I am greatly fascinated by the law – an institution that can evoke feelings of safety and security within some, but fear within others. The divisions currently existing within the legal system, such as issues on the accessibility of justice, to more basic issues of misconceptions about the law, all play a part in exacerbating this disparity, while also paving the way for unfairness within the system. This, I believe, is deserving of much attention, especially so considering the great impact that the law has on every single person under its jurisdiction – shaping the way people behave and societies function.
Volunteering at the office of Cabinet Minister Lim Swee Say has brought me to the forefront of the inequality existing within Singapore’s
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The sheer number of African-American individuals who fall victim to police brutality is astounding, as is the recent People v. Turner (2015) conviction, which ultimately saw Turner only serve three months in prison for rape. With the law serving as an institution meant to uphold the rights and ensure the protection of its people, to have the death of individuals such as Terence Crutcher and Alton Sterling at the hands of the police is perturbing. I have faith that the law, when wielded correctly, can help protect, not exacerbate, the overt discrimination that these vulnerable communities currently experience, and I hope to work towards a remedy for these problems that arise in the implementation of the …show more content…
I further developed my critical thinking and argumentation skills gained as a competitive debater, while also capitalising on the value of objectivity honed in debates - considering opinions from an unbiased viewpoint, putting aside personal predispositions. Having also served as the president of the Debate Society allowed me to develop greater interpersonal, organisational, and leadership skills, which have proven to be useful during my tenure as Training Head of the Raffles Gavel Club, a subsidiary of the Toastmasters Organisation, as I negotiated between the differing demands posed by developing the skills of different members, all with varying public speaking abilities. Having to capitalise upon these skills developed in secondary school and through sport has also greatly affirmed my confidence in being able to apply these abilities in different contexts. As a tennis player and footballer, the experiences gained in both individual and team sports have enhanced my skills as an effective communicator, a team player, and in being able to cope with setbacks. I hope to be able to continue developing these skills in my future internships at the Legal Aid Bureau. Following my experience volunteering at the constituency legal clinic, I am motivated to learn more
Addressing police brutality must be done with empathy for and awareness of the plight of the African-American community. Historically speaking, there has not been a period wherein the African-American community was not inhibited by institutionalized barriers. American enslavement provided the foundation for later oppressive provisions that are especially prevalent within inner-city, predominantly Black communities, which, incidentally, many of the prominent instances of police brutality have taken place. Political regimes like the “war on drugs,” “school to prison pipeline,” and mass incarceration criminalize and dehumanize the African-American community, and thus affect the collective mindset of the population. I believe that an imperative first step that has not been taken is acknowledging the effects these may have on the Black community.
Leonard Pitts Jr is the writer behind ‘What can I do?’ a powerful article about the police brutality toward African American males. The issue that is presented in this article center around the numerous cases where an unarmed African American males were killed by police officers majority of them white for undignified reasons. The authors position on this issue is police brutality on African American that led to the killings of over five males were injustice. Mr. Pitts would like to hear from the readers to find ways to prevent any more incident of racial motivated police brutality, he hopes this will help make a change.
Every day in America we hear the stories of unarmed black men or boys dying in the hands of police officers and the media portrays these brutal images in our televisions. Rather than focusing on the underlying cause of what morally made it acceptable for police officers to inflict violence on the black body, we find reasons to justify their actions. The storyline brought up to distract the police violence towards the black body is by portraying the victim as a drug seller or a violent person, and these kinds of stereotypes towards the victim overshadow the real problem within our criminal justice system. I will use the book, "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates to examine and understand the challenges African American face, especially
In recent news we have seen massive riots following the killings of African American men by caucasian police officers. These all follow after one of the most prominent not guilty verdicts of the 21st century on the Rodney King beating. With these riots we see the words of Teju Cole begin to take life.
Recently the media has been covering stories of the amount of black lives being taken by the police. Statistics have shown that is not the case, that the loss of black lives are due to “black-on-black crime.” In this article, the mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu makes an effect to understand the root of this problem, of why African Americans are killing each other. The problem of race has been a continuous issue in America. New Orleans happens to be one of the top city in America with high rate of murder.
