The New Jim Crow Essay Example for Free

The New Jim Crow EssayIn the book The New Jim Crow author Michelle horse parsley conferences about numerous issues of racial inconsistency in our criminal justice system. horse parsleys book is something every person who even has an interest in the criminal justice field should read, as it truly looks beyond the color of a persons skin. horse parsley points out the vast volume of the tasks our criminal justice system slips in racial in par and contrariety. These problems welcome really formed our solid ground to what it is to this day. Most people feel that society as a whole is past dissimilarity and that it is no longer a problem any more.In reality, it is quiet a major problem in some(prenominal) aspects of our criminal justice system as considerably as the everyday lives of Americans. In all money plant I was one of them, scarcely The New Jim Crow really opened my eyes on the favoritism that occurs within minorities in the United States. Reflecting back on t his issue I had realized that I have witnessed this first hand with one of my close friends who is an African American male. I will draw a bead on into more detail about this later on in my paper, but for now I am sledding to address some of the issues of racial inequality in the criminal justice system that black lovage mentioned. introductory of all going back to the late 1800s with slavery in the United States. This cadence cessation really gravel the tone for favoritism in the future of our country. At this point in time African Americans were much exchangeable Peasants back in pre-colonial times. This led to slaves literally pass off their plantations and causing chaos among plantation owners. This non only bring ind problems for plantation owners, but it to a fault caused problems for the deliverance in the United States. After this was done black codes were created due to the African Americans unwillingness to work.Ultimately these codes were converse due to sever al pieces of civil rights legislation that started the Reconstruction Era. During this era African Americans who were former slaves were allowed their first luck to learn how to read and write. Another form of racial inequality was during the Reconstruction Era. There were more laws set in place that were mainly enforced against African Americans. These laws were set in place to protect against things such as mischief and insulting gestures.This was possible in my opinion due to the federal g overnment not aking an effort at the time to enforce civil rights legislation. Along with this death rates were extremely high-pitched due to private contractors did not c ar about the well world of the slaves. Like I give tongue to previously all these things set the tone for the future of our country. Looking forward to the 1950s to the 1960s discourtesy rates were dramatically rising with many people believing that the Civil Rights Movement was the main cause of the raise in annoyance. Another reason that Alexander stated cause this boost in crime was the baby boom generation entering their early twenties.With the rise of the young men it created the rise in crime. With that existence tell many people felt that the Civil Rights Movement was the main cause of this sharp outbreak in crime. Another event that did not help the cause of African Americans in the 1960s was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther fairy Junior. This led to an outrage in the African American Community in which it gave gabardine Americans more reasons to think that African Americans were harmful to society. One issue of racial inequality that Alexander mentioned was how the courts place higher standards on African Americans than they do on white Americans.Along with that Alexander Talked about how white Americans atomic number 18 still more likely to do drugs than African Americans atomic number 18. Even in ghetto neighborhoods African Americans are less like to sell and use drugs tha n white Americans are. Along with that though, African Americans are sent to prison on drug charges at a rate of twenty to almost lx times greater than a white. Alexander also talked about a survey in the 1980s that found out that ninety pct of white believed that black and whit children should attend the same schools, and that 71 percent disagreed that whites have a right to keep blacks out of white neighborhoods.Also eighty percent of the people that took the survey said that they would support an African American candidate for president, and sixty-six percent said that they opposed laws prohibiting intermarriage. After reading this it really mannequin of troubled me because I feel that segregation was still a little bit of a problem in the early 1980s. In my opinion the problem with surveys are that a lot of the time people do not tell the truth and I feel like that is the case in this survey. I feel that those numbers would probably be near the same if not a little better to day than it was back then.One reason I feel this way is partially to how my grandparents act towards African Americans. My grandpa who was born in Eastern Tennessee has neer really been a big supporter of African Americans due to how he was raised by his atomic number 91 who was actually a preacher. Also I feel that the results that the survey got would depend on what kind of stadium the survey was taken in. In a town like the one that I grew up in I feel that the results would definitely be lower especially since it is not a very different town.Now back to the story where I had witnessed discrimination in the criminal justice system. When I was in high school me and some friends one of which was a African American male was driving pedestal from the bowling alley at around Eleven O Clock in the evening got pulled over on our way back to my house. When the officeholder came up to the car he asked me for my drivers clear