How It Became A Crime To Be Poor In America Analysis

In his article “How It Became a Crime to be Poor in America”, by Dr. Peter Edelman focuses on what is arguably a serious problem plaguing America’s poor; chronic, unjustified persecution, criminalization and incarceration. The issue of poverty and crime have, seemingly, gone hand in hand for millennia. A critical question arises then, as to whether one creates the other, or if there has been a conscious, orchestrated effort by the criminal justice system to perpetuate this circumstance. Unless all aspects of an issue are considered, a reasonable conclusion cannot be reached. In the context of this article alone, Dr. Edelman’s argument lacks reliability for several reasons. First and foremost, “the ultimate goal” of ending poverty simply is not possible. Our world does not function on a level or even a fair playing field; this is a fact of life. Second, the thesis claims that it is “those in poverty who are unjustly targeted”. However, the supporting commentary concentrates not on all poor, but rather on a certain demographic of the poor population, young African-American men. Furthermore, the following statement indicates that, in …show more content…
It should be an additional deterrent to crime. The old saying “don’t do the crime if you can’t afford the time” equates now to “don’t do the crime if you can’t afford the fine.” Without indicating where the figures are drawn from, Dr. Edelman states that “right now, in America, 10 million people, representing two-thirds of all current and former offenders owe the governments a total of $50 billion in accumulated fines, fees and other imposition.” For the people who owe, this works out to about $5000 per person, yet what about the other one-third? Apparently, there are 5 million people who commit crimes and yet are not in debt for