According to The University of Michigan's law education, African Americans are seven times more likely than white Americans to be falsely convicted of serious crimes due to their race (law.umich.edu). Bryan Stevenson who is a human rights lawyer and author wrote the memoir by the name of Just Mercy. This piece focuses on the idea that the criminal justice system is discriminatory. In this memoir, he defends and fights for citizens to protect their rights as a person. Bryan Stevenson beautifully utilizes strong word choice, repetition, and emotional appeal to emphasize and persuade the readers that the efforts to fight institutional cruelty and raise the most vulnerable to a “higher ground” is what matters most.
The Plague of the United States era, society is insistently assured by police and their apologist, is not the extensive abuse and other frequent misconduct by law enforcements officers, but the expanding “disrespect for authority” that is being encouraged by “liberals” and those more extensive individuals called “libertarians” The widespread media coverage of police brutality has become too common within our societies everyday life, thus causing destruction of the communities trust. Savage treatment is continually afflicted among African Americans as a replacement form of punishment. A substantial number of casualties of police brutality are African Americans, for instance during August 9th within a house of Brooklyn, an African American
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
The number of shootings involving law enforcement officers and unarmed African American men has increased in the United States in recent months to the point where there is social unrest in one particular community: the African-American community. Groups such as Black Lives Matter have been created in the recent past to create tranquility between the police and the people of the Unites States. If media accounts of these incidents are accurate and these recent trends are taken together, the country is on the tipping point of a deadly unprecedented racial divide. It is safe to say that the majority of Americans would agree that the Civil Rights Movement achieved many of its goals, most would also agree that racism and racial profiling
Introduction Attention Getter: According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, “One in three black men can expect to go to prison in their lifetime” (Kerby 1). Bridge: People of color are going to prison at a drastically high rate for something they may or may not have done. Introduction of Topic: Racial profiling is happening all around the country and it is violating the rights and equality of African Americans.
“The more things change, the more they remain the same”. While many Americans feel like the years of enslavement in the United States are a thing of the past. Most do not realize the harsh reality that minorities are faced with on a daily due to the color of their skin. It isn’t that the American people are turning their cheeks to this injustice, but rather, they just aren’t aware that in some cities and towns minorities are racially profiled and subjected to harsher punishments than those of their white counterparts. According to an article posted on American Progress, one in every fifteen African American men and one in every thirty-six Hispanic men are incarcerated in comparison to one in every one hundred and six white men.
“Of those students, black and Hispanic students made up more than 70 percent.” (Washington Post) The deaths of Freddie Gray, Trayvon Martin and John Brown and the outrage these cases stirred, proves that racism does exist in the criminal justice system. Therefore, to prevent racial disparity in the criminal justice system it is crucial that America steps up in changing the way that officers respond to a victim of another race, reducing discriminatory mindsets, and lessening the victimizing that is set on these other groups of people.
When an individual commits a crime, the police make an arrest, the defendant stands trial in court and, if convicted, the judge sentences the defendant to prison (corrections) where he or she is required to serve the sentence. Although racial discrimination is viewed as morally wrong, several studies on racial disparity in the criminal justice system conclude that African-Americans are affected by such discrimination. The race industry and its elite enablers take it as self-evident that high black incarceration rates result from discrimination. In 2006, blacks were 37.5 percent of all state and federal prisoners, though they’re under 13 percent of the national population. About one in 33 black men were in prison in 2006, compared with one in 205 white men and one in 79 Hispanic men.
In America, criminal justice has been an issue for generations. People are convicted of crimes and their convictions are oftentimes based on their race and/or social status. Unfortunately, it is a reality that the criminal justice system privileges those who are “rich and guilty rather than if they are poor and innocent. Many African American men and women have suffered due to this. In the book Just Mercy and the movie 13th, both sources give great examples of how the criminal justice system continues to overlook the truth to keep black Americans incarcerated.
Police Brutality in America and the 1990s The legal system in the United States has been broken since it’s inception, disproportionately attacking, and punishing anyone who is not white. As the country grew, improving, growing prosperous, the broken system continued its work. One result of this broken system is police brutality, and overstepping of police power. In fact, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, of the black people questioned, 70% said they felt they were unfairly treated when dealing with police.