Monday, April 20, 2015
what does race have to do with crime?
Today people of color
continue to be disproportionately incarcerated, policed, and
sentenced to death at significantly higher rates than their white
counterparts. Further, racial disparities in the criminal-justice
system threaten communities of color disenfranchising thousands by
limiting voting rights and denying equal access to employment,
housing, public benefits, and education to millions more. Race is a
polarizing feature in american society, nowhere is this more evidence
than in the criminal justice system. African american, who comprise
twelve percent of the U.S population, account for 47 percent of
felony convictions and 54 percent of prison admissions. Studies
suggest that one third of african american males aged 20-29 are under
the supervision of the criminal justice system on any given day.
Minority communities are often suspicious of and hostile towards the
criminal justice system and particular police. Consequently,
conflicts between police and citizens have been the flashpoint for
virtually every recent urban riot. In american society a prevalent
representation of crime is that it is overwhelmingly committed by
young black men. The reality is that the criminal justice system
encounters and processes a number of minority offenders that far
surpasses their representation in the general population may
corroborate the common notion that being black equates to
criminality. Moreover, aside from the actual involvement of blacks in
crime and the criminal justice system, other potential contributors
to the profiling of criminals of young black males may be various
media sources, as a fact the media plays a big role and provides
readily accessible depictions of criminality, which may help to shape
perceptions about crime and subsequent justice practices.
In
american the law is if you do the crime than sure you do the time,
however, not always for the reasons one may think of, because it not
just about a crime, or about whether an accused person in fact
committed the crime. It is not just about the quality of the
evidence, or whether the prosecution can prove a defendant guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt. But its also about race, although one's
skin color does not have anything whatsoever to do with whether or
not they are guilty of a crime, it matters, race matters in ways that
it should not at all. Generally when society think about crime, they normally see black, even when it is not present at all, this type of
social problem is what we all have to solve. As a result one in three
black males born today can highly expect to spend time in prison
during their lifetime. For instance, the death of Trayvon martin who
was shot and killed by a white male latter on stating that he killed
him for self defence, because there are few black people who have
committed burglary in that past and as a result Tryvon was black,
therefore, the victim was a criminal in the eye of the
criminal-justice. Similar logic is used daily in the assumptions
police and citizens make about african americans, especially young
males, the black man as a criminal and aggressive stereotype runs
deeply in peoples mind.
African American and
Hispanic defendants are twice as likely to push for mandatory minimum
sentences, leading to longer sentences and disparities in
incarceration rates for federal offenses.
“Whites commit crimes but blacks are criminals.” While whites can and do commit a great deal of minor and major crimes, the race as a whole is never tainted by those acts. But when blacks violate the law, all members of the race are considered suspect. Therefore, people who believe that African American or Latino youth are more criminal than any other ethnic groups are simply wrong. The real facts tell us much more than stereotypes. According to the National survey on Drug Use and Health, among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate of current illicit drug use was 11.1 % among whites, and 9.3% among African Americans. However African American youth are arrested for drug offenses at about twice the rate times that of whites, and African American youth represent nearly half 48% of all the youth incarcerated for a drug offense in the juvenile justice system.
“Whites commit crimes but blacks are criminals.” While whites can and do commit a great deal of minor and major crimes, the race as a whole is never tainted by those acts. But when blacks violate the law, all members of the race are considered suspect. Therefore, people who believe that African American or Latino youth are more criminal than any other ethnic groups are simply wrong. The real facts tell us much more than stereotypes. According to the National survey on Drug Use and Health, among youths aged 12 to 17, the rate of current illicit drug use was 11.1 % among whites, and 9.3% among African Americans. However African American youth are arrested for drug offenses at about twice the rate times that of whites, and African American youth represent nearly half 48% of all the youth incarcerated for a drug offense in the juvenile justice system.
According
to class discussion Alexander states that people deny racism in the
criminal justice system due to its normalization by media despite the
mass incarceration of minorities in the United States. He states that
the problem is not the propensity to commit crimes by minorities; but
rather the systemic discrimination that is deeply rooted in the
criminal justice system. This is exacerbated by stereotypes held by
Americans, including leaders like President Barrack Obama. Alexander
also explains the truth about the war on drugs to be like the vehicle
that drives the disproportionate increase in black incarceration
rates in the U.S. The war on drugs in Mexico aided by the US has a
similar impact, but unfortunately, instead of a hypothetical war on
drugs, there is actually militarized conflicts that led to over 60
000 dead within a 6 year period. I truly believe that the war on
drugs is extremely narrow minded. In the U.S. it is an attempt to fix
a “criminal” probably, which coincidently is only criminal for
non-whites. In the Mexico/ U.S. relationship it is seen as apparently
a matter of national security. The reality is that drugs are a public
health issue. The issue of race is also seen in canada, for instance,
since 2005, the number of aboriginal offenders being incarcerated has
increased by 43.5%, while non-aboriginal offender rates of
incarceration have only increased 9.3 %. Further, aboriginal
offenders receive longer sentences. They are also more likely to go
to a maximum security prison and they are less likely to be granted
parole.
for
more information please click here!
http://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/cnt/comm/presentations/presentations20140307-eng.aspx
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-jones/are-blacks-a-criminal-rac_b_8398.html
Sunday, April 19, 2015
is there such thing as whiteness?
