Therefore, a compromise must be made because it would be ideological to believe that there can be a government that bans the use of racial identification. Lastly, one must remember that all men are created equal legally and politically. In the field of law enforcement, police officers use certain techniques to describe individuals they pull over or arrest. One of the most controversial means of identifying people is racial profiling. This is “the practice by law enforcement of considering race as an indicator of the likelihood of criminal behavior” (Robinson 530).
The riots came about due to racial tensions sparked by the acquittal of three officers accused of police brutality against Rodney King following a high speed chase on March 3, 1991. It would be easy to suggest that the Rodney King trial and verdict was the cause of the rioting, considering the immediate reaction to the news. However, although the acquittal of the police officers was the immediate precipitant, the Los Angeles riots of 1992 were the result of many underlying macro social conditions - specifically racism, social Injustice, and poverty. The living conditions in South Central Los Angeles in the years prior to the riots were below average. The per capita income was less than half that of Los Angeles as a whole, and poverty and unemployment rates were more than twice as high.
Moreover, further statistics show that black people are seven times more likely and Asians twice as likely to stopped by police compared to their white counterparts. Some may say that racism can be a result of a ‘canteen culture’ where some officers hold negative stereotypes of ethnic minorities and pass on their views to their colleagues which will lead in a general negative stereotype among the police force. Reiner explains that characteristics of canteen cultures include cynicism, suspicion, macho values and racism. On the other hand, the McPherson inquiry after the murder case of Stephen Lawrence concluded that the police force was institutionally racist. This meant that police procedures and culture disadvantaged non-white people in an indirectly racist way.
Stiffer punishment for crack cocaine use also has landed more black women in prison, and for longer sentences than white women (and men). There is no doubt that there’s feminization of poverty and racial stereotyping. More than one out of three black women jailed did not complete high school, were unemployed, or had incomes below the poverty level at the time of the arrest (PARC). While black men are stereotyped as violent, drug dealing “gangstas,” black women are stereotyped as sexually loose, conniving, untrustworthy, welfare queens. Many of the mostly middle class judges and jurors believe that black women offenders are menaces to
Using Material from Item B and elsewhere, assess sociological explanations of ethnic differences in offending and victimisation. According to official statistics there are significant ethnic differences in the likelihood of being involved in the criminal justice system. Black and Asians are overrepresented in the system. For example black people make up 2.8% of the population, but 11% of the prison population. Contrastingly whites are underrepresented.
In the criminal justice system, legal, and extralegal factors are used to determine the seriousness of a crime, along with a person’s past criminal record. A person’s gender, race, and class are considered extralegal factors. Many African Americans and Hispanics are differentially involved in criminality, which means they commit more crimes, and are targeted more by prosecutors, judges, probation officers, defense attorneys, police officers, parole officers, and parole board members. Many of these individuals are poverty stricken and unemployed, therefore a target for bigotry (Racial Disparities, 2011). Drawing a conclusion regarding what ethic group is targeted the most can be based on causes and correlates of racial disparity.
Over the past five centuries, black people have endured violence in many different ways. In history, racist violence, police brutality, has been used to suppress the racial blacks and to preserve power and privileges for the white race. The practice of police brutality has a strong affect on a main segment of the American population. Those affected are minorities and the elderly causing them to have strong hatred towards the whites in America. Police brutality is abuse by law enforcement, where a police officer feels that because he/she has a badge and a gun therefore it puts them above the law and they can use unnecessary force against another individual.
The idea behind this research is to try and point out some of the disparities in sentencing, and possibly offer some potential ways to reduce the problem. “Racial disparity in sentencing, historical representation of current biases, plea bargaining and racial profiling are all factors contributing to the current over-representation of minorities in the judicial system, further threatening the African American community and weakening the family. Aggregate data and statistics compiled supports the assumption that African Americans are disproportionately subjected to conditions such as racial profiling, traffic stops leading to searches and seizures yielding minor offenses that lead to incarceration, rather than probation or rehabilitation. Further, they are given much longer, disparate prison sentencing than white offenders under similar circumstances. These systematic disparate treatments contribute to a dysfunctional community and lead to the socioeconomic destruction of the African American family infrastructure.” (Coulson-Clark, et.
But African American is also more likely to arrested for other crimes. Hispanic and African American are slightly more likely than Whites to be convicted of violent crimes, while Whites are more likely to be convicted of property crimes like burglary, larceny, and car theft. But the leading violent crime that lands African Americans in the prison is robbery, while the leading violent crime for Whites is rape or sexual assault, and Hispanic are mostly for gang and drug related crimes. (The American
Racism in Prisons As much as the criminal justice system tries to disguise racism the writing is on the wall. There are more African Americans that receive prison time than White Americans, even though many times the same crime is committed (CBSCharlotte, 2013). People often times think that the days of racism are over ,when in fact is many people still experience it daily; in places that we think they would not to be subjected to and that is the prison and jails across the United States (CBSCharlotte, 2013). In fact, studies show that one African American male out of three will go to prison (McGivern, 2012). It was also visible that racism is present in prison and the justice system .A study was also conducted that surveyed 1,729 individuals who applied for pardons; 189 of those that applied actually received a pardon; 12 percent of those pardoned were White Americans, 10 percent were Hispanics, and not one African American