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.
Race has always been a problem in America and other countries. But developments such as Critical Race Theory (CRT) has helped challenge race and racial power and its representation in American society. Articles such as Critical Race Theory: An Introduction by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic; White Privilege, Color, and Crime: A Personal Account by Peggy McIntosh have helped CRT develop further. Along with the documentary White Like Me by filmmaker Tim Wise. These articles and film explore the race and racism in the United States, along with critical race theory.
Coates is frequently lauded as one of America’s most important writers on the subject of race today, but this in fact undersells him: Coates is one of America’s most important writers on the subject of America today. This distinction might sound glib but is worth making, not least of all because Coates repeatedly informs us that he isn’t much interested in “race” as a subject of reflection in itself. “Race is the child of racism, not the father,” he writes—while race is a fiction of power, racism is power itself, and very
Even just by reading pages 5-12, I can tell that Ta-Nehisi Coates is a good writer because his essay is highly thoughtful and provocative, and the well-written narrative provides lots of powerful examples to depicts the racial struggle in the U.S. He told his son, “You must always remember that the sociology, the history, the economics, the graphs, the charts, the regression all land, with great violence, upon the body.” The concept of violence upon the body appears on every important point of my reading. This is more powerful than the examples of law enforcement and black Americans because it leads the reader to truly see the the fears provoked.
In response to the criticism offered by me, Coates is likely treat it as sort of false patriotism and as being not entirely in conjunction with reality. That, racism, and discrimination based on it thereof, is an undeniable reality, even in today’s society, seen in many facets of the country, whether explicit or disguised under policies and false consciousness. Furthermore, the fact that the discrimination is based on a system of caste and not class, that is, one which someone is born into and cannot change; defeats the purpose of providing opportunity, that each individual is, or at least should be entitled to as citizens, and hence would be construed as a violation of basic rights. Even still, the harms caused by racism are prevalent even
Delgado, Richard and Jean Stefancic. Critical Race Theory : An Introduction. NYU Press, 2001. Critical America. EBSCOhost Critical Race Theory: An Introduction, by Richard Delgado give an in-depth description of the Critical Race Theory.
What is race? Scientists have argued this for quite some time. Is it a social construct, wherein groups of people are classified having similar heritage (i.e. African Americans having ancestry throughout the continent of Africa)? Or is it a way of classifying people based on biological factors, such as how one may or may not react to a form of medical treatment, or drug. Does it give insight to one group of people’s risk factor for contracting certain biological diseases?
In this article, Staples discusses the treatment of African Americans by U.S. police, emphasizing the history of racial profiling and discriminatory treatment. Staples focuses mainly on the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. who got arrested in his home located in Cambridge, Massachusetts which relvealed the sharp racial divide over what police could do to innocent black people. Robert goes on to explain that the racial underpinnings cause the majoritity of the public to favor law enforcement as a slutionto crime. Robert claims the political support for U.S. legal discrimination leads the people against minorities in criminal penalties over small crimes which usually are nonviolent offenses. I will use this academic article to support my conclusion
1.0 What is racism? Racism is the belief that characteristics and abilities can be attributed to people simply on the basis of their race and that some racial groups are superior to others. It involves not only making distinctions and grouping people but also denigration. 2.0 What is wrong with racism?
On Friday, February 10th at approximately 3:30pm myself and Megan were having a conversation in the staff room regarding a lesson. The conversation lead to us talk about how many people, though from the same race or ethnic group, may view an issue very differently based on their past experiences with the issue. To substantiate my point, I retold an experience that I had in college where students from the African continent and the Caribbean region did not completely understand the issue or atmosphere of race relations in the United States. I went on telling her that the harsh reality that most Black Americans face was vastly different from the many African and Caribbean students realities in our home countries. However, this misunderstanding lead to a temporary divide between the African and Caribbean students’ organization and the Black Student Union as they were not happy with the fact that we –