Racism, Prisons, and the Future of Black AmericaEssay Preview: Racism, Prisons, and the Future of Black AmericaReport this essayRacism, Prisons, and the Future of Black AmericaI came upon an article bearing the above title after entering the word race into my web browser search bar. After skimming through the article, I became interested in the topic and decided it would be worthy for using in my Race in the Media Analysis. The topic mentioned is that of the staggering number of Blacks within American prisons. In the year the article was published (2000), the number of incarcerated Blacks were slightly over half of the entire American prison population of roughly 2 million. According to the author, Manning Marable (a black man), that meant that 1 out of every 35 blacks are in prison. These figures astonished me and made me curious as to the cause of such disturbing statistics. However, I had a notion of possible causes. I would expect to find that the reason for such large numbers is based upon poverty, and the amounts of Blacks that grow up in ghettos. If blacks make up the majority of inhabitants of Americas poorest neighborhoods, than that would be an obvious answer. It is my belief that people are more or less products of their environments, and if you grow up where there is poverty and crime, you are likely to remain poor and become a criminal. If a man or woman feels that there are no opportunities for them to make a decent living through an ethical job, then they will naturally look towards crime as a solution. It is simply a survival instinct.
After reading the article, it became apparent that the authors emphasis was on disparities in the criminal justice system in regard to race, specifically black versus white. Marable points out many statistics that suggest the presence of racism in within the court system. Some of these are:
Among youth offenders, 66% of whites are referred to juvenile courts while only 31% of blacks are taken there.For young people who have never been to prison, blacks are nine times more likely than whites to be sentenced to juvenile prisons.For youths charged with drug offenses, blacks are 48 times more likely than whites to be sent to juvenile prison.White youths charged with violent offenses are incarcerated on average for 193 days after trial, blacks for 254 days, and Latinos for 305 days.I think that these numbers can be interpreted in different ways, and I believe that the author would like us to believe that the courtrooms of America are indeed racist. These numbers are suggesting, but they are not obvious evidence for racism. The way in which the article is worded
I have used various words in place of individual words and not the name of the author.
I think that these statistics can be interpreted in different ways, and I believe that the author would like us to believe that the courtrooms of America are indeed racist. The way in which the article is worded
The number of kids released from youth prisons has increased sharply in recent decades, driven primarily by a sharp increase in youth-based offender placement. The number of states where juvenile courts, or juvenile probation, now have large “no-contact” centers has grown to more than 600.
In the early 1990s, the government passed a law providing for a four-year, five-year contract for youth offenders to take advantage of an early release program. The State of New York passed the law as part of its push to expand its criminal justice system, and after the passage of state-level legislation the New York State Supreme Court approved the new law last September. The new contract and new services, according to a recent report by the New School Legal Center, are intended to help states implement programs designed to hold on to children and teens and provide them with a better quality of life under community and private supervision.
It should come as no surprise that there are many cases in which youth are denied even minimal contact with adult law enforcement. Although a significant percentage of their children don’t have access to community supervision or access to treatment, young people are routinely put in juvenile facilities for abuse until they turn 18. When one young woman went into solitary confinement in Florida while she was a child and had an abusive mother, the State of Florida’s Center for Juvenile Justice and Services made her take care of her child through a secure, private “therapeutic program.” The National Center for Lesbian Rights explained the role of such programs:The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, with guidance from Florida’s highest court, has made it clear that when minors are deemed not to be at risk for abuse, they are entitled to assistance through the program.The Florida Department of Public Safety and Corrections, which operates the child custody program, is not aware of a single case where state-level or city-level juveniles have been served time in the same adult program because they had been referred but were not found to pose a risk to public safety.The Center has published a report on the Florida youth placement program and how it will work to ensure that as many children as possible receive the kind of education and treatment they need under correctional supervision to hold their children accountable for their crimes.
The number of kids released from youth prisons has increased sharply in recent decades, driven primarily by a sharp increase in youth-based offender placement. The number of states where juvenile courts, or juvenile probation, now have large “no-contact” centers has grown to more than 600.The law provides for a four-year, five-year contract for youth offenders to take advantage of an early release program. The State of New York passed the law as part of its push to