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Intro racism in the justice system
Racial discrimination and disparity in the united states justice system
Racial discrimination and disparity in the united states justice system
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"Forgiveness" and "racism" are two words that usually do not go together. Surprisingly enough Picking Cotton tells the story of how Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton showed the upmost forgiveness for a wrongful conviction that in part was caused due to the racism. Racism was surely present in the South in the early 1900 's, but historically one does not think racism was a major issue in the 80 's. In one man 's opinion, Ronald Cotton, the Burlington police had racist views that contributed to him serving a life imprisonment for a crime he never committed. In 1984 when two white women were raped by a black man, race played a role in convicting the wrong black man in Burlington, North Carolina. Ronald Cotton was wrongfully convicted by racism …show more content…
It was a mistaken identity case where the distressed raped women picked out the wrong black man. Even though the conviction was overturned due to DNA evidence, a mistaken eyewitness testimony led to a wrongful conviction that the Burlington Police upheld without question due to prejudice feelings toward determine Ronald Cotton (Thompson-Cannino, Cotton and Torneo 283). Ronald had his whole family testify that he had been home the night Jennifer was raped however because he had mixed up his dates when he originally confessed that police assumed he was lying despite what he and his family said. The other indication of racism on the police force was when the second rape victim did not pick Ronald Cotton out of the physical lineup; she claimed she was terrified of the black men standing in front of her and just needed to leave, even though she knew it saw Ronald that had raped her (Thompson-Cannino, Cotton and Torneo 129). Ronald was believed to be guilty and was trying to prove his innocence from the beginning. This simply cannot occur in a justice system where one is supposed to be innocent until proven guilty; racism played a part in convicting this innocent man. Even during the second court case when he was trying to prove his innocence he remembered feeling the jury turn and look at him, "every single one of their white faces" believed how terrible of a man he was (Thompson-Cannino, Cotton and Torneo
This is a terrible reality, but one that reigns true. According to Douglass, “There are seventy-two crimes in the state of Virginia, which, if committed by a black man (no matter how ignorant he be), subject him to the punishment of death; while only two of these same crimes will subject a white man to the like punishment,” (Douglass, 2011, p. 780). There was no reasoning behind this ill treatment, other than hatred. In comparison to our other discussions when looking at this matter, “Black Hawk’s Autobiography” comes to mind. He also expressed somewhat the same feelings as Douglass when he stated, “the whites may do bad all their lives, and then, if they are sorry for it when about to die, all is well! But with us it is different: we must continue throughout our lives to do what we conceive to be good,”. Neither Douglass nor Black Hawk could come to grips with why it was okay for whites to do as they pleased, but for others, it was considered to be anything but good.
Ron’s old boss from Somer’s Seafood, Mr. Byrum, who was a Native American, said that he saw Ronald wearing white gloves when he rode his bike. Ronald did wear white gloves, but he cut off the tops of them. Ray then said that Ronald was always messing with the waitresses by touching them, but Ronald said he Ray always thought he was messing with the waitresses. He then went onto say that Ron bothered an eighteen year old and a forty-seven year old. Ray then said that the waitresses were white. After three and a half years, Ronald found out that Mary Reynolds, the other victim, picked him as her attacker. She claimed that she knew it was him all along, but was too afraid to identify him. He was then charged with her rape. He told his cellmate, Fearnow, about the lineup and he told it to Mr. Moseley, his defense attorney. Fearnow was trying to make a deal for himself to get Ronald into even more trouble.
The Universal Negro Improvement Association is an organization (UNIA) that was developed by a man named Marcus Garvey. Now Garvey was not the only one to have established this organization, however he was the face of it. His ideas, connections, work, and influences where all huge factors in establishing the UNIA. However, creating Garvey’s vision into a reality was not an easy road, the organization changed a lot through out the decades and has impacted many lives. The Universal Negro Improvement Association and Marcus Garvey did not just stop at singling out one object, but reached out in many different ways also.
The hypocrisy and double standard that allowed whites to bring harm to blacks without fear of any repercussions had existed for years before the murder Tyson wrote about occurred in May of 1970 (Tyson 2004, 1). Lynching of black men was common place in the south as Billie Holiday sang her song “Strange Fruit” and the eyes of justice looked the other way. On the other side of the coin, justice was brought swiftly to those blacks who stepped out of line and brought harm to the white race. Take for instance Nate Turner, the slave who led a rebellion against whites. Even the Teel’s brought their own form of justice to Henry Marrow because he “said something” to one of their white wives (1).
On March 25, 1931 nine African American youths were falsely accused and wrongfully imprisoned for the rape of two white girls. Over the next six consecutive years, trials were held to attempt to prove the innocence of these nine young men. The court battles ranged from the U.S Supreme court to the Scottsboro county court with almost every decision the same---guilty. Finally, with the proceedings draining Alabama financially and politically, four of the boys ...
