vTrey & Josh
Mr. Ruff
Government
1 Nov. 2017
Death Penalty "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This passage written by Thomas Jefferson and taken directly from the Declaration of Independence defines the rights the American nation is founded upon. These “unalienable” rights every American has “endowed” upon them are ones that cannot be taken away. The taking of a person’s life inhibits a person from having a life, seeking liberty, and pursuing happiness and thus is going against the fundamentals America is founded upon. The death penalty is racist and expensive and …show more content…
Currently there are many protests demanding that the racial divide closes. The death penalty is one such divide: split by the race of the victim and the race of the defendant. Since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1977 40% of death row inmates have been African-American men, yet they only amount to about 6% of the general population (2). These numbers are preposterous and persecute the African-American population greatly. Furthermore: A study in California found that those convicted of killing whites were more than 3 times as likely to obtain a sentence of death as those convicted of killing blacks and more than four times more likely as those convicted of killing Latinos (1). Many of the people on death row are sentenced to death primarily because of the color of their skin and the amount of pigment in the skin of those they are convicted of killing. 288 of the capital punishment cases have had black defendants and white victims (1). In 96% of states where there have been reviews of race and the death penalty, there was a pattern of either race-of-victim or race-of-defendant discrimination, or both (1). In the land of the free, where all men are created equal with unalienable rights, this is completely against everything everything America stands for. Therefore, America should abolish the death penalty. And abolish it for all Americans, no matter the color of their skin, or the country they are
Mr. Ruff
Government
1 Nov. 2017
Death Penalty "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” This passage written by Thomas Jefferson and taken directly from the Declaration of Independence defines the rights the American nation is founded upon. These “unalienable” rights every American has “endowed” upon them are ones that cannot be taken away. The taking of a person’s life inhibits a person from having a life, seeking liberty, and pursuing happiness and thus is going against the fundamentals America is founded upon. The death penalty is racist and expensive and …show more content…
Currently there are many protests demanding that the racial divide closes. The death penalty is one such divide: split by the race of the victim and the race of the defendant. Since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1977 40% of death row inmates have been African-American men, yet they only amount to about 6% of the general population (2). These numbers are preposterous and persecute the African-American population greatly. Furthermore: A study in California found that those convicted of killing whites were more than 3 times as likely to obtain a sentence of death as those convicted of killing blacks and more than four times more likely as those convicted of killing Latinos (1). Many of the people on death row are sentenced to death primarily because of the color of their skin and the amount of pigment in the skin of those they are convicted of killing. 288 of the capital punishment cases have had black defendants and white victims (1). In 96% of states where there have been reviews of race and the death penalty, there was a pattern of either race-of-victim or race-of-defendant discrimination, or both (1). In the land of the free, where all men are created equal with unalienable rights, this is completely against everything everything America stands for. Therefore, America should abolish the death penalty. And abolish it for all Americans, no matter the color of their skin, or the country they are