African Americans and the Prison System Essay

I. introduction In the book the Mugging of B lose America, Earl Ofari Hutchinson relays an interesting experience by a newsman. The reporter, who spent two and a fr fulfillal hours watching suspects treat before Washington, D. C. Superior Court Judge Morton Berg, noted that only whole when one of these subjects was low-spirited. He introduced, ? There is an odd air most the speedy afternoon? Xan atmosphere like that of British Africa in colonial multiplication? Xas the procession of tattered, troubled, scowling, poor discolors plead inculpative or not guilty to charges of drug possession, drug distri entirelyion, assault, armed robbery, theft, breaking in, fraud and arson.According to Hutchinson, the reporter witnessed more(prenominal) than a courtroom scene he witnessed the legacy of thrall. This piece of music will attempt expand on Hutchinson? s theory. It will do so by first describing buckle downry and its permanent force thence it will attempt to show how th e current reprehensible justice brass mirrors hard workerry. PART 1 slavery I. The History of Op wishion and Afri usher out Americans The fib of the conquering as it relates to African Americans began in 1619. It was this year in which a Dutch ship brought the first slaves from Africa to North America.Following this arrival of twenty dollar bill Africans in Virginia, purity European-Americans created the institution of slavery. Slavery spread so speedily that by 1860 the original twenty slaves turned into just nigh four gazillion. In the beginning the sound status of these Africans was undefined. This absent definition created a lack of certainty which exited for some slaves to become free after years of service. This exclusively lasted briefly. In the 1660s, however, the colonies began enacting laws that defined and regulated slaves and the institution of slavery.One of the most most-valu fit of these was the provision that subdued slaves, and the children of slave w omen, would serve for life. These ? breeding laws were just the beginning. Soon, slavery in the linked States was governed by a body of laws developed from the 1660s to the 1860s. all the same though every slave state had its own slave edict and case law, it became universal that slavery was a permanent condition. In auxiliary to slavery being a permanent condition, slaves were in like manner, under these laws, considered property.Slaves, being property, could not own property or be a party to a contract. Since marriage is a tr complete of a contract, slave marriages had no legal standing. Most codes also had sections regulating free drabs. Under these codes bleaks who were not slaves were muted subject to controls on their movements and employment. These laws served not only as a somatic limitation, but an ideological one also. In addition to granting slave owners and white flock power over slaves and in some cases free coloureds, the laws also granted slaveholders and white-Europeans an intangible as grade source of power.Socially, the institution of slavery allowed white slave owners to believe they had not only fleshly control, but physical and psychogenic superiority over the slaves. With only a few exceptions, all slaves were Africans. This event positiond the label of lower rank on black skin. The actual institution of slavery as it relates to master and slave lasted up in manger the Civil war. The American Civil War was fought, in part, over slavery. During the war, chairwoman Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which ? freed all slaves.This seemingly, brought the end of slavery throughout the United States, but unfortunately left a fixed impression. From this point on slavery took on a new mastermind as phase angleer slaves being associated with the label of unfavorable position. II. The lasting make of slavery continuous oppression Slavery is defined by Webster? s dictionary as ? The state of being under the control of another person . Aalthough the actual physical control and violence supposedly ended after the emancipation proclamation, The intangible theory of supremacy derived from the institution of slavery resulted in many lasting cause.These effects in and of themselves are a form of force, a form slavery. a. The muzzy sense of culture and cultural reserve Feeling of inferiority Slave drivers make great efforts to eliminate African culture. For instance Africans were get the better of if they were caught speaking their native languages or carrying out native rituals . thereof, they were not able to effectively pass the languages, stories and traditions on to their children. This forced suppression resulted in the deprivation of verbal records and a rich legacy of history. It is no secret that thither is pride in culture.Taking away the culture proceedss away the pride and the motivation and results in feelings of worthlessness. b. no economic institution Slave drivers no t only attempted to deprive the Africans of thither culture and pride, but they successfully robbed them economically. Slaves were forced to work without pay for years while padding the pockets of the slave owners. This deficit of economics resulted in an inability to establish an economic foundation in the United