like you would expect the officer to do. The officer caug ht my friends and I off guard when he asked my African American friend for his license, but not anyone else in the car.Until I read Alexanders book I never really thought about the situation since I was so young, but now I understand the magnitude of it all and how ridiculous it is that something like that happened and me not even realize it. Also I have been pulled over seven times by the police and this incident is the only time an officer has asked to see any identification of any of the passengers that I had with me. The next thing that I will talk about is how racism in criminal justice grew out of earlier historical periods. Earlier I mention how in the 1800s there was a Reconstruction Era.The first Reconstruction Era was draft According to Alexander it stretched from 1863to when the Northern states freed the slaves in 1877. With this reconstruction it gave African Americans their first opportunity to read and write, but it also forced the government to help support the Afric an Americans by providing things like food, clothing, and fuel. This period also gave the African Americans their first opportunity to vote although they had to be protected by federal troops from organizations like the Ku Klux Klan.At the end of the first Reconstruction Era the Civil Rights Movement that is also known as the Second Reconstruction started. During the Civil Rights Movement African Americans played a bigger part in the United States government due to African Americans gaining political power as well as the growing population of the NAACP. With the rise of the NAACP the Ku Klux Klan also grew as a terrorists program killing many officers of the NAACP. Along with Dr. Martin Luther King Junior who had probably the biggest impact on the Civil Rights Movement, prexy Kennedy presented a strong civil rights acme to the United States Congress.Although he was not able to see this through due to his assassination, his successor President Johnson do sure that this bill went through. This gave most African Americans a chance to go to schools with white students as well as giving them a chance to drinking from water fountains that they were banned from drinking out of in the beginning this bill. Recently I watched an ESPN 30 for 30 film about the University of knock offissippi otherwise known Ole Miss. A young African American, by the name of James Meredith, attending the university outraged the state of Mississippi.President Kennedy sent troops down to Oxford, Mississippi on the campus of Ole Miss to help protect Meredith and other students from being injured due to riots. Even with the troops, the riots were too much to handle which ultimately led to several students acquiring killed and many others injured. Before this film I had never heard of the tragedy that occurred within the university. Perhaps this kinky event was swept beneath the rug as if it never even occurred. Maybe its the occurrence that society is too embarrassed to own up to the sic kening deeds done onto our own kind?Now how does our criminal justice system, which is based on equality for all develop such discriminatory practices? It is not necessarily the system as a whole, but the actions of so many individuals who believe that discrimination is perfectly acceptable. Some regions of our beautiful country continue to believe that live a discriminating modus vivendi and pass these beliefs onto their children. Mississippi is a prime example of location still considered to be very discriminatory. The university itself proudly flies the rebel flag to the tune of Dixie unaware of the pain and suffering associated to both.What is a rank? A class is a way of diving a society into classes based on race, wealth, religion, and friendly status. With the most common example of caste is race and wealth. With that be said though Whit Americans are not the only ones who can sort out. African Americans or really anyone can discriminate against anyone person, race or soci al status. The criminal justice system is a caste system, because those at the skunk of the system can commit the same crime as a wealthy citizen and have more of a punishment than someone who can afford better lawyers and are well known.Also the discrimination between whites and minorities is probably the main reason why the criminal justice system is a caste system. Alexander talks a lot about this in chapter three of The New Jim Crow. Alexander talked about how long it could take public defenders to get to a case due to the overload of cases that he or she would be assigned to. One example of this is the O. J. Simpson murder case. There was so much induction and motive for O. J. to commit the crime yet he was still found not guilty of the murder. Does discrimination end when people are released from prison?Absolutely not After being released from prison, convicts will face more discrimination than before they were ever charged with whatever crime they have committed. The people who are released from prison will always have to face the fact that they will have the label of being convicted felon for the rest of their lives. After being convicted they typically do not have the same agate line opportunities as someone that has never been convicted, as well as not ever being allowed to get food attendants of public housing if they needed it.Basically, convicted felons might as well have a stamp on their forehead saying, I am a convicted felon. In conclusion, I feel that Alexander raises many good points on discrimination and racial inequality. Anyone entering the criminal justice field really needs to read this book and reflect on what needs to change to make our system an equality based system like it is supposed to be. I know it has me thinking about what needs to be done. I feel that is the only way we can make our criminal justice system a well-rounded system.