In
this week’s chapter Alexander gives us the accounts of two individuals who were
victims of our flawed judicial system (97-98). After reading the accounts of
both Emma Faye Stewart and also Clifford Runoalds my heart was not only broken
for these people but I was also enraged about these circumstances (97-98). A
single mother of two loses the things that bring her the most joy, her children
(97-98). Also, a father who is mourning the tragic death of his
eighteen-month-old daughter has to testify to a crime and is unable to see
attend the funeral of his precious child (97-98). These are only the accounts
of two I can’t begin to imagine how many similar stories are out there. The sad
thing is, until engaging in texts like Alexander’s I was completely uninformed
of the prison industrial complex.
The
media does a great job of brainwashing us as Americans into thinking that
blacks and minorities are the ones committing the crimes in America. The sad
thing is the media is correct, blacks and minorities are convicted of more
crimes than their white counterparts but it is not because they are worse
people it is simply because that is the way the system works. One study by the
National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that white students use cocaine at
seven times the rate of black students, use crack cocaine at eight times the
rate of black students, and use heroin at seven times the rate of black
students (99). If the system were colorblind the lock up discrepancies would be
tailored differently. Growing up I had a vast majority of friends that crossed
numerous racial boundaries and from what I can recall these statistics seem to
line up. The rich white kids at my school were the ones who were doing a
majority of the hard drugs. I have actually never had a black friend who has
done cocaine or crack cocaine. So from a personal stand point this part of the
chapter was like shining a light on a issue that has always been there I have
just been unaware of it.
We
can see why whites want to oppress minorities (to keep the system of power in
tact) but how do we do get away with it (103). First, we grant law enforcement
officials extraordinary discretion on whom to stop (103). Also we close the
courthouse doors to all claims of defendants and private litigants that the
criminal justice system operates in racially discriminatory fashion (103). At
this point in the chapter my heart is begging this not to be true, I want to
believe that we have kind hearted people in America but I am really beginning
to question the people in positions of authority.
The
next intriguing part of the chapter had to do with the jury selection in
trials. As I have heard growing up majority of people who have jury duty are
white. Potential jurors are typically called for service based on the list of
registered voters or Department of Motor Vehicles list (121). This list
contains disproportionately fewer people of color, because people of color are
significantly less likely to own cars or register to vote. My optimism for
good-hearted white Americans continues to dwindle at this point. In order
to make sure that you
receive a “fair” trial you are supposed to have a trial by jury, but what if
the whole jury believes you are guilty until proven innocent then what? You are
exactly that guilty until proven innocent because if you don’t have an amazing
lawyer your odds of getting off seem slim to none.
To
conclude I want to offer a possible solution. As we have learned this system
depends primarily on the prison label, not prison time (139). Once you are out
of prison you are labeled as a felon. When you are labeled as a felon you lose
a good majority of your constitutional rights. You lose the right to vote, the
right to live in public housing, and you also lose the right to land a decent
paying job. We first as a society
need to work on these issues. I don’t know exactly what this would look like
but giving people grace when they leave prison could be the very thing they
need to turn their life around instead of putting them back into a society that
promotes a track right back into prison. I believe people can change we just
need to give them more of an opportunity once they get out. If we wont to be
fair we also need to search everyone the same but this is a war that may never
end, the war on racism in a “colorblind” society.
I would like to focus my discussion on Austin’s conclusion where he talks about the prison label people receive the moment they are out of prison. He says, “When you are labeled as a felon you lose a good majority of your constitutional rights. You lose the right to vote, the right to live in public housing, and you also lose the right to land a decent paying job.” I think what Austin says in a few sentences explains our issue as an American public. The majority of the people who receive the “prisoner label” and lose the privileges mentioned above are blacks and yet we say we are no longer a radicalized country?? As it states in the book, “By the early 1980s, survey data indicated that 90 percent of whites thought black and white children should attend the same schools, 71 percent disagreed with the idea that whites have a right to keep blacks our of their neighborhoods, 80 percent indicated they would support a black candidate for president, and 66 percent opposed laws prohibiting intermarriage.” These are facts and if these questions were to be asked to a group of American’s anywhere around the country the percentages would remain the same but just because these are the statistics that people voice means we no longer have a racial issue in our country. In fact, I think we have more of a racial issue than people think and one that could be more dangerous than before, “the mere fact that large majorities of whites were, by the early 1980s, supporting the antidiscrimination principle reflected a profound shift in racial attitudes. The margin of support for colorblind norms has only increased since then. That is our problem now, this idea of colorblind racism. It is embedded all throughout society but because we know it is wrong to discriminate or judge someone according to his or her race we don’t discuss racism in a verbal sense, instead it shines through in our dominating and hierarchal institutions.
ReplyDeleteThe War on Drugs is the new slavery, whether we want to admit to it or not. As Alexander says, “African Americans constitute 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison. In at least fifteen states, blacks are admitted to prison on drug charges at a rate from twenty to fifty-seven times greater than that of white men.” However, every race, color, ethnic background is doing and dealing drugs but blacks are the ones who most likely get convicted. Why is this the case? I honestly believe it is the new way of holding black people in the inferior position they have had for centuries. Of course whites say they aren’t racist and claim they do not discriminate yet they use prisons and law enforcements to keep them in the inferior. How different is a prisoner label and all the consequences they face after being in prison that different than slavery?? That is why I think the War on Drugs is the new slavery and until enough people (white and people in power) become educated about this issue and actually do something about it, it is going to remain this way. Because right now we look at the facts with the number of black people committed for drugs and imprisoned but we do not look past the data and ask questions. We need to start asking questions. As Alexander says, "Black men, they say have much higher rates of violent crime; that's why so many of them are locked up. Typically, this is where the discussion ends."But this is where discussion needs to begin!!
“The media does a great job of brainwashing us as Americans into thinking that blacks and minorities are the ones committing the crimes in America.” I think Austin makes a good point here. When we were talking about torture and warfare a few weeks ago, we brought up the idea of what is “right.” We want to say that torture is wrong; we want to say that it is never acceptable, but what are our real motivations behind saying this? Is that really what we think, in every situation? I was reminded of this while reading Elaine Brown’s chapter, Evil in the City. On page 36 Brown describes the story of Yummy, an eleven-year-old boy accused of murdering a fourteen-year-old girl, yet Yummy was also murdered. After the incident, people of the community paint ugly pictures of Yummy as a “sociopath” and complete troublemaker, disrupting the whole community. Instead of focusing on his tragic life and his death, the media focused on how he was viewed by random members of the community. I think that a lot of the time when people are interviewed in response to tragic instances such as these, they want to say the “right” thing, or something that will make them be seen in a positive light. Many people who are quoted in the media don’t have a close relationship to the victims or the accused, but from what they hear or see they have an opinion on the subject. In another one of Brown’s examples, a girl being accused of killing a baby was supported enough by family members and friends to get her conviction overturned. Yummy didn’t have anyone close enough to him to fight for his innocence- he was homeless and abandoned by his family. Because of the opinions of storeowners and anonymous neighbors, a disgusting picture of Yummy was painted in the media preventing anyone from wanting to find out the truth about the situation. As Brown states, “The press in America, as an extension of the powerful, has come to define the day,” (37). The historical role of the media and the historical dehumanization of black people in the media have trickled into modern society. The readings for today really made me think about how influenced our society and our institutions are by the media.
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