States. c. Unleveled playing field Along with the deprivation of financial resources, another significant factor concerning the state of African Americans is arrested development.Slaves were deprived of opportunities to receive and become more competitive in many areas of society. pitch-dark plenty were not allowed to read or learn to read, so they could not take advantage of written text. All these lasting effects placed blacks in a severely disadvantaged state when slavery was abolished, led a socioeconomic structure in which white people generally held the highest ranks and Black people generally held the lowest ranks. III. Maintaining oppression In order to asseve rate this socioeconomic structure, there always seems to be a new form of oppression set in place to manage ? slavery.As if the preceding(prenominal) detrimental effects of slavery were not enough, the White southerners were anxious to put forward more direct power and control over people with black skin, despite there classification as ? free. The White southerners decided to, again, apply the law in order crystallize there theory of inferiority and keep black people at the lowest ranks. In 1865, southerners created Black Codes, which served as a way to control and inhibit the freedom of ex-slaves. These historic Codes controlled almost all aspects of life, and prohibited African Americans from almost all the freedoms that had been win during the Civil War.The codes, which were blatantly racist and oppressive, were eventually suspended in June 1866, during the ? reconstruction era. During this time period in America and despite resistance, African-Americans were slowly nice part of this nations inclusion. By 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution confirm the long awaited citizenship for Blacks in America. By 1870, the 15th Amendment was added to the Constitution which make it illegal to deny the right to vote based on race. The reconstruction era, although short-lived, showed the first real attempts of inclusive freedom for African-Americans since the abolishment of slavery.Gains were taking place Citizenship, Voting, Education, and Politics. But, the underlying desire to have power over those in black skin never subsided. comely like the black Codes, this desire to overcome again manifested itself in another form, Jim Crow Laws. These laws promoted discrimination and the denial of fair to middling protection by law. Just like the codes, they too were eventually abolished. Just like the Codes, Jim Crow laws, the desire of our society to suppress those in black skin will soon take another form. Today that form is the Criminal referee System .PART 2 The New Age Slavery The Prison System I. The Prison Institution Prisons are big in the United States. During the past 20 years, the United States experienced a gigantic increase in enslavement. The prison house population increased fourfold, from 330,000 in 1980 to nearly 1. 4 million in 1999, and the incarceration rate increased from about 140 to about 476 per c,000 resident populations. Today there are more than two million Americans behind bars. But even more galvanize is the fact that more than one-half of these incarcerated Americans have black skin.Although black Americans only make up about 12% of the US population, they account for more then 30% of all arrests, 44% of all prisoners and 40% of prisoners on death row. II. Race and the Prison System These obvious disparities in the outlaw justice establishment can be attributed to many different things ranging from racial profiling to the lack of opportunity and poor education, but most sad justice observers beli eve that these disparities have emerged from the underlying surmisals rooted in slavery. The assumption that slaves were inferior has carried over to today.Currently this theory of inferiority and desire to control oppression enamors one of the major policies in place attacking African Americans today, the ? war on drugs. Most of the shocking disparities in the immoral justness System as it relates to African Americans in prison can be attributed to the ? war on drugs. According to a study by benevolent Rights Watch, African-Americans comprise 62 percent of the drug offenders admitted to state prisons. In cardinal states, blacks constitute between 80 and 90 percent of all people sent to prison on drug charges. According to studies of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, African-Americans constitute 15 percent of the national drug users, but comprise an amazing one-third of all those arrested on drug charges and 57 percent of those convicted on drug charges. The criminal jus tice system generally, and modern crime and drug policies in particular, serve as a intend for White America to control the African Americans like they did in the 1600 . III. The lasting oppression Similarly to the black codes and segregation implemented after the abolition of slavery restrictions are placed on prisoners after they are released. formerly a prisoner is released from prison, parole and the bans on public assistance, public living accommodations restrictions, etc. create barriers and a seemingly doomed cycle of dominance. Since half of the prisoners in prison are African American, these