Black White Group Dichotomy

The criminal justice system in the United States seek to create equality for all its citizens under the law, however, existing systems give advantage to some groups over others. Systemic bias, along with prejudice and generalization, has created division among groups in many social issues. Uncovering disparities between various group interactions is crucial in addressing long standing social issues; this is a good first step at fixing these issues. This paper will analyze the U.S criminal justice system’s treatment of normative white groups over ethnic minorities through privilege, in areas of race, gender, and social class, to show the results of such interactions.

Before going any further however, it is important to understand what normative

Prior and Jones state, “normative privilege, occurs when the standard for evaluation reflects and maintains the already existing privilege of the more powerful group…this power dynamic, we have a tendency to focus on only one portion of the dichotomy when discussing difference” (2017, p. 13). There are huge differences in how individuals are treated based on their ethnicity within the criminal justice system. Media outlets also perpetuate existing gaps with unfair treatment of non-whites by law enforcement; statistics show that minority groups are at a disadvantage when dealing with the criminal justice system. In the article, “Black–White Disparities in Criminal Justice Referrals to Drug Treatment,” it states, “Black–White disparities in criminal justice processing linked to drugs are noteworthy. In 2010, for example, Blacks were 2.6 times more likely than Whites to be arrested for drug possession in the U.S. (Blacks = 7.0 per 1000 population, Whites = 3.7” (McElrath, Taylor, Tran, 2016, p. 2). This is a prime example of how individuals in the normative group hold privileges over the justice

Module 1 describes privilege, “a right or advantage that some people/group have that other people/groups do not have. Privileges may be earned or unearned by individuals, families, or groups of people” (2017). Furthermore, Prior and Jones point out privilege can be earned or unearned and can be difficult to understand if they themselves do not experience it (p.6). Unearned privilege can be someone who is born into a family that is rich, whereas, earned privilege may be someone coming from a poor background gaining their wealth through hard work. The individual born into a wealthy family is at an advantage because their family ties may already have close relations in succeeding. The person who is poor must strive to earn the same level of privilege because their family is not accredited. This relates to the criminal justice system because people with money tend to have more privileges in disputing cases, and overcoming crimes accused against them. Those who lack money cannot pay for high end representation, and are less likely to dispute cases because they lack the resources to do so. White privilege is described in the article, “White privilege: Unpacking the invisible knapsack,” as “an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks…whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are