Capital Punishment is Too Lenient for Sick and Vile Criminals
I always considered the death penalty as an issue which I never had to
concern myself with. First of all I'm not
planning to commit any vial crimes, and I don't think anyone I care about has
evil plans either. Secondly, I've never been conscious or concerned with the
lives of criminals. When we began speaking on the subject, I thought we were
only going to talk about the institution of racism in capital punishment, and
was quite unaware of the feeling this subject would arouse in me. Needless to
say, I have formed some opinions on the issue which confused even me.
I always considered myself pro-capital punishment. I was of the mind
that if someone killed me, I would like my death avenged, but pondering on the
issue of cultural differences has made me doubt my prior convictions. First of
all, I am against the use of the lethal injection. I understand that it is
cleaner, but if the law wants to inflict death as a punishment, it must
understand that death is not a pretty thing. Criminals are painlessly put to
sleep, and die in the same manner that Dr. Kavorkian's patients choose.
Personally, if I was faced with the option of living the remainder of my life in
isolation, perpetually haunted by pain and images of terror, I would absolutely
chose to die by lethal injection. There is no true punishment in this method,
except the fear of going to hell, which I strongly doubt is of much concern to
most convicts on death row.
Assuming that the judicial processes which convict these individuals
are legitimate, the only common bond within this group is that they are all
mortal, and hold no respect for human life. These delinquents are on death row,
because they have committed a crime of such ghastly proportions, that society
has deemed them unfit to live. They deliberately and nonchalantly depraved
another human of their life. They emphatically partook in reprehensible malice
of inhuman dimensions, never bothered by their conscience. They are sick and
vile individuals who do not acknowledge social conventions such as religion and
the law. They have broken the law, and in leaving it they removed themselves
from the protection of the law. The 8th Amendment should no longer apply to
these sick dements who deserve none of my compassion. Yet, the bleeding hearts
continue to defend them and oppose capital punishment because it is too cruel.
In an article in the Chicago Tribune, the Roman Catholic church vented its
“I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group,” Peggy McIntosh wrote in her article White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. Too often this country lets ignorance be a substitute for racism. Many believe that if it is not blatant racism, then what they are doing is okay. Both the video and the article show that by reversing the terms, there is proof that racism is still very existent in this world. By looking into A Class Divided and White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack along with their ability to broaden the cultural competence, once can see how race is still very prominent in our culture.
The whole system of racism is beneficial to white people in ways that Peggy McIntosh proposes in her article “White Privilege: The Invisible Knapsack”, whether it was done unintentionally or intentionally. In this article she states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (McIntosh 351). Dr. Tatum does understand though that blacks cannot be racists for they are in a oppressed state and are just caught up in the historical and standardized ideals of racial prejudice. She states “They know how to be black. They have absorbed the stereotypical images of black youth in the popular culture and are reflecting those images in their self-presentation” (Tatum
Lately, it would be difficult to find a person who speaks in the elaborate way that nearly all of Shakespeare’s characters do; we do not describe “fortune” as “outrageous” or describe our obstacles as “slings and arrows,” neither in an outward soliloquy or even in our heads. Lately, people do not declare their goals in the grandiose fashion that members of royal family of Thebes proclaim their opposing intentions: Antigone’s to honor her brother and Kreon’s to uphold his decree. Lately, people do not all speak in one unified dialect, especially not one that belongs specifically to the British upper class; Jack and Algernon’s dialogue is virtually identical, excepting content. Unlike the indistinguishably grandiose, elaborate, fancy way characters speak in Shakespeare’s plays, Antigone, The Importance of Being Earnest, and other plays written before the turn of the twentieth century, more recently written plays contain dialogue that is more unique to its speaker. This unique dialogue indicates a change in the sort of characters which drama focuses on which came with a newly developed openness to those who are different from us. Moving away from recounting tales of nobility, royalty or deities brought the lives of a common, heterogeneous populace to the stage and, with these everyday stories, more varied speech patterns.
In chapter 5 of Images of color, images of crime author Peggy McIntosh refers to White privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that can count on cashing in each day, but about which 'meant' to remain oblivious. White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks. It is apparent that white people receive unearned advantages and benefits that are not accessible to people of color. In fact, how can someone even question that the fact that people of color are treated differently than Whites, when African Americans constitute a significant portion of individuals who are incarcerated today. Here is an example of an experience that I had a few years ago that made me realize that I was treated differently because I was not white. I worked at the Ymca for about three years at a summer camp, which was predominantly white. I loved working there, but I kept to myself because I was treated differently from my co-workers. In fact, the white individuals that I worked with would constantly ma...
In the play The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, Petrucio recognizes, respects and desires Katherine’s strength of character. Petrucio is a clever man who sees beyond facades because he uses them himself. (II, i 46) (II, I 283 - 89) He is stimulated by Katherine’s sharp tongue and harsh actions. He proves this many times throughout the play.