The
term whiteness and white people has become increasingly
wide-spreading in contemporary research on race and ethnicity. Which
focuses on whiteness as it provides a different form
of racisms that offers insight into the privileges afforded to white
people and how these privileges are sustained. Whiteness is not a
thing but a process in which people of color are categorized based
upon their skin color, culture, language and so on. Generally white
people are the one who benefits from this power, and how whiteness
plays a role in reproducing racial inequalities, as a result
whiteness is invisible to white people, since its perceived as
natural or normal, and even as something that must exist because its
“truthful” or right. White people are simply tough not to
recognize white privilege its completely invisible to them.
Therefore, whites benefit from many of apparently neutral social
arrangements and institutional operations, all of which seems to
whites at least to have no racial basis, to be white then is a
privilege in which white people particularly cannot “see” but
most importantly find it difficult to acknowledge.
According
to the Tim Wise video Something that I thought was interesting is
when he mentions the idea that he is the one giving this lecture
because he “fits” the role of the person who should. what he
means by that is that he is a white, middle aged male. He says that
he is not the one who knows the most about this topic, and that there
are many black people who would be more qualified than him to give
the lecture, but he was chosen because he “fits” into the profile
that people give the subject. I think that this says a lot about how
white privilege is understood in society because it shows that the
general public is more comfortable talking about racism and white
privilege with someone that is white, and not black, even if that
black person was more educated on the subject. This also shows that
the colour of your skin has an impact on what other people think of
you. I admire Tim Wise for his honestly speaking about about white
privilege.
Tim
also mentions how he had the advantage of white privilege at school
simply because he was white, he never had to worry about his grades,
because his grades were never going to be associate with his race.
But for people of colour it is a whole different challenge, knowing
if they under performed in an academic environment, if they
mispronounce or simply made a mistake in answering the question, they
have to wonder where they have drop the ball not just for themselves
but for those who look like them who is presence in that campus would
always be questioned, and create negative stereotypes,Thats a white
privilege because they don't have to worry about such a thing.
According to his speech he explains how when white people were asked
if racial discrimination were a significant national problem for
those of colour and they were in denial of that unlike the minorities
who have experienced first hand, who admit to that to be a
significant problem. Therefore, white
denials is everywhere and has never changed starting from back in the
days.
for
more information regarding this topic click below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AMY2Bvxuxc
Racisms in a multicultural canada!
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As
Canadians, we're justifiably proud of our diverse nation, and our
reputation for politeness. But good manners don't neutralize the
racism and discrimination that exist in canada. Calling Canada a
multicultural paradise is simply delusional, because as canadian we
normally don’t like to discuss racism, we generally think americans
are the one with racism problems and maybe they should talk about
that. We would like to think that we are above racism, this type of
false belief is what causes majority of canadian to turn away from
discussions regarding racism. Yes, Canada is beautiful on the surface
with all our talks of diversity but laying beneath secrets, dark and
venomous, canada is worse than it is in the united stated because we
all think we are doing okay. As a matter fact we are not colour-blind
we are just in-denial. Racism in canada is systematic, if we think of
canada as a changed country regarding racism, we firstly need to
admit and talk about race rather than ignore it.
According
to BBC news mayor Bowman who is Winnipeg’s first indigenous mayor,
is also the first mayor to acknowledge in a speech that Winnipeg was
build on the traditional homeland of the Metis nation, who are
descendents of indigenous people and european settlers. He was
inspired by the recent murder of aboriginal teenager Tina fontaine
who was wrapped in plastic and tossed into the red river after being
sexually exploited in the city of Winnipeg. He expresses that
Winnipeg’s is where canada's racism problem is at its worst,
majority of canadian deep hatred toward aboriginals is extremely
unbelievable, aboriginals are mostly described in words such as
people who are alcoholic, jobless and homeless, people who abuse
themselves and others in every imaginable ways. Likewise, for african
canadian.
