The Corruption Of Young African Americans

In fear of having many claim equal rights were already in effect, he proceeded to acknowledge “the harsh fact … men and women are kept from voting simply because they are Negroes” (Johnson 2), showing how equal rights were not distributed to all men. Continuing to utilize emotional examples, Johnson addressed the chilling truth about African Americans struggling with “actions and protests, his courage to risk safety, and even to risk his life” to liberate themselves (3). Another key point is how the actions of African Americans are being rejected to vote simply because “the only way to pass these barriers is to show a white skin” (2) , discovering the ugly truth of the discrimination towards colored people. His ambition for the near future is to make America’s heart yearn for the passing of the bill and change the lives of those who will benefit from it. Johnson has such a strong belief towards the positive changes in which the bill will have because he knows “there is only the struggle for human rights” being seen right under the nose of every American

More than often, many people who shame Black nonvoters say our ancestors died for you to vote and it damages their legacy to not do so. Such a viewpoint is very narrow, because it can also be said that our ancestors didn’t die so we could simply accept and follow things as they are. Those involved in the Civil Rights Movement and beyond who fought to gain voting rights, to end segregation, to be treated equally as human, like their white counterparts were by the government, didn’t die after they accomplished such feats. These freedom fighters, those known and those with unknown names, were murdered while fighting for change. People murdered before they could even see the outcome of their work. Ever since enslaved Africans were kidnapped and put on ships, they have always been fighting back, it’s not simply that people died of old age/natural reasons, no, they were murdered while fighting is the point. Additionally, simply following what others do that amounts to no change is an issue. Tillotson holds a similar view and asserts that "the spirit of resistance and African Americans appears to have been reduced in many cases to mere compliance and acceptance of the quality-of-life inequities in American society. Questions of collective agency and self-determination for African-Americans have taken a backseat to notions of

Even after the passing of the Fifteenth Amendment, African Americans were “disenfranchised in the South by intimidation and electoral trickery, including whites-only primaries, rigged literacy tests, and poll taxes” (Patterson 2011, p. 180). The Freedom Riders rode through the South, enduring harassment and imprisonment to encourage other African Americans to vote. Voter turnout in African American communities is greatly encouraged. Personally, coming from an African American family, I was strongly encouraged by my parents and grandparents to vote when I was of legal age. My family instilled the importance of voting in me at a very young age. Although voter turnout among African Americans is still fairly low, in the 2008 presidential election African Americans had the second highest voter turnout, behind non-Hispanic Caucasians (African Americans, n.d.). Race can influence voter turnout because with African Americans specifically, although rates are getting better, they are still not high.

The 100th year anniversary of The Declaration of Independence is here and the Nation is as united as it is equal. None. Although football games continue like Princeton vs. Rutgers the United states is in shambles. Following the war between the states a plan to reconstruct was put into place. It was proficient, effective, and controversial for many years. However, after the long Civil War and years spent to rebuild the Nation, the North Ultimately killed reconstruction because of government corruption, the focus change in North, and widespread racism throughout the nation.

Malcolm X’s “The Ballot of the Bullet” opened the eyes to many African Americans on the political parties and the treatment towards minority voters in the past. “This is the year when all of the white politicians are going to come into the Negro community. You never see them until election time. You can’t find them until election time. They’re going to come in with false promises, and as they make these false promises they're going to feed our frustrations and this will only serve to make matters worse.”X, Malcolm. "The Ballot or the Bullet." 03, April, 1964. What Malcolm X was saying in this line right here I believe is true most political parties only seem to care about the community when there

The past quarter century has seen an enormous growth in the American incarceration rate. Importantly, some scholars have suggested that the rate of prison growth has little to do with the theme of crime itself, but it is the end result of particular U.S. policy choices. Clear (2007) posits that "these policy choices have had well-defined implications for the way prison populations have come to replicate a concentrated occurrence among specified subgroups in the United States population in particular young black men from deprived communities" (p. 49).

Many jail cells and prisons hold more African Americans than colleges and universities. This is a major problem for younger men and women that have to witness this because if this is all they are exposed to then this will be all they know. It does not only affect younger children or teenagers but close family members, wives, and parents. The mass incarceration of African Americans is becoming the norm for our men and women because the ¨white man¨ or the government is subliminally fighting to oppress African Americans and hold them back from any chance of prosperity that they have.

