2014

Warren Easton Sameera Boston AP Literature Research Paper

[RACISM/INEQUALITY IN JUSTICE SYSTEM]

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In America, we have the most successful justice systems to ever be created. With hundreds of genres of cases, the United States has seen a great deal of justice in its days. However, with Americas rigged courts, police brutality, inequality against women, and with over two million prisoners in the United States, we have one of the highest amount of prisoners in the world. These are topics that U.S. government refuses to acknowledge. They think that racism doesnt exist and sooner or later everything will blow over but the fact of the matter is that the war has just begun. As you can tell in recent new, the court system is a very crooked rigged game that politicians have controlled for years. Take for example the most obvious being the Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis cases. Now everybody knows how racist these cases are but did know that there is not one case in Florida where a black person has successfully used the Stand Your Ground Law defense in a hearing. In the case of Trayvon Martin, he was an innocent, unarmed boy who fit the description of someone who would be up to no good. During his trial, it seemed as though the case didnt lean toward him being defenseless but it was more of do we have enough evidence to prove he was defenseless. Statements like these ultimately led to a not guilty verdict. This system was rigged because putting him in

jail would have gave the PoC (people of color) too much hope; the hope that Hey maybe a cold-blooded monster who deserves to be incarcerated, actually gets thrown in to prison. Not to mention the Jordan Davis case where the killer didnt even get convicted of the murder he did do but is facing 20 years for attempted murder on the other children in the car(Hostin). Now heres the thing about police brutality, there are hundreds of cases about it but they rarely ever go to court or they dont get published. This also falls under our rigged court system because they only take what they want. One case that immediately caught my attention was against a man named Flint Farmer. Farmer was armed only with a cell phone when video footage caught Officer Gildardo Sierra beating him to the ground and shooting him seven times. Sierra fired 16 rounds. He admitted drinking multiple beers before killing Farmer under the mistaken assumption that he was armed. He had a fatal shooting on his record already (St. Clair). Situations like these were the Cook County Police Department stated that although Sierra fired his weapon 16 times, hitting Farmer seven times including three times in the back they did not think they could show that the shooting was unreasonable( No charges for cop in 2011 fatal shooting caught on video). The unsuccessfulness of this case brings to another one that took

place in Rochester New York. Three African-American students who were waiting for a school bus were arrested on Wednesday morning when police officer told them to disperse, even though witnesses said they did nothing wrong. According to the article, basketball coach Jacob Scott had arranged for a school bus to pick up the boys to take them to a scrimmage on a day when school was closed (Coach Defends Students Arrested at Bus Stop). These boys were casually waiting for a bus but because the officer had nothing better to do, he harassed those three boys by arresting them for nothing. Every 28 hours a black woman, man or child in the United States is executed by a person employed or protected by the US government according to a year-long investigation by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (MXGM), which has thus far been virtually ignored by the news media, progressive outlets included. The largest portion of those killed in 2012 (40 percent) were between the ages of 22 to 31, followed by 18 to 21 year olds at 18 percent. Children made up 8 percent of extra judicially executed black Americans. This pattern of police brutality on all people under seems to be rising at alarming rates. One factor to that are no consequences, the police simply believe they can get away with murder, which is sadly what they do.

Believe it or not, inequality against women is a broad statement. It falls into so many categories, its too many name. Now the biggest controversy that arises is rape. Some people feel as though its the womans fault, other believe solely that the blame falls upon the rapist not the victim. Every race has its highs and lows in statistics, take for instance Native American women are at a high risk of sexual and physical abuse, recorded at three and a half times higher than the national average. This estimate is very low because 70 percent of abuse cases go unreported, often due to mistrust Native American women feel towards government and police. Seventy percent of the violence experienced by Native American women is from non-Native American men (Giago). One of the worst scenarios a woman could be in right now is Marissa Alexanders situation. Marissa Alexander is facing 20 years in prison after having her 'Stand Your Ground' defense rejected in Florida. Alexander was found guilty on three counts of aggravated assault, which carries a minimum sentence under state law. Floridas 10-20-Life law is what landed Alexander in prison for 20 years. Floridas 10-20Life law requires courts to impose a minimum of 10 years, 20 years or 25 years to life in prison for certain felony convictions involving the use or attempted use of a firearm or other deadly weapon(Thomas). I believe that because of Marissa Alexanders characteristics, she is being given a harsh

sentence. Critics say it was because when Marissa tried to leave the house; she came back in, with the firearm and then fired a warning shot at her husband. This could leave the court to believe that maybe Marissa was abusive but in actually, her husband was the abusive one. Just like how statistics say, [90% of the women in prison today for killing men had been battered by those men] (Facts about Women Who Kill Their Abusers). All of these corrupt crimes and racism untimely leads me to where a lot of PoC end up because of their crimes, prison. While people of color make up about 30 percent of the United States population, they account for 60 percent of those imprisoned (Kerby). This startling statistic leads me to believe that maybe we arent the Land Of The Free we claim to be. With over 2 million prisoners in the United States alone, there comes a time when we honestly have to wonder, why? Why do black offenders receive longer sentences compared to white offenders? It could be because once a black defendant gets in front of the judge, they are immediately stereotyped, seen as threat, and a money maker for the big prison corporations. This brings me to the conspiracy; well more of a fact now, that private owned prisons are controlled by the music industry. In a letter I read by an anonymous online confessional, that in 1991, a group of big business big wigs gathered outside of L.A. The

letter stated that about 30 people showed up, everyone speaking to one another except for a small group that kept to themselves. They were soon interrupted and asked to sign a confidentiality agreement preventing them from publicly discussing the information presented during the meeting. During the meeting, the subject changed when the speaker went on to say the companies they represented, had invested in a profitable industry. He [the speaker] explained that the companies [they] work for had invested millions into the building of privately owned prisons and that [their] positions of influence in the music industry would actually impact the profitability of these investments (The Record Industry Pushed Gangster Rap as a Favor to Friends in the Prison Industry). The speaker then went on to explain that private prisons are owned by companies that get paid by the government based on the number of inmates. It was also made clear to them that they would be able to buy shares since they were privately owned. He [the speaker] told [them] that since [their] employers had become silent investors in this prison business, it was now in their interest to make sure that these prisons remained filled. [Their] job would be to help make this happen by marketing music which promotes criminal behavior, rap being the music of choice (The Record Industry Pushed Gangster Rap As a Favor to Friends in the Prison Industry). This is how the world is now and the only way to change it, is to

stop being so blind to the hatred and discrimination right in front of us. In conclusion, not only did this paper open my eyes to clear racism in America but I feel a sense of relief that now I know that all it takes is for someone to step up and say something. When I hear people say things like, The Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis case have nothing to do with race, I just cringe at the thought of the ignorance I hear. Everyone knows that race was the main motive for murder but no one says anything because its a touchy subject. Its time for people to stop being so afraid. All white privileged people do is feed off of our fear. We need to stop being scared and start getting angry. Get angry at the fact you cant walk down the street without being profiled, get angry at the fact that you cant walk around a store without being followed. Once PoC start demanding respect and equality, thats the only way we start to see change. There is a war going on; it starts with us and ends with us and its only just begun.