There is another approach to change management that is often used throughout successful organizations, which is the Lewin approach. In understanding Lewin’s approach to change management is an essence a three step process. First, leadership should ensure that employees understand and are ready for the change. Second, executing the intended change that an organization desires, and third, ensuring that the change becomes permanent (CSU-Global, 2016, p. 3). For example, let us say that an organization needs to implement a new method of tracking sales, but currently the organization’s method of tracking sales is based off a tally system monitored by individual salespersons. Ultimately, what the organization is looking for is an efficient and effective way to track sales without placing the burden and responsibility on individual salespersons. Thus, the organization needs to identify and clearly communicate the need for change and what exactly needs to change (unfreeze), secondly, the organization needs to implement the change with information, training, and support (change), finally, solidifying the change to ensure that is becomes the norm for the organization (refreeze). Organizations need to inspire change before change can occur within the confinement of its own
There is one simple reason why I support the death penalty: because I do not want people who have committed senseless, malicious, violent crimes against innocent people to be allowed to remain in my society, locked-up or not. I want them to die for their sins.
While racism is usually more easily recognizable by way of comments, social isolation and stereotyping, there is another divide that many don’t recognize and that is white privilege. White privilege, also referred to as white skin privilege, is when white people are granted certain rights, privileges, positions, courtesies, etc.…over those of a different race. This is often seen in political, educational and social environments. This impacts social inequality by adding to the existing differences in social experiences and/or statuses that results in people having unequal access to valued resources, services, and positions in society (Kerbo, 2012). Throughout history white privilege has suppressed the advancement of African Americans.
I must admit that before I began taking this class I took for granted how much racism still exists in this country. I have started to put more thought in to the way the world really is, the topics discussed in class have started to catch my interest. When I first started reading the Tatum book I was mad when I read her version of the word “racism”. I thought to my self “I personally have never held down the black race, what does she mean?” As I progressed in the book I was starting to understand what she meant about the system of advantages that white people are given. I also understood this better when I read Elizabeth Munich’s list of examples of how there are advantages to being white. I couldn’t help agreeing with her argument based on what I have seen in my life so far. I have seen blacks harassed in stores and denied housing. At the time I simply felt it was too bad and forgot about it. According to Tatum I was practicing “passive racism” and I agree with her on that. I have never done anything to try and change the system and I do reap the advantages of being white whether or not I like it. I believe that reading this book has opened my eyes to how much racism still exists in this country that claims to uphold equal rights. Another argument that Tatum discusses is how everybody is prejudiced in one way or another. I also believe this is true, almost everyone I know has made a racist joke or laughed at one at least. I believe that this is because of th...
The media is a dominating aspect of American culture. The way the media depicts crime and criminal behavior has an affect on the way society views crime and criminals. Television series such as CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, Criminal Minds and countless others, have become very popular in our society today showing that our culture has an immense interest in crime. It is clear that there is a fascination with criminals and why they do the things they do. To analyze the way crime dramas represent crime and criminal behavior, I completed a content analysis of one episode of Criminal Minds. The episode I chose was season one; episode eight, which first aired in 2005, titled ‘Natural Born Killer’.
Media portrayal of crime and criminal justice has become incredibly widespread in the last decade, with crime often considered both a source of news and entertainment. As a source of entertainment, crime and criminal justice have emerged as central themes across various sources of media. Most individuals do not have any direct experience with the criminal justice system, so their only source of information on this topic is the media. Particularly in television shows, portrayals of crime and criminal justice can be seen in everything from courtroom dramas to nightly news programs. Indeed, the popularity of crime shows has lead to some of television’s most enduring series, such as Law and Order and CSI. Because of this, fictional
Why should the death penalty be abolished? The death penalty should be abolished because of many reasons. Many people believe the saying, 'an eye for an eye'. But when will people realize that just because someone may have killed a loved one that the best thing for that person is to die also. People don't realize that they are putting the blood of another person life on their hands. This makes them just as guilty as the person who committed the crime: the only difference is that they didn't use weapon except their mouth to kill them. The death penalty should be abolished because it is racist, punishes the poor, condemns those who are innocent to death, and is a cruel punishment.
Some even claim that it is cruel and unusual punishment. I would like to shed light on the issue and inform everyone as to why we should keep the death penalty and possibly even use it more than we do now. First of all, it is hard for anyone to argue that we already use the death penalty too much because facts say that we hardly use it at all. Since 1967, there has been one execution for every 1,600 murders. There have been approximately 560,000 murders and 358 executions between 1967 and 1996(UCR and BJS).
In higher education, diversity has many meanings and even more implications. The Encarta World English Dictionary defines diversity as, “social inclusiveness - ethnic variety, as well as socioeconomic and gender variety, in a group, society, or institution” (Soukhanov, 1999). As important as diversity is tolerance. Encarta World English Dictionary defines tolerance as, “acceptance of different views - the acceptance of the differing views of other people, e.g. in religious or political matters, and fairness toward the people who hold these different views” (Soukhanov, 1999). The following is a definition of diversity in higher education, description of the diversity of the students and staff of WGU, and how WGU addresses tolerance university-wide.
When remarking on the issue of capital punishment, Henry Ford was quoted as saying that “[c]apital punishment is as fundamentally wrong as a cure for crime as charity is wrong as a cure for poverty”(“Henry Ford”). His comment, while not saying that capital punishment and charity does not have the right idea about how to deal with the issues that plague societies, it does say that it does not properly address the issue so that it can be completely solved. While portrayed as the solution for to stop those thinking about committing serious offenses, this does not seemed to be the case at all. Capital punishment does not deter nor solve the issues that it is meant to deal with and instead creates more. In this paper, it will go over a brief history of capital punishment, the current state of capital punishment in the United States and what the outlook for it is.