In this class we have learned about mass incarceration and the criminalization of black and brown bodies throughout U.S. history. An early example of the criminalization of brown bodies can be seen in Los Angeles when the Spanish Crown came and deemed Native Americans as “lawless” and “ungovernable.” Then, later in time, we see the criminalization of black bodies in the South during the Reconstruction Era. Laws and ideology that are motivated by colonialism and settler colonialism, have helped put more black and brown bodies in prison and exploit them for labor through convict lease systems. The criminalization of Native Americans, Hobos, and African Americans served a political, social and economic purpose which helped colonialism and settler

African Americans now constitute nearly 1 million of the total 2.3 million incarcerated; that is 60% of 30% of the African American population. African Americas are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites. “Between 6.6% and 7.5% of all black males ages 25 to 39 were imprisoned in 2011, which were the highest imprisonment rates among the measured sex, race, Hispanic origin, and age groups." (Carson, E. Ann, and Sabol, William J. 2011.) Stated on Americanprogram.org “ The Sentencing Project reports that African Americans are 21 percent more likely to receive mandatory-minimum sentences than white defendants and are 20 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison.” Hispanics and African Americans make up 58% of all prisoners in 2008, even though African Americans and Hispanics make up approximately one quarter of the US population. (Henderson 2000). Slightly 15% of the inmate population is made up of 283,000 Hispanic prisoners.

The criminal justice system in the United States is evident of several deep flaws relating to the treatment of black men and women accused of committing criminal offenses. It is logical to believe that due to the U.S.’s rather dark past surrounding the treatment of black Americans, systematic racism is included under the guise of the criminal justice system. The U.S. is historically infamous for it’s open racial discrimination against black Americans, up until systematic racism became one of the more dominant forms of discrimination in the most recent years. Systematic racism has been shrouded under societal ignorance and regulated particularly by social and political groups in order to keep the human rights of black Americans frigid and

African Americans are targeted by law enforcement more often than any other race (Toth, Crews & Burton, 2008). Because of this the term racial profiling was created to explain the process of targeting people for criminal activity because of race not evidence (Toth et al, 2008). African Americans are over represented in the criminal justice system based on their population amount compared to whites (Toth et al, 2008). African American males are incarcerated at a rate 9 times that of white males in most states, in others that number may be as high as 12 to 26 times more (Toth et al, 2008). Nationwide statistics show in most states 1 in 20 over the age of 18 are in prison, while 5 other states report 1 in 13 or 14 compared to the 1 in 180

Many people believe that Whites are treated better than minorities. I agree with this opinion, however; I believe that the justice system favors Whites more than African-Americans. Throughout history it shows that the criminal justice system was never in place to serve and protect every human being. When slavery was legal the criminal justice system created laws to enslave human beings. It is not a surprise that the justice system does not work in favor with African-Americans because it has never worked in our favor. The legal system only benefits those of White people.

The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted to discover the corruption that lies in prisons around the country. Little instruction was given to these guards besides not to use physical force. The guards of the prison were allowed to whatever they pleased whether it was humiliating them or locking them in dark closets without any food. Having this choice was too much of a temptation for them. They had most likely never been given this much power before and were not sure how to use it correctly. I believe that this lack of experience and instruction is one of the key factors leading to corruption.

There are many ways the criminal justice system plays a huge role in the discrimination against all people of color. Mostly, there are a wide range of studies within the African American communities that expresses concern, prejudice, and even racial profiling in the criminal justice system pertaining to blacks. Judges, jurors, police officers, and even marriages are key roles of the societal disadvantages African Americans have. African Americans are even being arrested more than any other race in America. With societal disadvantages, how can African Americans be striving citizens in America?

Throughout the semester we have touched upon many instances for which the legal history of America effects the life of a black America, especially in “We Shall Overcome” Alexander Tsesis takes on the task of looking at civil rights through the “lens of legal history’. “The Ballot or The Bullet” displays the political message that the ‘ballot’ is freedom, and thus power through the freedom to vote. Malcom X hounds in on the political idea that the white man preys on the black man for votes, but then allows filibustering to happen in the Senate so nothing gets passed to promote equality for black Americans. Alexander writes frequently through the book how skewed politics become for blacks once their vote is legalized. That although, they can