In
relation to class discussion Warmington and Lentin both argue that
racialism is still active and not something of the past which we call
a “post-racial”, although majority of people believe that we have
finally got over the racism era. However, Lentin states that whether
or not race is named, refusing the language of race does not mean
avoiding acting in ways that produce racialized inequalities.
regardless of the reality of today's generation, warmington described
how difficult it is for our society to be capable of not being racist
due to the reality of what we have a “racist society”. Lentin
also states that “anti- racists need to admit the existence of
“reverse racism”. As a result most researchers tend not to view
race as a social fact neither do they believe race to be vital in
understanding racism, this is why researchers put quotation marks on
race as concepts to explain racism, instead, their main focus is on
racialization, because these researchers believe that the world is
currently in a post racial era, which is a false consciousness.
However, post-racial positions remain premature the first counter to
post-racial standpoints is brute fact: it is patently untrue that a
post-racial or colour-blind situation has been achieved. Globally,
race practices remain integral to social and political formations.
Let
alone racism concurrency through interaction, racism is also
portrayed through the media, for instance, the Tv show South Park has
much more to say about race than its crudely stereotypical and even
crassly juvenile depictions of the racial Other would suggest. south
park compares and illustrate the reality social issues and the show
itself explains a lot about today's generation. they are using
cartoons to explain reality and the truths which are hidden from
people, we must admit that we are a colour-blinded society. south
park is commonly known for bringing the truth to most of the times
sensitive issues. Additionally, even Obama gave a speech in 2008
regarding race, the post racial discourse has become prominent in the
united state and in canada. If racism doesn't exist as the
discourse goes then why in the world should we still talk about
racism at all.
Although
we claim to be “anti racist” we have a long way to go until the
end, unfortunately racism will never end because of people are not
pushing forward to change nothing, because its obvious that people
tend to care only about themselves and ignores the rest of the
groups, how can we possibly be anti-racist in what way are changes
suppose to occurs? Fixing
the problem of racism begins with talking about it.
for more click the links below!
http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/welcome-to-winnipeg-where-canadas-racism-problem-is-at-its-worst/
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Racism is seen as a social phenomenon that happens to black people. But what happens when it is black on black?
When
we talk about xenophobic attacks it includes the definition of the
“deep rooted irrational hatred towards foreigners” xenophobia is
the unreasoned fear of other strangers, the competition for jobs,
commodities and housing and the causes of the violence is associated
to various historical , social and economic factors in south Africa.
Generally south Africa is a travel destination for many wealthy
people from other african nations, due to its developed
infrastructure and top flight amenities, many elites from many other
countries own property in south Africa. Because of the government
inability to create jobs, deliver electricity and drinking water, now
the anger and frustrations of the citizens have been turned out at
those who arrived in south Africa to make some money and succeeded.
Moreover it
is important to understand that society today is divided into the
rich and the poor, the rich, who are few, own the means of production
and distribution of wealth whilst the poor, who are the majority, own
nothing except their ability to work. Again, every political party is
owned and controlled by the rich who contribute money to it which is
used to canvass the support of the poor masses. Therefore, the
government of south Africa is mainly responsible for the
consequences. A large number of people
have decided to attack the foreigners who owns shops, or any type of business they may have held in south Africa, citizens surrounded the
city with their mission to kill every foreigner on the roads, and
stating that immigrants “should take their bags and go”. South
africans have developed so much hatred toward other africans carrying
the belief that they don't want to compete with business run by
people from other countries, as a result unemployment has played a
big role regarding the current circumstances, because the majority of
the people who are currently attacking foreign business are
unemployed. Once again the main reasons
for these internecine expulsions and violence are almost always the
same in each country. “Patriotic” citizens are quick to assert,
nationalistically, that the “foreigners” have come to take over
their country, their resources, their jobs, their culture.
Consequently, xenophobia is on the rise, making statements that
“Africa for the africans” as a fact we all know that Africa is
one Continent therefore, no african is a foreigner in Africa, and no
african is a migrant in Africa , its a continent where all african
belong too. The president isn't saying anything and did not do what
is expected from him as the men of the power over all, if there is no
security then there is no peace. Most of the foreigners are
suffering and have not committed any crime, rather they came to south
Africa for business, which is beneficial for the country's
development and which creates open doors for the south African people
as well. This is what i personally have to say in regard of the
violences as i also come from east Africa, “Shame upon you south
africans and your leaders how i wish Nelson Mandela was alive to see
the type of south Africa that he struggled for in became, imprisoned
for almost 27 years, leaving a shock ,by burning and killing
foreigners.” It is disheartening to see a large number of people
come to mock the victims, these attacks come comments after comments
by the king of south Africa stating that foreigners must go, more
than thousands of black africans immigrant have now fled back to
their countries. After all self interest plays a big role than human right protection in south africa .
for more related sources click the links below.
Friday, April 17, 2015
A friend experience with racism!!
