Al Sharpton hit the nail on the head when he stated that although the situation for minorities, especially Black minorities, has improved dramatically since the days of slavery, racism is still extremely prevalent in American society. It may not be as blatant as it once was, however the existence of racism is hard to deny and is found everywhere.
Whether it is through micro-aggressions or subconscious preferences for one group over another when hiring for positions, racism continues to affect minorities in all walks of their lives. One particular area that racism has entered at a disproportionate rate is the criminal justice system. When comparing the general population percentages of different races to that of those incarcerated, a huge disparity is seen.
There were two huge predictors of family violence amongst racial and ethnic minority’s households in the United States. The first included the punitive value system that leads the U.S. to imprison more citizens (and undocumented individuals) than any other country in the world. The second is racism in our society. Those two combined lead to disproportionate sentencing for the same crime committed by different races.
For example, when it comes to the death sentence, individuals who kill Whites are 3-4 times more likely to be given the death sentence than individuals who kill Blacks or Latinos. Along with that, 1 of every 4 African American children born in 1990 had a father imprisoned (and 1 of every 2 are children of high school dropouts, compared to 7 of every 100 White children born in 1990). Additionally, of the more than 2 million inmates who were incarcerated in 2008, 38 percent were African American, 19 percent were Latino, and 37 percent were White. When these stats are compared to the national population, where 13 percent are African American, 15 percent are Latinos of any race, and 76 percent are White, the disparity is clearly seen. The disparities amongst these different situations have several negative consequences for not only those being incarcerated, but also their families and their communities.
Along with the person being incarcerated having an extremely reduced ability for social cohesion, there is also a severance of important family ties and income loss. There are increased risk factors for family violence due to having a single-parent home and poverty. Amongst minority communities, there is a higher distrust towards the police and criminal justice system than compared to Whites.
Often times, White parents will inform their children that if any issues should arise, the police are there to help and keep them safe. Minority parents, Black minorities in particular, tend to tell their children to keep their hands visible at all times and to listen to everything an officer tells them in order to avoid the officer misinterpreting anything said or done as “going against authority." The tension between the authorities and minorities are extremely prevalent and are more visible to society with the media paying more attention to events like those that occurred in Ferguson and Eric Garner being choked to death by an officer (who was not indicted).
The disproportionate incarceration of different races is unfair and displays an unfortunate flaw in the U.S justice system. It is contaminated by years of racism and discrimination. These differences lead minorities to feel like those that are supposed to protect and serve them are instead, the enemy. A change has to be made if we wish for everyone in “the land of the free” to feel like a “restrictions and conditions apply” tag is not attached to that phrase.
