the same. Slavery and beyond are still present in the American economic system and are clear signs of the racism that still exists in
People of all different races and ethnicities are locked behind bars because they have been convicted of committing a crime and they are paying for the consequences. When looking at the racial composition of a prison in the United States, it does not mimic the population. This is because some races and ethnicities are over represented in the correctional system in the U.S. (Walker, Spohn, & DeLone, 2018). According Walker et al. (2018), African-Americans/Blacks make up less than fifteen percent of the U.S. population, while this race has around thirty-seven percent of the population in the correctional system today.
Although there may have been mild attempts to cease racism directed towards certain groups, these same efforts are absent within racial groups based on group members’ various ranges of skin tones, which Jill Viglione and other authors discuss in their article “The Impact of Light Skin on Prison Time for Black Female Offenders” (250). As numerous studies show, black women in particular make up a large proportion of women arrested and put in prisons within the country. Women with lighter skin tones receive lighter sentences than darker women, along with those who possess other attributional European features, such as straight hair and narrow noses. These individuals tend to also be more included in mainstream society, “thus afforded greater opportunities and privileges” and “more likely to be members of higher social class and achieve a higher occupational and educational level than their darker skinned counterparts” (251). These European features are seen as more attractive, as women with “blacker” features like curly hair and dark skin are stereotyped as lazy and “welfare queens,’ which are ultimately determinants of prison sentences and
The Huffington Post says, “The U.S. incarcerates nearly seven times as many people, measured as a share of population, as Canada does. People of color are disproportionately represented in the American prison population and are typically punished more severely than white peers for the same crimes” (Daniel Marans). Racism against people of color has caused them to be represented poorly in society as potential criminals, especially black. MIT informs its viewers that “according to the United States census Bureau, blacks are twice as likely to be poor compared to other races, and eight times as likely to be imprisoned. Blacks are also three times more likely to be convicted of drug violations than whites.
Annotated 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.
In the short story “Black Men and Public Space” by Brent Staples, he talks about how because of his race he is feared and discriminated upon. While in New York, Staples walks during the night and is mistaken for a mugger or a rapist because of his race and his large figure. People are very hesitant in the world today because there has been such a great amount of crime. Staples sharing his stories of people’s reactions shows how many assumptions can be made about a person simply based on the color of their skin.