Justice System: Segregations And Ex-Offenders

1. In the structure of slavery, blacks had entirely no rights at all and were closed into a sealed system of exploitation. It was race-based and not eliminated until the Civil War. It was represented by extreme and erratic violence. Jim Crow laws were passed in Southern states after slavery was eradicated in order to reduce former slaves, who were theoretically equal citizens now, to a place of subordination. “Throughout much of the United States ex-offenders are expected to pay fines and court cost and submit paper work to multiple agencies in an effort to win back a right that should have never been taken away from them in a democracy” (Alexander, P. 159) That is just one of the many rights and privileges that both segregations and ex-offenders …show more content…
The justice system is incredibly unfair to people of color. In many different ways, the justice system is extremely against minorities and have different tactics and policies that work and put them in a cycle of poverty and imprisonment. Such as with charges of drugs, some of the statistics surprised me. “Human Rights Watch reported in 2000 that, in seven states, African Americans constitute 80 to 90 percent of all drug offenders sent to prison.” (Alexander pg. 74) “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.” (Alexander pg. 74) A lot of these African American people were sent to jail on insane charges for having such a small amount of a drug. “Although the majority of illegal drug users, and dealers nationwide are white, three-fourths of all people imprisoned for drug offenses have been black or Latino.” (Alexander P. 75) These statistics are perfect examples of color blindness and racial profiling. Many of those people are serving a long time just based off their skin color. Today people are so quickly to judge a person based off their skin color. Such as, when someone mentions a drug dealer, many people usually in vision an African American man. “African American youth account for 16 percent of all youth ', 28 ' percent of all juvenile arrests, 35percent of the youth waived to adult criminal court, and 58 percent of youth admitted to state adult prison. A major …show more content…
The Some blacks inspired themselves and others to behave in the best way possible to show whites they should be equal to them. They wanted to convince them that they could be just like them. Since the only thing they could control was their own behavior in a situation of complete disenfranchisement, they thought it would be successful. However, it was an idea mostly embraced by black elites who convicted and distanced themselves from the black poor to improve their own status. Also, while they were doing this, they claimed to be speaking for all blacks in general. This was particularly troublesome for poor blacks during the New Deal because black elites supported programs that would harm the urban poor but help themselves. People say that crime is voluntary, and that everyone should be punished for what they have committed. Most people also forget that we are all human beings, who make mistakes and can easily break the law. There is no difference between an African American male selling drugs on the street, then a white male selling drugs by his dorm in his college. Unfortunately, because of the color of their skin, their jail time is completely different. "There were more black men in state 's correctional facilities in 2001 just on drug charges than the total number of black men enrolled in undergraduate degree programs in state universities" (Alexander, P.112). Seeing all these African American people in jail for long periods of time, make people challenge and think