Racism Essay Example: The Criminal System Discrimination Towards African-Americans

The criminal system of today is known for displaying a significant amount of prejudice. This is mostly seen in African American citizens. Research presents that “African-American adults are 5.9 times as likely to be incarcerated than whites and Hispanics are 3.1 times as likely.” Furthermore, “as of 2001, one of every three black boys born in that year could expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as could one of every six Latinos—compared to one of every seventeen white boys.” Racism first existed in the colonial era, white Americans were given the privilege of education, voting rights, citizenship, land acquisition, etc, whereas others like Jews, Arabs, Irish and Italians faced discrimination in many forms. African Americans began facing racial discrimination when Europeans first enslaved Africans in the Atlantic Slave trade.

However, this changed over time due to, the steps toward the abolishment of slaves. Although, slavery was abolished, Blacks still faced racial discrimination and still in today's society. Racism is a serious issue in the Criminal Justice System. In the criminal system young and old of all races are exposed to racism. Due to this, people of different ethnicity aren’t given many opportunities in life like others. The U.S. settles conflicts within society through the use of a court system; however the government has taken many precautions to limit the likelihood of bias or unfair ruling, therefore the criminal justice system is statistically proven to be faulty.

The criminal justice system is the set of offices and process built by governments to control wrongdoing and force punishments on those who abuse the law. The criminal system in the United states is one of the largest in the world. The criminal justice system works by being made up of 3 major institutions, which include a case from inception, through trail, and to punishment. Although, the criminal justice system works in this fairly manner, individuals of different ethnicity are more likely to be involved with the criminal justice than those of who are white, people of color face longer sentences than whites for similar crimes, in traffic stops people of color are more likely to be searched than whites, student of color face harsher punishments than whites, and people of color are over represented in the juvenile system. ( need citation)

The criminal system is displays a consequential amount of prejudice because statically proven people of color makeup more than 60% of the people behind bars. In 2016, the Black youth accounted for 15% of the U.S children in juvenile arrest out of the 35%. Furthermore, of the 227,000 people imprisoned nationally, over half are of Black or Hispanic ethnicity. Although, Blacks and Hispanics make up 29% of the United States population, they compromise 57% of the United States criminal population.  In 2016, African Americans were imprisoned in local jails at a rate of 3.5 times that of non- Hispanic Whites. This is due to most trials not being diverse and American Whites overestimating the extent of wrongdoing committed by Blacks and Latinos, disregard the reality that communities of color are excessively casualties of crimes, and rebate the predominance of prejudice in the criminal justice system. In addition, the criminal system is biased against the criminal system. 

What studies show

Numerous studies have shown that African Americans receive longer sentences than White Americans for committing the same crime. African Americans receive 20 percent more of federal prison sentencing than the average. The inequality of Blacks and Whites has increased significantly over the years. What’s driving these disparities is the Judges are more likely to overlook the sentence of a White American than an African American. In addition, judges are inclined to reduce the White offenders sentence more than the Black offender. This is due to some white judges coping to see potential in young African Americans.  For instance, Allen Peters a young White American and Jaquavis Sturgis a young African American who are both 17 and have criminal records, robbed stores in the Lee county of the state Florida, as a result, Peter's got probation, where as the criminal Jaquavis Sturgis got 4 years in prison.

Another case is Brock Turner and Cory Batley who are both college athletes and sexually assaulted unconscious women, as a result of their punishments, Turner who is of white ethnicity was released after serving three months of a six month sentence and Batley who is of black ethnicity served a minimum of 15 years of prison. From analyzing these different cases, racial discrimination was definitely faced and it proves that the justice system presents a great amount of prejudice. In the use of Marijuana in 2010 Blacks were 3.7 times more inclined to be detained for marijuana possession than whites, although their usage of marijuana was certainly comparable. Moreover,  research presents that “For drug crimes disparities are especially severe, due largely to the fact that blacks are nearly four times as likely as whites to be arrested for drug offenses and 2.5 times as likely to be arrested for drug possession. This is despite the evidence that whites and blacks use drugs at roughly the same rate.”

The government has taken many precautions to limit the likelihood of bias or unfair ruling. Small studies have shown that the criminal system is not racist. According to non biased racial studies, racial biased never totally take into consideration all of the true components that decide how a case is taken care of. Subsequently, these unmeasured variables might clarify a racial disparity in the event that the components are ones on which the races vary.  However, there are numerous studies that also present how the criminal system is racist and provides accurate statistics and cases to back their evidence. In most mass shootings, white Americans are passed as having mental issues.

Statistics prove that minorities receive longer punishments for the same crimes as a major criminal. For example, statistics show present that “Black men who killed white women were 30 times more likely to get the death penalty than black men who killed black men. “In 2005, black women were more than three times as likely as white women to be incarcerated in prison or jail, and Hispanic women 69% more likely.”  In addition, colored people are more likely to be accused of a crime due to their background, for instance their economic statuses and how they are perceived in society by the media. In society Black people are viewed upon as criminals, inferior, violent and tribal. However, young African Americans live in fear in their  everyday lives, due to the numerous deaths occurring in the Black community.

Throughout their lives young African Americans are surrounded by hardships, which include poverty, violence and witnessing neighborhood violence. Rebecca S. Katz, Ph.D., a professor of sociology,  social work and criminology interviewed numerous people of color and found that each African American or man of color reported that they’ve experienced racism in the prison system, by correctional officers, within communities by white residents, and most came from police officers.