As a reality actuality we
can never preclude the existence of racism in today's society, racism
is defined when treating an individual differently in a negative way
because of their colour skin, nationality or ethnic background and
sometimes simply because one might not find the other person
physically attractive. For example, an individual with blue eyes are
more inclined to be approached with deference due to their appeal,
though other people who don't fit in that specific classification may
not get the same treatment. The consequences of an individual who had
confronted racism can pressure him/her to experiences depression, low
self esteem and, poor achievement in studies. At the point when
people choose not to talk about racism it is one of the major
motivation behind why prejudice still proceeds, therefore, it is very
important to encourage the victimized individuals to come forward and
speak out, and thusly, others could have a clear understanding of the
patterns of the way the victims are generally being dealt with.
People who have not experienced racism normally have difficulties
understanding or even seeing it happening direct, as indicated by
Dubois the best way to genuinely comprehend the circumstance is if
one looked themselves through the eyes of others, than they will have
a more extensive comprehension. In spite of the fact that i have
never encountered any prejudice in canada, then again a good friend
of mine shared his own account of racism with me. As he let me know
he had experienced multiple racism in the past, however, one of the
numerous stories appeared to stay in his memory in which he portrayed
it to be unforgettable. He recount to me the story by expressing it
was one saturday morning a bank was robbed by where he lived, as he
was walking down the tore with his neighbour which was situated by
the bank that was robbed. Unexpectedly the police officers approached
and, stopped both of them, and made a remark about how they fitted
the depiction of the bank burglars. consequently, they must be
searched and questioned until they have been totally examined. He
explains to me there were multiple witness inside the police cars and
were attempting to identified them, in any case, they were freed
after such a long battle, he explained how nervous they both were
because of how the witness were repeatedly responding in a sense of
saying yes that these were the individuals who had robbed the bank.
Simply because they were both people of colour. Consequently, they
could have been arrested for no reason.
According to a you-tuber
who passes by the name of (shakaama 2014) in explaining his personal
experiences with racism, he characterizes the word racism from
multiple point of view, racism is going to apply for a job and they
are not going to hire you simply because of the colour of your skin,
racism is likewise associated when one attempts to buy a house or
find an apartment as a result they will not sell you because of
the color of your skin. Ultimately, racism is applied when going to a
store and being refused assistance and requested that you leave the
store. He explains how he never encountered any racism across
overseas but was a victim of racism in the united state.
Here are some sources
for more stories regarding this topic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIe1WQe2Cx0
Racial profiling has destroyed public trust in police!!
Racial
profiling is the practice of subjecting citizens to increased
surveillance or scrutiny based on racial or ethnic factors rather than
"reasonable suspicion." It is clear that, given the power
and discretion available to police, the experience of being subject
to racial profiling can lead both to a feeling of being harassed and
to a sense of alienation from the legal system and the wider society.
Over a long period of time, negative experience such as racial
profiling can lead to specific ethnic groups' losing confidence in
the police. Majority of black people have been treated unequal by the
police, according to the story of Eric Garner and the series of other
death of unarmed black men, it is clear that there are two issues
that needs to be highly addressed: racial profiling and police use of
excessive force. In the case of Eric, police targeted him for a crime
of selling loose cigarettes, which is the types of crimes in which
black people are usually targeted for at a higher rates, therefore,
the police attempted to arrest him with a chokehold, however he was
unable to breath due to the pressure that was put into his body, in
less than a few minutes he was announced dead. Racial profiling has
become one of the most dangerous act of the police, it has become
normalized to profile an individual based on religion, ethnicity and
national origin, rather than treating everyone as equal under the
law. Hispanics and african americans are the most targeted and are
more likely to be stopped and searched by police, even though they
are less likely to be found committing a criminal act. The fear of
driving while black has become one of the most well known tragedy in
within the black community, profiling has undermined public safety
and destroyed the trust between the police and the community, when
law enforcement officers target residents based on race, one's skin
color, rather than behaviour, crime fighting is less effective and
community distrust of police is likely to increase. Police
constantly single out black commuters and residents twice and
sometimes three times more likely than their white neighbours. Once
pulled over or stopped by the police, black residents are typically
searched without warrants, fined, or arrested. In my opinion i
believe police do such things to show how much authority they got,
simply because there are no other explanation for killing Innocent,
unarmed individuals.The current situations recalls the concept of Alexander,
as she argues that the criminal equity framework, in the same way as
all other open projects, is introduced as one in view of
correspondence, everybody is equal in the eyes of the law. Yet,
alexander exhibits how the law really attempts to target racialized
individuals, and especially African-American, through many ways of
operation or systems. The
"war on drugs" its not a war on drugs, i firmly accept that
its rather a war on blacks, it began as a war on blacks and its
currently spread the hispanics, and it was intended to take the
vitality that was originating from the common right developments and
annihilate it. It is stunning to find that culture and one's skin
color have such an effect on an association, such as the police that
should be responsible, trusting and straightforward. Not at all like
what is going on , police are more worst and against the actual law.
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