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Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System
Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System
Racial Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System
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counted, I count the holes they leave. (Smith 34) It shows that every time there would be always an incident where blacks are the victim and some of them die without committing justice. Moreover, an example that I would analyze is “Not an elegy for Mike Brown.” Smith states: “You get when you are looking at your child, turn your head, then, poof, no more child. That feeling that’s black.” (Smith 21) It explains that the incident that blacks experiencing are also passed down to their children because people will also judge them as one of ordinary blacks where people judge their skin color. It also shows that blacks are always experiencing the same pain over and over again as a child and as they grow old. In “Citizen” and “Black Movie” discusses …show more content…
Even though they are innocent, blacks still get arrested in the most part of cases. The difference between these two authors are how they portray the messages of racism where Rankine shows it through images and artwork while Smith shows it through deep and powerful poems. For example, Rankine shows an image of “stop-and-frisk” policy where it shows that cops still stopped and questioned blacks even though they are not doing anything wrong. The reason why the cops stopped them is because of their skin color and the cops think that blacks always do suspicious things. All these African Americans are always the victims of suspicious crimes as it shows in the images. In addition, Smith expresses his emotions through poems, such as A History of Violence in the Hood, Dear White America and Dinosaurs in the Hood. In “A History of Violence in the Hood,” Smith writes: “& the preview just keeps repeating over & over.” It shows that history of violence for these African Americans never stop and the cycle keeps continuing where they always get arrested and questioned. In the end, they are always seen as a dangerous person and these people do not commit justice and fair treatment because of how the society treats them. In “Dear White America, “ Smith states: “I …show more content…
According to the article of “Racism and denial of racism: Dealing with the academy and the field” by Greenhill and Marshall, they state that racism is still part of our life and in society because of the history and the ongoing incidents. They state residents ' group singing of Stephen Foster 's "Old Black Joe" at a retirement home in Altona, Manitoba, on December 31, 2009: “ Where are the hearts once so happy and so free? The children so dear that I held upon my knee, Gone to the shore where my soul has longed to go. I hear their gentle voices calling “Old Black Joe.” (Greenhill and Marshall 12) This song indicates that where is the society that we are longing for where people are free and happy to do things without fear, injustice and bad vibes with each other. It shows reminiscing where people have freedom, equality and justice without stepping down one’s dignity. In the poem of “From Summer, Somewhere” by Danez Smith, Smith writes: “You are not welcome here. Trust the trip will kill you. go home. we earned this paradise by a death we didn’t deserve.” (Smith) This shows that blacks are not welcome in this society because of the past histories and ongoing issues that are related to them and all of these injustices that their brothers did not commit are insane and their brothers do not deserve it.
In the article, “A Letter My Son,” Ta-Nehisi Coates utilizes both ethical and pathetic appeal to address his audience in a personable manner. The purpose of this article is to enlighten the audience, and in particular his son, on what it looks like, feels like, and means to be encompassed in his black body through a series of personal anecdotes and self-reflection on what it means to be black. In comparison, Coates goes a step further and analyzes how a black body moves and is perceived in a world that is centered on whiteness. This is established in the first half of the text when the author states that,“white America’s progress, or rather the progress of those Americans who believe that they are white, was built on looting and violence,”
“’One nigger down and eight to go’.. (page 150),” segregationists chanted while the Little Rock Nine heard while leaving school. This illustrates the verbal harassment and mistreatment that the group had to go through during the school year. But it was also a reminder that they had to be strong and make it through. “The boys had been taunting her, sticking their feet in the aisle to trip her, kicking her, and calling her names.. (page 149)” White people had believed African-Americans were beneath them, consequently the other students at Central High bullied Minnijean. This quote shows that, and also gives the reader an
At the beginning of the book, Coates wrote about how growing up in a community that was hostile against African Americans was like. “The streets transform every ordinary day into a series of trick questions, and every incorrect answer risks a beat-down, a shooting, or a pregnancy. No one survives unscathed. And yet the heat that springs from the constant danger, from a lifestyle of near-death experience, is thrilling.” Coates was always “on guard” as a kid, for he feared that if he spoke or even have the slightest chance of expressing the feeling of dissatisfaction both the streets and the police will seek trouble. There were too many examples at that time that showed Coates physical harm
Toni Morrison and bell hooks share the same views on how white America envisions blacks. In bell hooks' essays " Seduction and Betrayal" and " Sorrowful Black Death is Not a Hot Ticket" she focuses in on the portrayal of African Americans on the big screen. In "Seduction and Betrayal" hooks uses Spike Lee's Crooklyn to demonstrate how invaluable the life of a black person is. In " Sorrowful Black Death Is Not a Hot Ticket" she claims the Bodyguard and The Crying Game illustrate the notion that blacks, especially black females, are inferior to whites. In Toni Morrison's introduction to Birth of a Nation'hood , she suggests these same views by looking at the O.J. Simpson case. Through the use of these movies and courtcases, hooks and Morrison suggest that blacks are viewed as worthless, violent criminals, who are subordinate to the white race.
