Racial Discrimination And Prejudice In The Criminal Justice System

Improved Essays
More recently, in today's history, it seems as if our criminal justice system is full of racial discrimination and prejudices. Despite some of the evidence presented by researchers on this topic, I do not fully agree that this type of racism exists in our justice system. The majority of our criminal demographics is full of black crimes, but I do not believe this is because of any unjust treatment or negligence.
I believe our african-american community is more likely to be arrested and charged because of the differences in social and economic standpoints compared to those of the Caucasian community. Neither one of the communities is better than the other, socially or economically, but statistics tend to show that the less privileged tend to

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Mass incarceration among the African American community is a problem, and this article provides the necessary information needed to convince the audience of the issues in our criminal justice system. Alexander uses quite a few appeals of logic in her article to strengthen her argument. The evidence throughout this essay ranges from court cases to published studies and statistical data. A very large statistic that would boggle anyone’s mind is; the United States only has 312 million people, yet we make up 25% of the world’s prison population.…

    • 465 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Color of Justice: Race, Ethnicity, and Crime in America. Belmont: Wadsworth Pub., 1996. Print. Some people may argue against the Criminal Justice System being racist, some may agree with it. These authors stand middle ground but decided the system does stray towards people of color on certain occasions.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Institutional racism, poverty, and the unequal punishment among African American's in urban inner-city communities across the country, continues to be an unfortunate contribution to the increasingly higher rate of incarceration of black men in America.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    This paper is going to explore the complex issues involving law enforcement’s often unfair treatment of African Americans and the effects it has. My intention is to explore the unfair application of laws, arrest and incarcerations rates, and sentencing disparities between races. Racial disparities have recently been thrust into the spotlight in the United States after a series of controversial instances where the African American community felt that justice was not served and that the justice system itself was biased against them. Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, and Michael Brown chief among these cases.…

    • 1501 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racial disparities are very common in the United States criminal justice system for a long time. African-Americans are imprisoned in proportions six times higher than whites, and three percent of all African-American males are currently incarcerated in a state or federal prison. There are many causes that explain racial disparities in prison, including practices to combat drug trafficking. For example, whites and African-Americans commit drug offenses at comparable levels, but the rates of arrest, prosecution and imprisonment for these crimes are vastly different.…

    • 241 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Inequalities In America

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Black men are constantly seen as criminals in a justice system that is stacked against them. When a white man and a black man commit similar crimes, the black man is typically put away for 20 years longer than the white man (Jarecki). African Americans are incarcerated six times more than white people are (Jarecki). One of the major reasons that the rate of African American incarceration is so high is because of the war on drugs. 5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites (Jarecki).…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Considering the achievements, and advancements African Americans and Hispanics conveyed, they are still dubbed as second class citizens and through the eyes of the White superiors should receive longer prison sentences, and punishment due to the findings of data which puts their minority group at a high rate of incarceration. In addition, as noted in the above-mentioned subject matter, one can reason that racial disparity in the U.S criminal justice system is considerable, a social issue confronting our public. Most minority groups such as African Americans, and Hispanics encounter the erroneous outcomes of this issue. Accordingly, should greater attempts be made to stop this ongoing issue within minority communities by all race groups, and those working within the system could support the Black and Hispanic populace from encountering disparity in…

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Another way the system is just and fair is how it is not racist against others. Back before the civil rights movement there was racism on blacks. There was also racism on women and other minorities. That has changed over the years. There are still times where you will come across one person in the criminal justice system that is a racist.…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The criminal justice system in the United States has increasingly targeted people of color, more specifically African Americans, for crimes that they may have not committed. A huge number of incarcerated African Americans have been wrongfully convicted within the past 20 years. Through the creation of the national police force in 1893, African Americans have had a target on their back. Ever since the establishment of Jim Crows Laws in the 1890s through “separate but equal,” racism has been prominent in society. Through systematic racism, many Americans assume that Africans Americans are more likely to be engaging in criminal activity.…

    • 1996 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racial Disparity In Criminal Justice Essay

    • 1737 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 5 Works Cited

    These are acknowledgement of the cumulative nature of racial disparities, encouragement of communication across the key players in all steps of the system, knowing what works at one step of the system may not always work in another, and working together towards a systemic change. The issue of racial disparity builds at each stage of the criminal justice system from arrest through prosecution and sentencing rather than the actions of one particular level of the system. In order to tackle the unwarranted disparity there are strategies that are needed in order to tackle the problem at each individual level of the system and this will need to be done in a coordinated and strategic way. Without a systemic approach to the problem gains in one level may be offset by reversals of another level. Each decision point and area of the system requires their own unique strategies depending upon the degrees of disparity and the specific population in which is affected by the actions of that level.…

    • 1737 Words
    • 7 Pages
    • 5 Works Cited
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Though open discrimination has lessened in the criminal justice system over time, currently we continue to fight unfairness in the justice system. There are still racial and ethnic disparities that persist in the criminal justice world in the United States. Thanks to the work of W.E.B. Dubois on race and criminality, researchers have made great strides in figuring the causes and consequences of racial/ethical disparities in criminal justice…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Racial disparities in the criminal justice system threaten communities of color. With thousands being denied equal access to employment, limited voting rights, unaffordable housing, public benefits, and education. African American are deemed as criminals such that the law enforcers are always keen to arrest them. It is shocking to realize that some African American go to prison for crimes they didn’t participate in, simply because white man was involved. Hattery & Smith (2014) found on an average, over a million African American men are imprisoned, and many more are in prison or under some sort of supervision from the criminal justice system.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System African American men are facing hard factors when it comes to law enforcement. Police officers and black male relationships have reached their peak of who is more afraid of the other. Racial disparities have been found in the criminal justice system and to this day are still widespread in pretrial incarceration, stop and frisk, charging, jury selection, arrests, court processing, probation, and incarceration in prison and jails.…

    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The criminal justice system is supposed to be a fair system. However, many argue that it is a flawed system. The criminal justice system is flawed because there aren’t enough minorities working in this field. The criminal justice system needs to be fair to everyone regardless of their background. If this problem is resolved, the criminal justice system will take a step in the right direction.…

    • 878 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Criminal Justice System Is Racist In 2010 the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that African-Americans received 10% longer sentences than whites through the federal system for the same crimes (11 Facts About Racial Discrimination). The criminal justice system has created and perpetuated a racial hierarchy in the United States. Some Americans are unaware of mass incarceration numbers and racism that occurs in the criminal justice system. Also, African-Americans are criminalized and targeted because of their skin color. It is easy to see that the Criminal Justice System is racist and biased because of high minority incarceration rates, several instances of racial discrimination, and a lack of juries that include minority "peers."…

    • 1811 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays