Every day in the United States of America, it is estimated that over thirty five thousand people are arrested. Charges vary from small traffic violations to very serious offenses such as rape, burglary, and murder. People of all ages, all races and both genders are taken into police custody and charged with these crimes. At least that is what the government wants you to believe. They say that we live in an equal society, where every race and ethnicity are treated as equal, however, the rapid growth of violence towards minorities by police officers continues each day.
The inequality in America first started back in the 1970’s and it continues to grow each day that passes. In the first part of the decade, there were approximately 320,000 drug arrests per year. That number has greatly increased to almost 1.6 million arrests per year, according to the Federal Bureau of Statistics (Huffington Post). That is a question that remains to be answered. It is hard to believe that such a
…show more content…
For example, it has been proven that the police stop more African-American and Latinos at a much higher rate than those of a white race. In New York City where the population is mostly made up of people of color, about eighty percent of the New York Police Department stops were those of African-American and Latinos. During these traffic stops when those of the white race where stopped, only about eight percent were searched. But when those of a different race such as African-American and Latino were stopped, about eighty-five percent were searched according to the information provided by the New York Police Department. During these stops the police used “racial profiling” which also leads to an inequality that many police use more force in a much more aggressive way than those that are of “white” race. One of the biggest issues in law enforcement is the profiling based just on race and ethnicity of the
James Queally and Joe Mozingo on the article “Feds fault San Francisco police for violence against minorities and recommend 272 reforms” explains how law enforcement is racially biased towards minorities. Queally and Mozingo support their claim by mentioning the rise of police brutality against Blacks and Latinos and describing the type slurs used when law enforcement are referring to minorities amongst their fellow colleague. The authors’ purpose is to show the reader the type of way law enforcement is unfair to people of color and different cultures. The authors write in a serious tone to those seeking to end police brutality.
Racism and racial discrimination has been a major issue in the U.S. since the colonial periods, where people have been treated differently only based upon their race. Although the civil rights movement opposed racial discrimination, the act of stereotyping individuals still continues till this day. Racial profiling by law enforcement is commonly defined as a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, religion or national origin. A recent case, involving a young black man named Michael Brown is an example of how a police officer may act differently when facing an African American. “Ferguson Grand Jury Evidence Reveals Mistakes, Holes In Investigation” is an article written by Jason Cherkis’s and published on November
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).
US are one of the countries that have a diverse culture and different races such as Europeans, Asians and black Africans American. They have been living together for many years now, and they experienced issues that have a negative impact on the minority of the population. In fact racial profiling is one of the issues that cause the mistreatment of black Africans American by the police and law enforcement. “Arrested Development: The Conservative Case Against Racial Profiling” by James Forman Jr is an article where the author claims that racial profiling is not helping the law enforcement and police because it is discriminate against minority group and it destroys relationship between police and community. First of all, racial profiling discriminate
This article brought many points into light that many other articles were too sacred to bring up or simply did not want to bring up because the evidence went against their claim. This article talked about how racial profiling is often times misunderstood. To argue his point, he talks about how crime is never evenly distributed in cities and many times the places where there is the most crime is a part of town that lives in poverty. Often times this also means these parts of town are highly diverse. Policemen then, doing their job, watch these parts of town because of the high crime.
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
Since the nature of the; law enforcement frequently requires the police officers to make snap judgments about the danger posed subjects and the criminal nature of their activity, subconscious racial associations influence the way officers perform their job” (Racial Disparities: U.S. Criminal Justice System). Racially profiling people started very recently; the police racially profiling people and arresting them, thus destroys the belief of “innocent until proven guilty” in which is embedded in the U.S. Criminal Justice
Are minorities unfairly targeted by law enforcement? Many people would answer yes to the controversial topic of do minorities get unfairly targeted by law enforcement. But not only are minorities targeted unfairly, they also get treated unfairly through the legal system. The bad treatment of minorities in the United States legal system starts at the beginning of that system, the investigation of suspected criminal activity by law enforcement agents.
With cameras and video recording devices more easily accessible, documentation of these incidents has become more frequent. Racial profiling is not a new terminology, yet it is something that occurs daily in the United States, becoming almost a normality. Law enforcement is meant to create a sense of security and safety, yet there seems to be a growing mistrust and anti-cop mentality, especially among minorities. Cases such as the infamous Rodney King scandal, or the most recent murder of Michael Brown, only give communities further reason to be wary of police. With numerous incidents of police misconduct and use of excessive force that results in the death of an innocent victim, you can no longer ignore this
Throughout history, disputes and tensions between law enforcement officials and communities of minorities have endured hostility and violence between each other. Racial profiling has become a “hot topic” for researchers as well as for politicians and by now it is likely that most citizens are at least aware of the common accusations of racial bias pitted against law enforcement (Cochran & Warren, 2013). Communities of color are being discriminated against and racially profiled by white police officers for any suspicion of criminal activities. It has been widely assumed by policy makers and citizens alike that allegations of racial profiling are mostly associated with the policing practices of white officers and their treatment of racial and ethnic minorities (Cochran & Warren, 2013). Also, individuals of minority descent will certainly recognize that they are being racially profiled during a stop that is being conducted by a white police officer.
Worse enough people are made suspects or denied their rights without any evidence suggesting that they don’t deserve what is right for them. Besides denial and unfair treatment, others have been victimized and the majority are in police custody, but very innocent in real life (Lorenzo Johnson, 2013). Take for example black males, they do suffer a great deal of victimization and are even the majority pulled over or stopped by police more often than whites. There all kinds of stories which suggest racial profiling is on the increase today and people have become very uncomfortable and worry so much especially when driving and notices police officers close, confusion sets in and one wonders what may happen to them next. Others have been gripped by fear because the victims are always portrayed as bad people so they lack trust from those around them, which in turn leads to poor social lives.
One of the greatest challenges law enforcement are facing is providing effective policing for minority communities. Some factors that prevent minorities from gaining access to justice or being taken advantage of certain criminal justice services are language barriers, racial stereotyping, and cultural differences. Since the 30 's and 40 's, and even during the 60 's, civil rights activists damaged the police-minority relations in the United States, believing that police only interest are protecting white communities. A big explanation of why there 's a poor police-minority relations in the United States is racism on the part of the individual officers. Many minorities in the United States have continued to complain about being treated more harshly than whites and the Department of Justice believes that racial profiling and police discrimination will continue to be a big problem.
Wealth and Inequality in America Inequality The inequality in America has increased over time; the gap between the rich and the poor has become a problem that many Americans don’t see. Inequality is the extent of income which is distributed unequally among the citizenry. The inequality of the United has a large gap between the poor and the rich making it unfair to the population, the rich are becoming wealthier and the poor remain poor. The article “Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1%”, authored by Joseph E. Stiglitz describes that there is a 1 percent amount of American’s who are consuming about a quarter of the United States income in a year.
3.1 How income inequality affect on people live in America. The income gap in America affects people, who live in this country. The issue has a strong impact in America’s society; in particular, the nutritional disparity between rich and poor people. In USA, the food gap becomes the top signal for the class distinction, but it used to be clothing or fashion. The food inequality in America is not only influencing the poverty, it is also cost hundreds of billions of dollar per year because of Non Communicable Diseases (NDCs) (Ferdman, 2014).
America prides itself on being one of the most effective democratically governed counties. The idea of the American dream is that all people have equivalent political freedoms and a responsive government. However the effectiveness of social equality is being threatened by increasing inequality in the United States. Economic inequality in the US has expanded drastically. The wealth gap has had drastic changes over the past 35 years.