Racial Disparity
One in ten black men in his thirties is in prison or jail on every given day. American Indian youth are three times as likely as white youth to be held in a juvenile detention facility. Hispanic men are 2.3 times as likely as white men to be incarcerated. Racial inequality in the United States identifies the social advantages and disparities that affect different races within the United States. These can also be seen as a result of historic oppression, inequality of inheritance, or overall prejudice, especially against minority groups.
Racial disparity is defined as common” in the criminal justice system.
Where the proportion of racial/ethnic groups within the control of the system is greater than that of the general population.
Look at the numbers for more proof.
With almost 700 people in prison for every 100,000 residents, the US has the highest rate of incarcerated people in the world.
Close to 3% of the American population, in fact, is now in prison.
The worst part, a third of that population is black. That is widely disportionate seeing that black people account for only 12% of the US population. The average rate of imprisonment of African Americans in state prisons is more than five times that of whites. In some states, Wisconsin for example, there are ten times the number of black people as there are white.
Now, a new study breaks down this problem of prejudice in the American judicial system in even more disturbing detail. According to the study, it isn’t a matter of just being black that makes a person more likely to go to jail, it's now how black they are. The data from the study is as follows:
Very light, 40%.
Light, 44%.
Somewhat Light, 48%.
Medium, 53%.
Somewhat Dark, 57%.
Dark, 60%.
Very Dark, 65%.
Ellis Monk, the Harvard professor who authored the study, drew on data collected in a landmark national survey conducted between 2001 and 2003. While it's been some time since the survey took place, its extensiveness and depth makes the data collected a valuable source for analysis. The interviewers who administered the survey actually rated the skin color of people they spoke to. That allowed Mok to find the association between the color of one's skin and their encounters with the justice system.
As a woman of black heritage, I’ve always felt the need to inform people (both those of color and non-color) about the facts and opinions concerning racial inequality. Now I’m not an expert, but you don’t have to have been studying years of American history to know that people of color have been demoralized since the beginning. For anyone who has ever asked why, I applaud you. Why do more people of color end up in jail cells? Why is Monk’s experiment still valid in today's society? Why can’t things be a little different then they were 20 plus years ago? I think maybe if more people educated themselves on the statistics of racial inequality, then there would be a solution to fix the problem as a whole.
And that’s where people like you and me come in. I was lucky enough to grow up in a home where I was provided with a good education. But there are others like me that weren’t. If I were to further my education, I would use it to provide people with knowledge about the numbers concerning racial inequality. I would look for possible solutions to this ongoing problem in our society. I would urge black people to stay away from crime and breaking the law. I would also urge white police officers to come up with new tactics of approaching black men. Seeing as in the past, both parties have felt threatened by each other resulting in fatal shootouts.
I have learnt that many people of color don’t necessarily live in the best neighborhoods, go to the best schools, or even have the best lives in general. I believe that if I could use my education to teach people about how much really goes on “behind the scenes” in the lives of colored people, then there would be more people willing to act and make a change. We have to remember that people of color are part of this society too. And everyone deserves the same amount of respect and treatment. In the famous words of Madonna, “We all bleed the same.”
Comments
Post a Comment