The White Scourge: Mexicans, Blacks, and Poor Whites in Texas Cotton Culture. On his 2000 studio album, "American III," Johnny Cash sang in a resigned voice, "I got a crib full of corn, and a turnin' plow/ But the ground's to wet for the hopper now/ Got a cultivator and a double tree/ A leather line for the hull and gee/ Let the thunder roll and the lighting flash/ I'm doing alright for Country Trash. "
Within the book picking cotton, the alleged rapist Ronald Cotton is sentenced to life in prison and 55 years. During his sentence he finds himself being placed in solitary confinement, and while there Ron finds the experience rather beneficial as he explains that being in there presented him with the chance to meditate and reflect. Now there are many rumors about the infamous solitary confinement. These rumors debate whether or not it helps prisoners, allowing them to spend the time as Ronald Cotton as seen it, as an opportunity to self-reflect, or if it is a cruel and unusual punishment due to the drastic effects it has on convicts. The initial intent of solitary confinement was to isolate convicts as a way for them to self-reflect and improve
C. Vann Woodward’s book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, has been hailed as a book which shaped our views of the history of the Civil Rights Movement and of the American South. Martin Luther King, Jr. described the book as “the historical Bible of the civil rights movement.” The argument presented in The Strange Career of Jim Crow is that the Jim Crow laws were relatively new introductions to the South that occurred towards the turn of the century rather than immediately after the end of Reconstruction after the Civil War. Woodward examines personal accounts, opinions, and editorials from the eras as well as the laws in place at the times. He examines the political history behind the emergence of the Jim Crow laws. The Strange Career of Jim Crow gives a new insight into the history of the American South and the Civil Rights Movement.
In the end, justice was served where it was due, but not without the intense prejudice and discrimination that rocked a nation. Works Cited Dufresne, Marcel (October 1991). "Exposing the Secrets of Mississippi Racism". American Journalism Review. The.. Evers-Williams, Myrlie; Marable, Manning (2005).
The Jim Crow era was a racial status system used primarily in the south between the years of 1877 and the mid 1960’s. Jim Crow was a series of anti-black rules and conditions that were never right. The social conditions and legal discrimination of the Jim Crow era denied African Americans democratic rights and freedoms frequently. There were numerous ways in which African Americans were denied social and political equality under Jim Crow. Along with that, lynching occurred quite frequently, thousands being done over the era.
that a majority of the South would have to take an iron clad oath that
For African-American comedian, Jackie “Moms” Mabley, race played a huge role in her life as a child and continued to affect her life and career as an adult. As was custom, from the beginning of her life Moms Mabley was treated differently because of her racial identity. By fourteen Jackie Mabley had been raped for the second time in her life by the white sheriff in the town she lived in. Because of her race, not only were both of her rapes overlooked, she was also not able to bring her case to the police because of the occupation and race of her rapist. After giving birth to the child that came from that rape, Mabley ran away from home to join a minstrel show. In the 1920s, nicknamed the “Roaring Twenties,” Jackie Mabley traveled to New York City.
The court system includes the judges, jury, prosecutors and defense attorneys. The Attorneys convince the suspects to take plea bargains, the judges are sometimes unfair in the decisions they make, and the prosecutors overlook exculpatory evidence. Picking cotton shows in detail some common errors of the court system. During Ronald Cotton 's first trial, His Attorney, Phil Moseley, tried to bring a memory expert to testify on the unreliability of memory but the judge denied his request. After Ronald 's case was overturned by the supreme court, he got a new trial in another court which had even more problems and bias. First, there was racial prejudice during the jury selection. “Four black people from the community got called in for jury duty. The judge himself dismissed one of them and then Mr turner made sure none of the rest sat on my jury” Ronald cotton stated. Because he was black, the four jurors were dismissed and he was left with an all white jury and two white Alternates. Second, the judge “Held something called a “voir dire” hearing, which Phil explained meant he would have to put up all the evidence about Poole in front of the Judge, but not the Jury”(129). Also, Ronald Cotton 's defense attorney explained to the judge the parallelism between Bobby Poole 's case and the rape Ronald Cotton was charged with. Despite the weak physical evidence against Ronald Cotton, the
The Mississippi Delta has made a huge impact on the environment and the people surrounding it. Farming cotton has made a tremendous change over the years. The reason why is because of scientist. The scientist were trying to make it the easiest way possible. Clothes, shoes, and many other items that are useful to humans is produced by cotton. In this way, cotton has affected the economy of the Greenwood community in both positive and negative ways.
Racism has been a problem in society for decades and even though people have taken stands for equality, racism is still present. People who felt on the outside during their life tried in any way to be heard since their own thoughts were valuable when taking steps closer to equality. Speeches, art, music, and literature were all valuable sources when African Americans spoke their minds. The Harlem Renaissance and personal experiences, being main inspirations, motivated Hughes to take new and creative approaches such as folk and jazz poetry. Langston Hughes was a voice that got across the unfair treatment and limited opportunities that many African Americans experienced throughout their lifetime.