One of the most powerful yet endangered social institutions is the African American family. From the first introduction through slaves, laws and policies have been placed to discourage a healthy, traditional family that consisted of a husband and wife in the home. The African American family has been revered as the foundation of the African American community. The African American family has been targeted from its very existence with social policies that would have devastating effects on communities of color, particularly African American. The greatest blow has been dealt by those policies in the criminal justice system specifically those known as The War on Crime and The War on Drugs.
Stop and frisk, classification of drugs for sentencing, …show more content…
Criminal sentences for various drug offenses show the disproportionate effects of the War on Drugs and Crime on African Americans. Crack cocaine and powder cocaine have the exact same sentences for varying weights. 5 grams of crack cocaine is a mandatory five-year sentence while 500 (five hundred) grams of powder cocaine gets the exact same sentence. (Rosich) Crack cocaine distribution is more prevalent in the African American communities while powder cocaine is found in more affluent communities. The NAACP crime statistics also show that African Americans make up more than 80% of the people sentenced under the federal mandatory minimums for crack cocaine and they also serve longer sentences for their drug offenses than whites. This staggering statistic is despite the fact that more than ⅔ of crack users are white or …show more content…
criminal justice system are drawn from research findings in several areas: (1) minority juveniles are more likely to be disadvantaged in the juvenile justice system, thus creating a cumulative record of disadvantage over the life course; (2) police discretion results in higher arrest rates (as well as harsher treatment at arrest) for minorities; (3) the War on Drugs, and other “get tough” legislation enacted since the 1980s at the state and federal levels disadvantage African Americans; (4) persistent, unwarranted sentencing disparities as well as differentials in rates of incarceration indicate racial biases; and (5) directly or indirectly, the death penalty targets blacks.” (Rosich)
In recent years, the long-felt effects of the criminal justice system’s policies such and Mandatory Sentences, Stop and Frisk, and the 1994 Crime Bill has been at the center of much debate. With authors such as Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow and documentaries such as 13th, an Ava Duvernay film that provides an in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and reveals the nation's history of racial
Stop and frisk, classification of drugs for sentencing, …show more content…
Criminal sentences for various drug offenses show the disproportionate effects of the War on Drugs and Crime on African Americans. Crack cocaine and powder cocaine have the exact same sentences for varying weights. 5 grams of crack cocaine is a mandatory five-year sentence while 500 (five hundred) grams of powder cocaine gets the exact same sentence. (Rosich) Crack cocaine distribution is more prevalent in the African American communities while powder cocaine is found in more affluent communities. The NAACP crime statistics also show that African Americans make up more than 80% of the people sentenced under the federal mandatory minimums for crack cocaine and they also serve longer sentences for their drug offenses than whites. This staggering statistic is despite the fact that more than ⅔ of crack users are white or …show more content…
criminal justice system are drawn from research findings in several areas: (1) minority juveniles are more likely to be disadvantaged in the juvenile justice system, thus creating a cumulative record of disadvantage over the life course; (2) police discretion results in higher arrest rates (as well as harsher treatment at arrest) for minorities; (3) the War on Drugs, and other “get tough” legislation enacted since the 1980s at the state and federal levels disadvantage African Americans; (4) persistent, unwarranted sentencing disparities as well as differentials in rates of incarceration indicate racial biases; and (5) directly or indirectly, the death penalty targets blacks.” (Rosich)
In recent years, the long-felt effects of the criminal justice system’s policies such and Mandatory Sentences, Stop and Frisk, and the 1994 Crime Bill has been at the center of much debate. With authors such as Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow and documentaries such as 13th, an Ava Duvernay film that provides an in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and reveals the nation's history of racial