Why is it that two people of different color can commit the same crime but receive two different sentences? It is no secret that our criminal justice system is racially biased. Our prison system is the modern day version of slavery. It is set up in a way to keep our minorities in repetitive bondage. According to a case study, "African Americans make up 30% of the population, but account for 60% of those in prison. Black defendants receive longer sentences than white defendants." There are many people who will argue that this isn't discriminatory. There's the belief that white people are more law-abiding than people of color and that they commit less serious crimes. True or false? I believe this isn't true. We've all witnessed cases of people of different color committing a crime and the white person will be granted probation while the person of color will receive a sentence of 15 years to life in prison. What sense does this make?
Racial bias is evident in almost all courtrooms across the country. People continue to say racial discrimination doesn't exist anymore. Believe it or not, statistics don't lie. It is time for reform. A serious change is needed in our criminal system. Equality is something that should be practiced in every way imaginable. Whether it be in the employment system, education system and everyday life. This could be dissected into many categories such as the current police brutality cases and the everyday law salary/wages. It is evident that equality and justice isn't dispersed equally. If you are a person of color, and prosecuted over a simple marijuana charge the chances of you getting sentenced to life in prison is substantially higher than a white persons sentence for committing the same crime. It's blasphemy! The judges who prosecute these cases will deny it, but they allow race to be a factor in how they will move forward with a case. Another case study about judges has proven that these judges are more likely to sentence an African-American to prison for a drug charge than they would a white person for the same charge.
Kind of makes you think, how far have we really come in racial discrimination? It still exist. African-Americans may not be working in cotton fields, being whipped by slave masters or refused to the right to vote. But we are still in slavery in a sense, it has just taken on a new modern face.
Please do not misunderstand my opinion for favoritism of people of color. I am a firm believer in, "If you do the crime, you should do the time," regardless of your color! However, let the time served behind the crime be equally dispersed to any person of whatever color you may be. Black, yellow, orange, white, brown, whatever! Our justice system ought to be color blind. That will be the only way for justice to be served fairly.
1 comment:
You do bring up some very good points, such as the amount of the amount of African Americans vs. the amount of African Americans in prison. The part about probation does make sense, but maybe also bring up the class of white person. Rich white people tend to get probation or the lightest sentences most of all, so it would make a good stark contrast, such as saying: (x) billionaire got probation or minimum security prison for rape, but an African American woman was sentenced to life in maximum security for jaywalking. Overall I do wholeheartedly agree with what you are saying. Racial discrimination exists in more covert ways, so it is still a huge problem. A recommendation I have is to perhaps say what should be done. As helpful as it is to point out a problem, much like the Susan G. Komen foundation, awareness isn't enough by itself. Perhaps instituting a policy like how there are certain orientations or races for parts of a city for police (Chinese for China Town, African American for African American populated areas), make that a mandatory for both the judge and jury, so there is less racial bias. Or a review board to check on sentencing for crimes to ensure petty theft doesn't get life for a certain race.
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