White defendants when the victim was white. In the midst of it all, the rape of Black women by white men throughout slavery and until this very day and age goes on hardly ever talked about, and justifies this manner as an additional technique used as an essential weapon to maintain white male supremacy, and dehumanize Black persons culture. This piece will examine how gender and race interconnects with the perception of what is considered criminal intent and the justice system. Gender acts on as an important task in recognizing who commit what sorts of crimes, why they carry out so, who is frequently wronged, and most importantly how the criminal justice system take actions to these victims and wrongdoers. How the many racial occurrences shape they way our society is structured and what impact it on has women’s bodies. One will observe how rape is surrounded by the unlawful beliefs and will bring to light why one should be aware of those beliefs and its approach towards women. Those accused of raping Black and White women, if they are Black men they will be charged much more severe and more than likely, in the past, become lynching victims. If a White man is accused of rape, generally excuses are made for his acts of crime and are often let off and won’t be held culpable. One will argue that lynching and rape was an answer premeditated to hark back blacks of their "true" position, to uphold decreasing white male domination.
Chauvinism in the Criminal Justice System.
Primarily, this paper is structured as a cause and effect essay as he narrates his personal experience, reinforcing his message and making the audience realize his viewpoints. In his article, Staples takes out all of his frustrations of being treated as a criminal throughout the passage. Firstly, Staples express the fear a white woman faced when she felt a young,broad six feet two inches black man with a beard and billowing hair was menacingly close. He continues by stating more incidents he experienced as a teenager, as a journalist and so on where people (mostly women) panicked imagining him as a mugger or a rapist. Furthermore, the author
With no amount of proof, the police believed the girls accusations simply because they were white and the boys were black. The newspaper headlines read: “ALL NEGROES POSITIVELY IDENTIFIED BY GIRLS AND ONE WHITE BOY WHO WAS HELD PRISONER WITH PISTOL AND KNIVES WHILE NINE BLACK FIENDS COMMITTED REVOLTING CRIME.” This article highlights how brutal the people were towards the boys. Another example of the horrendous racism is when the only lawyers given to the boys, were the worst lawyers in town. The court decided that the boys were worth so little that they would give them the lawyers that hadn’t won a case in decades. Despite having no real evidence, no real witnesses or a case at all. Over the course of the two decades eight out of the nine boys were sentenced to death, the last, youngest boy was sentenced to a life in
Since Walter McMillan’s exoneration, decades of efforts towards equality and affirmative action have systematically set up a society geared to help people from disenfranchised groups. True equality in the eyes of the law can be more important than in the court of law, and this fact begs the question, should race and class of an accused criminal be considered in a court
The Constrained Court model created by Gerald N. Rosenberg, proves that the courts are weak, powerless, and ineffective for change among race, class and gender ideologies.. Using Lisa Frohmann’s article, Convictability and Discordant Locales; in which she is ‘reproducing race, class and gender ideologies in Prosecutorial Decision-making’. Frohmann uses ‘discordant locales’ as a bridge to describe how prosecutors work in sexual assault cases. Rosenberg and Frohmann demonstrate that the courts are not effective unless they overcome these constraints, set in the constrained court model. According to Rosenberg and Frohmann social reform is nearly unachievable, through the district attorney and victim cross examination interview and jury assumptions. As Rosenberg specified in order to establish social reforms the following constraints; limited nature of constitutional rights lack of judicial independence, judiciary’s lack of power implantation and inability to develop appropriate policies need to be eradicated.
In her article “Gendered Racial Violence and Spatialized Justice,” Sherene H. Razack explores the murder of Pamela George; the way that her murderers’ sentences were lessened because of a variety of factors pertaining to Ms. George’s life; and the fact that the murderers were young, white, and middle-class men.
The article “I’m Black, You’re White, Who’s Innocent?’ is an analysis of the black and white racist situation that America has been facing. It is a claim to the fact that both the groups have created the racist situation. Some whites accept that the racist attitude that enforced slavery was due to the fact that whites in ‘innocence’ felt they were superior to blacks. The pursuit of power-convinced them they were entitled to it. Once convinced it was easy to believed in innocence. Conversely, they were
In the book The New Jim Crow: “Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” is written by Michelle Alexander talks about issues the racial caste and mass incarceration in the United States. Michelle Alexander argues that even Jim crow is over, but there’s still injustices in people of color communities. In her book “The New Jim Crow”, Alexander describes many social problems make African American people controlled by institutions. The author compares Jim Crow with mass incarceration is a form of controlling black Americans as Jim Crow law. Through Michelle Alexander's book, we can understand her argument that mass incarceration is a new form of legal discrimination just like Jim Crow law. The criminal justice system is biased toward the powers of privileges. Mass incarceration in America is “the new Jim Crow”, a new form of social control because the racial caste system segregates people away from mainstream society.
