Effects Of Racialization Of Crime

Race is a socially constructed term that defines and separates people by the color of their skin. Race in America goes back to the beginning of the United States and so does racialization. In class, racialization of crime was defined as, “imposing racial meaning on bodies, objects or behaviors” (Aseltine, lecture, 2016, August 31). Usually when racialization is thought or talked about, it is limited to African Americans, slavery, and discrimination. Racialization of crime is when a race is associated with criminal behavior through assumptions, behaviors, and personality characteristics. Not only have African Americans been racialized, but so have Latinos; racialization of crime has influenced the criminal justice process unjustly. Racialization has unequally influenced drug …show more content…
It has caused African American and Latino stereotypes of, “the criminal,” come to life. Blacks and Hispanics are seen by the public eye as the common criminal and this spotlight is shot through the media. Law Enforcement, the people who are supposed to protect citizens, are harassed and abusing their power, racial profiling people on the streets. This is what causes the Black incarceration rates to be five times the rate of whites. Race is a socially constructed term, and society is also creating this image of a criminal to be any other race than white. Racialization of crime has caused many people to be falsely convicted of a crime, harassed on the streets by police officers, and also makes Blacks and Hispanics serve longer prison sentences than Whites. The mistreatment and racialization has come from past times when discriminatory laws were enforced by law enforcement. These patterns haven’t gone away, but they have been modified to fit a more socially acceptable standard. Discrimination and racialization is still present today and the racialization of crime against Blacks and Hispanics won’t stop unless something is changed, not