Topic: police-brutality

Michelle Alexander’s lecture put this in perspective so eloquently and precisely. She stated “what has changed since the collapse of Jim Crow has less to do with the basic structure of our society, than the language we use to justify it” meaning that we can no longer discriminate against someone because of their race. The criminal justice system however, is able to keep blacks in bondage by a different means of slavery (legalized slavery). She spoke about some very disturbing statistics related to blacks and the criminal justice system. There are currently more black men incarcerated now than there were enslaved back in the days of slavery. How is this possible? There are a few reasons for this. First, blacks are targeted by police officers on a much larger scale than whites which leads to their arrests for both minor and major offenses. Second, a lot of black felons get caught up in the system at a young age which is reflected in a study conducted in 2010 which shows the percentage of youth in the prison system being extremely high. Once there is a felony record present, it is difficult to get back into regular society because they are tarnished at that point. Third, police presence is often higher in low-income areas which leads to more arrests connected to drug crimes. Rates of drug sales/use are the same for both blacks and whites, but whites are just not caught as often because they will go under the radar leaving blacks as the victims of targeting. Once a black person has gone to jail and served their time, the release process is no better than the way they were first placed in jail. Convicted felons are not able to find jobs or housing easily because of their records. This stays with them for many years after release which then leads them back down the same path that started the criminal activities for them in the first place. These issues put a lot of strain on the black community; there are many black people raising children on their own and barely able to provide for the household because one parent has been through the system. In fact, blacks have the highest percentage of single-parent households amongst all races. In addition, out of 2 million prisoners, 66% of them are black. We also see that “race is the most significant variable in whether or not a defendant is sentenced to death” which is heartbreaking since there are a lot of cases where the person is not even guilty, but they were simply on trial because of their race. Because of these issues, there is very little promise for a reformed lifestyle for many blacks being released from jail. The media exacerbates the problem by publicizing blacks in a negative manner most of the time. News outlets are even notified ahead of time if there is a scheduled arrest or a prisoner release from jail. It is less likely that you’ll see a black person on the news for something positive they have done for their community, but will more often see the crimes that have been committed. One additional point that should be noted is that of “racial hoaxing.” This is where a black person is falsely identified as the guilty party in a crime. There are countless stories about how black people are used as the scapegoats in witness statements, but one in particular stood out and was extremely troubling. The first was Susan Smith who in 1994 told police that she had been a victim of carjacking by a young black male who had kidnapped her two sons that were in the backseat. She later revealed that she had drowned her sons and had lied about a black male taking her car. This was perceived by the people of South Carolina as “typical” behavior of a black male because of the violent nature of the crime that was allegedly committed.