Is The Judicial System Racist?
Introduction
In Britain today there are 55 million people, of this 5% are Afro
Caribbean, and 2% are Asian. This would mean the prison population
should be 2% Asian, and 25% Afro Caribbean, but it is not, the actual
figures are 13% Afro Caribbean and 7% Asian. Why is the prison
population not a reflection of the ethnicity of Britain? Is it because
of society, the police, or the actual ethnic group? To find out what
is the cause, I will carry out research of my own and use previously
obtained figures. The difficulties that I might run into while
carrying out my research are that figures that I collect may not be up
to date. Other difficulties that I will run into are that people will
not have answered truthfully as they do not want to be seen as the odd
one so go along with the majority of answers, or do not want to say
that they have committed crimes. Another problem will be that the
government figures separate the ethnic groups into 'Asian', 'White',
'Afro Caribbean' and 'Other' which means I will have to use those
categories to group people as well.
Secondary Research
Home Office figures
The Home Office figures show me that of the 55 million people in the
country 2% are Asian and 5 % are Afro Caribbean. Of the 2 million
people arrested 16% are Afro Caribbean, and 7% are Asian. Also the
figures show me that more then half (58%) of all Afro Caribbean
arrests come from the metropolitan police area. A reason for this
could be that when people emigrate from a foreign country they may not
speak the language or have any qualifications. When they arrive they
normally settle around their ow...
... middle of paper ...
...home office uses these. This limited my research too as I had to use
those 4 groups when I found information. I think I used enough
statistics and the questionnaire was of ample size. I believe I
explained my beliefs and the facts in a good combination to answer the
question 'Is the Judicial System Racist' And if I had to give an
answer I would say yes, but it is not so much racism as a combination
of other things with racism (in my mind) being the biggest part.
However it is not traditional racism as the Judicial Force does not
'hate' any race they just follow the stereotypes of their society and
they are that Afro Caribbean's commit the most crime, so they are
stopped more often, meaning they are arrested more often.
Bibliography
www.statistics.gov.uk
www.courseworkhelp.co.uk
www.homeoffice.gov.uk
Although, that could be true, racism is not a trait that is a part of a person’s DNA, it is something that is learned. For example, most people learn that there are only two genders while growing up. We understand this simple binary because it is reinforced by religion, girl and boy. Now in current times some people don’t understand the extended categories to what others identify as. It’s important to look at why this is the way that it is, most would agree that you should change but people resist change all the time.
When we as people watch the news or read our newspapers, we can see that most of the criminals committing crimes are of African American or Hispanic descent. Being a fan of true crime novels, they even depict more Black male criminals than White males. Are African American males committing more crimes than White males? What factors are involved for Blacks to be more involved in crime? How do African American stereotypes play a role with possible racial profiling from the policing force? Are Blacks treated fairly in the criminal justice system? After much research, I hope to answer these questions and determine if African Americans are the race that is really committing the most crime than Whites, and if racism inside the justice system plays a bigger role than we think.
This research essay discusses racial disparities in the sentencing policies and process, which is one of the major factors contributing to the current overrepresentation of minorities in the judicial system, further threatening the African American and Latino communities. This is also evident from the fact that Blacks are almost 7 times more likely to be incarcerated than are Whites (Kartz, 2000). The argument presented in the essay is that how the laws that have been established for sentencing tend to target the people of color more and therefore their chances of ending up on prison are higher than the whites. The essay further goes on to talk about the judges and the prosecutors who due to different factors, tend to make their decisions
The criminal justice system is united under one basic law body, in which no racism is present. Personal beliefs and anecdotes prove nothing, the criminal justice system isn’t racist. Although it may seem African Americans are highly discriminated upon in the justice system, there is ample amounts of data to prove otherwise. The criminal justice system is united under one basic law body, in which no racism is present. The system is not to blame for the racial differences found in the United States criminal justice system. The racial issues found in the system are due to inner city isolation and common crime patterns involving drugs even if it may seem as if the system is racist.
