The Underclass Case Study

The perception of the existence of the Underclass has associated poor minorities with crime, belligerence, and being unproductive members of society. This in turn also leads the so-called Underclass to being heavily criminalized and demonized by the dominant society, which can be seen throughout the entirety of the Central Park Five case. Five Latino and Black teens from Harlem were the epitome of what the ruling society saw as the most violent and dangerous potential criminals. Kevin Richardson recalls a cop calling him a little animal after hitting him in the face with his helmet the when he was being arrested. The behavior of the Underclass is what Reed points out most believers feel bind all of the Underclass together, blaming them for their own downfalls and low status in society. This association of behavior being such a defining characteristic of the supposed Underclass can be seen with the widespread use of the word “wilding” when the acts of the teens involved in the case were described.
Black poet Kevin Young says

wilding “would enter the lexicon, sounding like ’n***er’ does, quite different in black and nonblack mouths (…) a term that came to define the inhumanity of these kids” (Young 351). In the film, Calvin O Butts III defined wilding as “the bestial characterization of the black man.” Black bodies have been seen as subhuman for centuries, and their role as being the savages of society fit the narrative of the jogger case perfectly. The allegedly predatory nature of those in the Underclass, as highlighted by Reed, Butts, and Young, exemplify the dehumanization of Blacks and Latinos that ends up resulting in the perception that they are more criminally inclined and must be brought to heel, as Hillary Clinton put it.
Looking further at the root of the linguistics of Black and Latino youths being labeled as predatory subhumans, Michelle Alexander dissects Bill Clinton's legacy of worsening mass incarceration and contributing the the destruction of Black communities, which Hillary Clinton cosigned and supported staunchly. In “Why Hillary Clinton Doesn’t Deserve the Black Vote,” Alexander explains how Reagan’s racially charged language and terminology of welfare queens and predators were carried on by Bill Clinton in his presidency, as he vowed to be strict and extremely tough on crime. Supporting the 100-to-1 sentencing for crack versus powder cocaine, increasing funding for drug law enforcement, and the three strikes law, drug charges for nonwhites increased disproportionately and dramatically. Hillary Clinton was very vocal in supporting these policies and was notoriously using racially coded language, calling Black and Latino youths super predators who needed to be brought to heel, as if though they were animals rather than human beings. This is the exact type of language used against the Central Park Five to make them seem like inhumane beasts who, according to many, were monsters deserving the death penalty, despite confessions being the only evidence used against them. Newspapers and mass media on television portrayed these kids as being wild packs of animals that needed to be tamed via harsh imprisonment regardless of the age of the alleged criminal or whether or not there was solid evidence that they actually were the ones to commit the crimes.
Reentry for the Central Park Five, as with many released felons, is extremely difficult. As they were teens when they were incarcerated, most of the five missed out on college classes and higher education. When applying for student loans and financial aid for college, FAFSA specifically asks whether or not the individual applying has ever been convicted of a drug related crime. If so, then the individual automatically loses any chance of receiving federal aid for college. In Bill Clinton’s presidency, Pell grants were eliminated for prisoners, laws denying federal financial aid to students who had drug convictions were passed, and a legislation was signed to impose a lifetime ban on welfare and food stamps for felons convicted of a drug offense. With this being part of Clinton’s legacy, it is undeniable that both Bill and Hillary Clinton contributed heavily to the destruction of Black lives in inner cities. Drug charges became so heavily criminalized and enforced in low income Black communities, so those who live in those communities were easily seen as destructive parts of society that needed to be locked up for any crimes. It also made these communities seem as if though they are more likely to commit crimes, both violent and nonviolent, since Black communities are far more heavily punished for the same crimes that white communities commit at similar rates.
In an economy where getting a job is already difficult, former felons have an extra hard time finding employment.

Having a job and a flow of income are essential to easing back into the world after imprisonment. Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” has studies that found that finding employment after incarceration is more of a priorities to felons than finding or having access to housing. Most employers will have interviewers ask a job candidate about any past convictions, which then lessens the chances of a felon being able to receive that job. Even prior to the interview stage, many former felons may not even make it as far as to being interviewed, as most online and paper job applications ask for one’s criminal history. The inability to find employment after conviction and release can sometimes consequently lead to the felon falling back into a cycle of crime, perhaps in a means of illegally obtaining income, like through the drug

trade.
The problem of not being able to get a job after being released from jail was evident in the case of the Central Park Five. It is seen as an issue for some of the released men in the jogger case, as when Raymond Santana was released from prison, he had trouble finding a job that would hire him with a felony conviction on his record, which resulted in him selling drugs and ending up back in jail. This criminalization of certain substances and the demonization of released felons perpetuates a cycle in which one is released from prison, can’t find a job, resorts to having to make money through illegal means, and then ends up being imprisoned again. The almost inevitable cycle that so many released prisoners, particularly for those of color, fall in to could be avoided by making job opportunities more accessible to former felons, especially those who have been convicted of nonviolent drug offenses and criminal offenses at a young age. This, once again, highlights how the law and justice system in America revolves around marginalizing already marginalized groups.
A widely used argument in favor of disproportionately heavy policing and arresting Black and Latino youths for petty crimes is that it keeps the Black community safer, which is something that the Black community wants. Talked about by both Michelle Alexander and again by Kelefa Sanneh in “Body Count,” there are plenty of people who argue that excessive policing and incarceration of offenders at any degree is something that Black communities support because it would lead to safer neighborhoods. However, for nonblack people, especially government officials, to say that mass incarceration and excessive policing is something that the Black community wants and is beneficial for them is gas lighting the community. Black communities don’t only want safer neighborhoods, they want more access and funding for education, employment and job programs for teens and young adults, healthcare, and better housing. These social improvements would lessen the amount of crimes being committed in the first place, which would reduce the alleged need for excessive policing and incarceration. Excessive policing breeds an ideology of criminalization of Black bodies, which made the Central Park Five the perfect and most realistic scapegoats for the rape of an upper class white woman in Manhattan.
Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Korey Wise all suffer residual consequences from their false convictions that were fabricated as a result of the hyper-criminalization of Black and Latino youths who lived in inner cities. Their prospects for jobs and other necessities for life are limited despite their convictions being now known to be false. They can also suffer psychological impairment from the trauma of their experiences, as well as having missed out on years with their family. Birthdays, funerals, celebrations, all events that teens should be able to experience with their families were stripped from these kids over something they did not even do. They were demonized by the public, even after they were proven to be innocent. As Craig Steven Wilder put it, “their innocence never got the same attention that their guilt did.” The issue does not end with these five teens; there are many Blacks and Latinos who have either been convicted of a crime they did not commit, or have been convicted and served years for petty crimes, who now have limited rights when they reenter society. It is a systemic problem embedded in the intersection of racism and classism perpetuated in the United States throughout the entirety of its modern history.