Ranikine’s addresses the light upon the failed judicial systems, micro aggressions, pain and agony faced by the black people, white privilege, and all the racial and institutional discrimination as well as the police brutality and injustice against the blacks; The book exposes that, even after the abolition of slavery, how the racism still existed and felt by the colored community in the form of recently emerged ‘Micro aggressions in this modern world’. Claudia Rankine’s Citizen explores the daily life situations between blacks and whites and reveals how little offensive denigrating conversations in the form of micro-aggressions were intentionally conveyed to the black people by the whites and how these racial comments fuel the frustrations and anger among the blacks. She gathered the various incidents, where the black people suffered this pain. This shows the white’s extraordinary powers to oppress the black community and the failure of the legal system Rankine also shares the horrible tragedy of Hurricane Katrina experienced by the black community, where they struggled for their survival before and post the hurricane catastrophes.
The transition of being a black man in a time just after slavery was a hard one. A black man had to prove himself at the same time had to come to terms with the fact that he would never amount to much in a white dominated country. Some young black men did actually make it but it was a long and bitter road. Most young men fell into the same trappings as the narrator’s brother. Times were hard and most young boys growing up in Harlem were swept off their feet by the onslaught of change. For American blacks in the middle of the twentieth century, racism is another of the dark forces of destruction and meaninglessness which must be endured. Beauty, joy, triumph, security, suffering, and sorrow are all creations of community, especially of family and family-like groups. They are temporary havens from the world''s trouble, and they are also the meanings of human life.
Staples successfully begins by not only admitting the possible faults in his practiced race but also by understanding the perspective of the one who fear them. Black males being opened to more violence because of the environment they're raised in are labeled to be more likely to cause harm or committing crime towards women but Staples asks why that issue changes the outlook of everyday face to face contact and questions the simple actions of a black man? Staples admits, "women are particularly vulnerable to street violence, and young black males are drastically overrepresented among the perpetrators of that violence," (Staples 384) however...
Touching upon one specific case of this growing problem, she incorporates “Michael Brown,” who was an “18-year old unarmed black man shot down by a white police officer.” As heartbreaking as it sounds, it has happened on several occasions to men similar to “Michael Brown.” Accordingly, Myers formulates that it “is the same story. It is just different names.” Myers logically lists the other names of several black men who unfortunately fell victim to hate crimes, (Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin), as well as flashing their images on the screen. Not only does Verna Myers use imagery in order to show that there is an evident issue with brutality and racism, but she knows it will tug on her viewers heartstrings. Likewise, this makes her audience become wary and sympathetic towards the situation at
Leon Litwack’s Trouble in Mind paints an extensive picture of life for black southerners in, and after, the Jim Crow era. Litwack takes the reader through the journey of a black youth, then slowly graduates to adulthood. As the chapters progress, so do the gruesome details. The reader is exposed to the horrors of this life slowly, then all at once. The approach Litwack utilizes is important, because he needs the reader to stick with him even through the tough chapters. By utilizing firsthand accounts of raw, emotional experiences, Litwack successfully communicated the daily struggles of black southerners in the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century South.