race can be compared to SES non-whites have a more negative view of how often
“…Everybody jumped on him, and beat him senseless… Everybody was hitting him or kicking him. One guy was kicking at his spine. Another guy was hitting him on the side of his face… he was unconscious. He was bleeding. Everybody had blood on their forearms. We ran back up the hill laughing… He should have died… He lost so much blood he turned white. He got what he deserved…” (Ridgeway 167). The skinheads who were beating this man up had no reason to do so except for the fact that he was Mexican. Racism in this day and age is still as big of a problem as it was in the past, and as long as hate groups are still around to promote violence, society is never going to grow to love one another.
Turner, Billy. 1986. “Race and Peremptory Challenges During Voir Dire: Do Prosecution and Defense Agree?” Journal of Criminal Justice 14: 61-69.
Many inequalities exist within the justice system that need to be brought to light and addressed. Statistics show that African American men are arrested more often than females and people of other races. There are some measures that can and need to be taken to reduce the racial disparity in the justice system.
Dating back to the beginning of times people have always been looked at different depending on the color of their skin or what your religion, race, or beliefs may be. It is in our human nature to not like people for certain things that they are. Many will argue that in this day in age we are no longer at a race war but how can you be so sure when you actually open your eyes and see reality. Rapper Kanye West once said “racism is still alive, they just be concealing it” and these words are everything but false. You must ask yourself the real question about racism and it is how could you ever cure such a thing in people’s minds? People are free to think and believe what ever they would like and old habits such as racism will never change in people.
Let’s start with the definition of racism. Racism refers to the belief that race is the primary determinant of human capacities, that a certain race is inherently superior or inferior to others, and/or that individuals should be treated differently based on their ascribed race.
Racism within the Justice System. Living in the twenty first century, Americans would like to believe that they are living in the land of the free, where anyone and everyone can live an ordinary life without worrying that they will be arrested on the spot for doing absolutely nothing. The sad truth, with the evidence to prove it, is that this American Dream is not all that it appears to be. It has been corrupted and continues to be, everyday, by the racism that is in the criminal justice system of America. Racism has perpetuated the corruption of the criminal justice system from the initial stop, the sentencing in court, all the way to the life of an inmate in the prison.
Racism comes in many forms ad can be expressed in many different societies in various ways. 1 The dictionary defines racism as the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races. This definition of racism makes it clear that it is a perceived point of view that implies prejudice towards people or a person based solely on their race. Racism has been an issue in many societies for many years and still is an issue in modern society. 2 Recently in the U.S. many cases of racism towards African Americans have been shown in the media. However racism is not just a U.S. culture based issue but also a cross-cultural issue
Is our justice system fair to all? Although the answer to this question is an opinion, there are pieces of evidence and commentary to defend this argument. The process of the legal system itself is all an opinion because in the end, the only person whose judgments matter is the judge himself. Over time, the wrong people have been arrested for the wrong things. Living in the United States, a country where crimes are committed constantly; we count on this system to make the right decisions. It is important that each case is treated equally when carrying out justice to keep the United States a safe place, to form a nation with good education, and to teach people from judging right from wrong. However, sometimes rights are taken from the wrong people. Our legal system is creating a dangerous path for African Americans in our country because of its’ highest per capita incarceration rate, its’ favoritism towards those in power, and its failure to carry out justice to protect people from the dangerous acts of those who are defined as criminals.
According to Roget's Super Thesaurus, racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, bigotry, bias, segregation, apartheid, intolerance, and white supremacy, (463). Throug...
Racism as a Common Problem in the 21st Century Racism has been a problem since the very first day that two men of different races met in the past. Racism is defined as belief in the superiority of one race over all others. Often racism is a belief that one type of person has better physical attributes, or is more. intelligent. The snares are a lot of fun.