barriers, like the lasting effects of slavery, have a disproportionate effect on our black communities. III. The effects of oppression According to the Department of judge? s Bureau of Justice statistics, the number of fully growns in prison, jail, or on probation or parole reached almost 7 million during 2004. Since Blacks comprise 30 percent of probationers and 41 percent of pris oners.That means around 4,500,000 African Americans are affected directly by the criminal justice system. Unfortunately those African Americans sent to prison or under parole are not the only people affected. The impact on the black community does not stop at the prison door, conversely it goes far beyond. rase after a prisoner is released there are lasting effects to the prisoner, his or her family and the community as a whole. a. Demise of the Black family One effect of the high rate of incarceration of African American males in particular has been the decreasing number of mature men in the African American community.Along with high rank of homicide, AIDS-related deaths and other factors, this has created a substantial imbalance in the male-female ratio among full-grown African Americans. Whereas gender ratios for African Americans at birth are about 102-103 males for every 100 females, by the age range 40-44, this declines to 86 males per 100 females, whereas white rates are 100100 for this group. b. Lost political voice The impact of the criminal justice system on the black community goes beyond the declining family structure to issues of political influence as well.As a result of laws that disenfranchise felons and ex-felons in miscellaneous states, an estimated 1. 4 million African American males, or 13% of the black male adult population, is either currently or permanently disenfranchised as a result of a felony conviction. In fourteen states, a felony conviction can result in lifetime disenfranchisement, and in seven of these states, an estimated one in four black males is permanently disenfranchised.Thus, not only are criminal justice policies contributing to the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans, but captivity itself then reduces the collective political ability of African Americans to influence these policies. V. Solutions The regular demise in the structure of the black family, lost political influence and seemingly arreste d development are all very familiar results of a history of oppression. Since these effects of slavery and disparities in the criminal justice system seemingly steam from hundreds of years ago there is no dissolute fix.Ideally the answer would lie in the destruction of all prejudice. But, it is impossible to erase the deep seated legacy and resurfacing effects of slavery. Therefore this problem must be attacked from a variety of different angles.Recommendations for alter can be considered in the areas of awareness, legislative change, criminal justice officials? initiatives, and criminal justice/community partnerships. The following are some suggested that will allow for a beginning to a seemingly circular and endless problem. 1. legislative Actions Legislation should be pushed to Reconsider Mandatory Sentencing Policies and Equalize Penalties for Crack and powderise Cocaine . 2. Criminal Justice Officials? Initiatives ?n Criminal Justice Officials should blow a fuse Drug Poli cy Options And Expand the Use of Alternative Sentencing 3. Criminal Justice/Community Partnerships.The criminal Justice system and the community should attempt to increase Community-based Diversion from the Criminal Justice System And Strengthen the Link between Communities and the Justice System VI. Closing Oppression in the form of institutionalization is nada new to those dressed in black skin it has been present since 1619. In this year Africans were brought to the United States and forced into the institution of slavery. Even after the abolition of slavery, a series of codes and segregation laws were set in place to maintain the suppression of black people because black skin was stigmatized as inferior.Even though the prejudice and biased codes and laws were eventually abolished themselves, this stigma remains. Because this theory of black inferiority was embedded in the American culture due to slavery, various means of oppression are able to continually resurface in differen t forms. Today that form is Criminal Justice System, more specifically the drug policies. Practically mirroring the institution of slavery, African Americans are being controlled and prevail by this system. Control by the USCJS includes the probation, parole, imprisonment, lost economic power, struggling communities and lost political voice.In order to end this vicious cycle of oppression, action must be taken. First people must be made aware of the disparities. Next those who are made aware must press for legislative change, criminal justice officials? initiatives, and criminal justice/community partnerships. The take exception for the community at large is to engage in broad backchat of the mix of family, community, and government initiatives that can begin to reverse the cycle that has been set in motion in recent years. Let? s do what Abraham attempted o do in 1877, let? s end this legacy of slavery.