Cholbi starts the essay by discussing racial discrimination in the court of law and how some forms of discrimination are present before the defendant enters the courtroom. The author moves on to explain how discrimination causes individuals to develop expectations of the type of treatment they receive based on race. In addition, how committing a crime costs African Americans more than White Americans. Cholbi’s first point for a moratorium is The Principle of legality and The Principle of Equal Status which states every individual be held responsible for breaking the law and that every individual receive equal treatment among the law. Cholbi moves on to the next point for a moratorium, which is the race of a victim influences the sentence as much as the race of the perpetrator. The essay also states African Americans should enjoy the Principle of Equal Protection. This states all citizens be given equal protection under each law and not protect any race more so than
The author of this article is Cornelia Grumman won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 and found the organization the First Five Years Fund where she advocated for stronger federal policies. The audience she could be targeting would be the government to create stricter guidelines when imposing capital punishment. The purpose of this article is to give awareness of how race can create bias factors in the justice system. It has been commonly seen
The existence of racial disparity and structural inequality within the criminal justice system renders the concept of true justice for all unobtainable. The statistics of convictions and prison sentences by race definitely support the concept that discrimination is a problem in the justice system as well as the insignificantly number of minority judges and lawyers. There are a multitude of circumstances that influence these statistics according to the “Central Eight” criminogenic risk factors. The need for programs and methods to effectively deter those at risk individuals has never been greater and the lack of such programs is costing society in countless ways.
From discrimination to prejudice, from explicit bias to implicit bias, from Jim Crow laws to the current American criminal justice system, there have been many changes, but the outcome has essentially remained the same: racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is treating someone differently only due to one’s race. Although it is said to be illegal in current times,it is still implemented through new techniques such as the modern criminal justice systems. Michelle Alexander discusses in her book, The New Jim Crow, how the current criminal justice system and mass incarceration are a viable analogy to “Jim Crow.” The analogy is apparent through the laws, historical examples, and current affairs as well.
As stated in the beginning of this paper, I have always been aware of the “favoritism” in the justice system but this has help me develop a more logical understanding of it. I have also come to realize that my brother was apart of that favoritism because he is white. While writing this paper, I’ve experienced many emotions. Those emotions ranged from sadness to confusion to anger.
Whenever I hear about discrimination, prejudice or stereotypes, as they relate to race, ethnicity and you name it, my system aches. Being inhumane and lack respect for your fellow brothers or sisters, regardless of color, speaks volume and causes unsettling issues in our society today. In this assignment, my mission is to share an historic event that took place in Martinsville, VA back in 1949. This case includes rape and a racially motivated justice system, that leads to racial discrimination; ultimately, led to the execution of seven. This case garnered international recognition and eventually left an indelible scar on the world. With numerous evidence of racial discrimination, I have put together a compelling argument which establishes
An important issue Harding discusses is the fact that both men and women of color are treated much differently within a system of rape culture. Race is a huge component when looking at almost any subject, as people of color are met with prejudices and discrimination in many areas, not just rape culture, but what Harding discusses in her book parallels the treatment of black men and women after the Civil War in very similar ways. Harding states that a woman’s best chance at actually being taken seriously when reporting being raped is to be white. If a woman is not white, her credibility in this case decreases, and her chances of getting a fair trial and having her rapist incarcerated also decreases. This is because, according to Harding, women
Feminist criminology, as an outgrowth of the second wave of feminism, came of age during a period of considerable change and political optimism however, as a mature field, it now inhabits a social and political landscape radically altered and increasingly characterized by the politics of backlash (Chesney-Lind, 2006). The field has had a dual focus on gender and crime; however the political backlash has come in the form of racism and sexism. Therefore, the feminist criminology movement must prioritize research on the race/gender/punishment nexus.