How To Perpetuate Racial Inequalities

People of disadvantaged social-economic backgrounds have a lack of access to resources. The court and its systems, claims equal and just trial under the law for all peoples, but more often than not we see the lower steps of society and individuals fall to the mercy of the upper class and heavily resourced companies and organizations. For example, the Orlando shootings caused the city and community members to organize and proposed a local level gun and ammunition regulation. Instantly the NRA became involved as the large special interests threaten to sue and its potent judicial resources stopped any possible adoptions in its tracks. Yes, one could argue this is more a Second amendment issue rather than the “socio-economic/access to resources …show more content…
Individuals are influenced by prior experiences and interactions, as well as social views and messaging. This causes us to think in certain ways, which is sometimes ok, but it is not ok when it serves to perpetuate racial inequalities. This happens in law enforcement, lawyers, and judges at an individual a systemic level, as can be seen in statistics for arrests and sentencing for similar crimes, though there are differences on racial lines. I think Implicit bias can be combatted through trainings on cultural competency and emotional intelligence so individuals can better understand circumstances the communities they work for are in, as well as how to better appreciate the humanity in each …show more content…
and its drastic costs to the American people are damaging. Our country has the highest rates of any state in the whole world. We incarcerate at such a high volume that prisons have become an economic venture, a business, rather than running for its purpose of providing punishment. Although I support that prisons are necessary for offenders who break the law, we are overly incarcerating people for misdemeanor drug charges which is costing our nation a fortune. In addition, black males and other minority groups make up a smaller percentage of the overall population, but are incarcerated at much higher rates than white. This comes down to a lasting deep rooted institutional racism in our legal system that continues to perpetuate inequalities. I think the problem is something that is very hard to address, but can be done if we all take the time to realize these inequalities and stand up to fight for a more just system. We must acknowledge that over incarceration is a huge issue in our country, and see that it is rooted in this racism. I am not sure exactly how we can solve this problem, but it can start with not just putting people in prison for misdemeanor's, but putting a bigger focus on rehab and mental health facilities to rehabilitate people before they are back into the public, which is much cheaper and more beneficial to the offender. The underlying racial inequality must be addressed, conversation in politics and communities can