Therefore, Morrison beings to bring to light the effects violence was having on the individuals who saw these atrocities happening in their community, but believed justice could only be served by perpetrating those same violent acts that were done to them against their oppressors. In turn, Morrison writes, “What that means is that a black man is a victim of a crime only when a white man says he is. Only then. If there was anything like or near justice and courts when a cracker kills a Negro, there wouldn’t have to be no Seven Days. But there ain’t; so we are.”(160). As a result, when Morrison utilizes the spondee “black man,” which enhances the connotation of the word “victim,” she has used the character Guitar as a representation of the views an individual of color had when it came America’s court system. Thus, Guitar signifies the justice that the black community was hoping to experience after de-segregation, but unfortunately never received due to racism still thriving in America. Therefore, it’s within this Chapter that we see the character Guitar represent a battle between fighting for justice, and the psychological effects racism had on the way some of the members of the black community thought justice should be served within America. Which in turn, fueled an individual of color to commit violent acts against their oppressors. The alliteration in the words “cracker kills” intensifies the hateful tone to the connotation of the word “Negro.” Additionally, the connotation of the words “justice” and “courts” adds an ominous image to the spondee “Seven Days.” Further, illustrating that the destructive nature found within racism had unfortunately turned those individuals of color who sought justice for their community into oppressors by believing that justice and violence are one in the
In “Citizens: An American Lyric” by Claudia Rankine the audience is placed in a world where racism strongly affects the daily American cultural and social life. In this world we are put as the eyewitnesses and victims, the bystanders and the participants of racial encounters that happen in our daily lives and in the media, yet we have managed to ignore them for the mere fact that we are accustomed to them. Some of these encounters may be accidental slips, things that we didn’t intend to say and that we didn’t mean yet they’ve managed to make it to the surface. On the other hand we have the encounters that are intentionally offensive, things said that are
When I was a sophomore in high school the first black family moved into a house just outside of Plymouth, where I grew up, and I recall my parents telling us that we should “stay away from their kind”. As a teenager I did not pay much attention, the children were younger than I was, I certainly did not have any reason to seek them out, so I didn’t. I do always remember that conversation with my parents, mostly because I did not quite understand why we should stay away from them. After graduation I moved to Appleton to attend school, this was my first personal experience with a person of color.... ... middle of paper ... ...
In “Black Men in Public Spaces” the author talks about multiply situation where he was treated different for being an African American. Staples said,” I entered a jewelry store on the city’s affluent near North side. The proprietor excused herself and returned with an enormous red Doberman pinscher straining at the end of a leash” (161.) Then there is “Right Place, Wrong Face, which is focused on and African American man that is wrongly accused of a crime because of his race. White said, “I was searched, stripped of my backpack, put on my knees, handcuffed, and told to be quieted when I tried to ask questions” (229.) The two articles have many similarities. Both articles have two educated African America men who get treated different because of their race. Staples and White both have situations where they are being stereotyped by society because there black
A main theme in this novel is the influence of family relationships in the quest for individual identity. Our family or lack thereof, as children, ultimately influences the way we feel as adults, about ourselves and about others. The effects on us mold our personalities and as a result influence our identities. This story shows us the efforts of struggling black families who transmit patterns and problems that have a negative impact on their family relationships. These patterns continue to go unresolved and are eventually inherited by their children who will also accept this way of life as this vicious circle continues.
Brent Staples focuses on his own experiences, which center around his perspective of racism and inequality. This perspective uniquely encapsulates the life of a black man with an outer image that directly affects how others perceive him as a person. Many readers, including myself, have never experienced the fear that Staples encounters so frequently. The severity of his experiences was highlighted for me when he wrote, “It also made it clear that I was indistinguishable from the muggers who occasionally seeped into the area from the surrounding ghetto.” (135) Having to accept that fact as a reality is something that many people will never understand. It is monumentally important that Staples was able to share this perspective of the world so others could begin to comprehend society from a viewpoint different from their