For over a century, scholars have been debating the effect of slavery on African-American’s behavior after emancipation. In this paper, I will give two systems that links African American behavior from slavery to the criminalized destructive behavior we see today. The systematic system of racism in the media and the criminal justice system criminalizes African American’s behavior thus, creating more slaves than those before emancipation. The media demigods African Americans through propaganda, which puts fear into the heart of white America, which allows African Americans to be incarcerated in substantial high rates. The African American has been seen as a threat ever since they have been freed from the bondage of their white oppressors. The
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The American Political System went on a moral crusade and spent over forty million dollars and counting on what they called “The war on drugs.” Despite the conservative driven media, epidemic of African American drug dealers and gangsters; It should be noted that blacks sell drugs at the same rate as their white counterparts. Michelle Alexander sates “The Media outlets created the link between minorities, drugs, and crime was firmly cemented in American rhetoric and embodied in President Reagan’s revamped “War on Drugs (Alexander, 2012).” The war on drugs became the attack on black behavior and culture and deemed it worthy of death or incarceration. This can be seen in the actions of police officers shooting and killing unarmed African Americans and the high rate of incarceration. Time Magazine in 2013 released their studies that young African Americans are actually less likely to sell and use drugs and less likely to develop substance use disorders, compared to whites, Native Americans, Hispanics and people of mixed race. The study also went on to show that, more whites use crack cocaine, but are less likely to get arrested for dealing or using crack cocaine (Dr. Jones, 2013). This has been designed and collaborated by the American media which then helps the criminal justice system justify locking up African Americans in such a high …show more content…
The war on drugs or mass incarceration, particularly attacked how Americans viewed African American, and their worth in society. The degrading portrayal of the inner black youth subculture as being more violent than past generations has resulted in a corresponding erosion of the rights of minors (Alexander, 2012). The American law makers passed laws for warrantless searches of homes, stop and frisk, seizure laws and the use of racial profiling. This came after many whites saw the carnage and damage that African Americans caused by selling drugs and the deadly crimes they commit in their urban community. Many state and federal laws now allow minors as young as thirteen to be tried as adults (Griffin, 2011). Before, the war on drugs, the American legal system, did not treat minors as adults and they were not allowed to be registered felons. However, American citizen’s acceptance and belief of the portrayal of African Americans has created fear between adults and minors. Since the creation of the fear of the African American was created, many politicians and voters refuse to see the injustice of the American legal
The American Political System went on a moral crusade and spent over forty million dollars and counting on what they called “The war on drugs.” Despite the conservative driven media, epidemic of African American drug dealers and gangsters; It should be noted that blacks sell drugs at the same rate as their white counterparts. Michelle Alexander sates “The Media outlets created the link between minorities, drugs, and crime was firmly cemented in American rhetoric and embodied in President Reagan’s revamped “War on Drugs (Alexander, 2012).” The war on drugs became the attack on black behavior and culture and deemed it worthy of death or incarceration. This can be seen in the actions of police officers shooting and killing unarmed African Americans and the high rate of incarceration. Time Magazine in 2013 released their studies that young African Americans are actually less likely to sell and use drugs and less likely to develop substance use disorders, compared to whites, Native Americans, Hispanics and people of mixed race. The study also went on to show that, more whites use crack cocaine, but are less likely to get arrested for dealing or using crack cocaine (Dr. Jones, 2013). This has been designed and collaborated by the American media which then helps the criminal justice system justify locking up African Americans in such a high …show more content…
The war on drugs or mass incarceration, particularly attacked how Americans viewed African American, and their worth in society. The degrading portrayal of the inner black youth subculture as being more violent than past generations has resulted in a corresponding erosion of the rights of minors (Alexander, 2012). The American law makers passed laws for warrantless searches of homes, stop and frisk, seizure laws and the use of racial profiling. This came after many whites saw the carnage and damage that African Americans caused by selling drugs and the deadly crimes they commit in their urban community. Many state and federal laws now allow minors as young as thirteen to be tried as adults (Griffin, 2011). Before, the war on drugs, the American legal system, did not treat minors as adults and they were not allowed to be registered felons. However, American citizen’s acceptance and belief of the portrayal of African Americans has created fear between adults and minors. Since the creation of the fear of the African American was created, many politicians and voters refuse to see the injustice of the American legal