I gave birth to my son, Malik when I was sixteen. As confused as I was, I was determined not to let him grow up in a neighborhood where I had seen the extreme of violence both from the locals and the police. However, by the time he was getting to adolescence, we were still living with my mother in the neighborhood, and I was convinced that I had to protect my child from the roughs within “the hood.”
One Saturday morning, three years ago, I was to come face-to-face with a broken down system of “the hood” that did not consider age. My son, Malik, was out at a friend’s place. I had spent my day with a friend Twyla at home, watching a movie over a glass of wine as she narrated the all-too-familiar story of her broken family and her brother who had just been sentenced to four years for assaulting a white police officer. The officer had stopped him for apparently driving over the speed limit – an offense that he adamantly denied. Being a black man did not help the situation, and Andre joined the escalating number of incarcerated African Americans.
Malik was late to come home, and as I stepped out to check on him at his friend’s house, I could see a commotion going down right across the street. Two police officers were man-handling my son as one forcefully tried to cuff him while the other held his head down onto the bonnet of their car. I rushed to the scene, and I could hear them ask my son for an ID.
“Where’s your ID, nigger?” the policeman shouted between his teeth as he struggled to pin him down.
“He’s only thirteen,” I shouted as I half ran, half walked towards them. “That’s my son.”
The police officer let him go, but his companion was not sure whether to let go of the cuffs as he bellowed, “How sure am I that you are his mother?”
It was humiliating to have someone question my motherhood to my only son. I shrieked and jumped on him, pulled my son free from him cursing at the top of my lungs and pulled my son as we walked towards our house.
This moment in my life is quite significant as it elaborates just how many African-Americans are involved in the underground economy when they are quite young. While some may be able to escape the nets of the criminal justice system, it is rather obvious that the number of underage African Americans behind bars is just too high. Probably this can be attributed to the high number of broken down families and the social environment in which they grew up (Cole 4).
It is rather obvious that while American may pride themselves to be overcoming the war against racial prejudice, it is rather obvious that the menace is still quite rife and especially entrenched in the American criminal justice system. The African Americans are still a target and are likely to face unfair police searches, more frequent police stops, more juvenile arrests, arrests for drugs, and even experience force during the arrests (Harper 40). The undertakings are a typical identity of a criminal justice system that Herbert describes to be out of control (Herbert).
From my experience, it is rather apparent that the system of power and justice has not fully conformed to the new America – an America where everyone is equal before the law. In this regards, it is judicious to state that being an African American in the United States seems to be a curse within the criminal justice system as more often than not we are punished more aggressively than the white people. However, it is prudent to note that with the lower socio-economic status of most of the non-white races, it is prospective that the indulgence in criminal activities and underground economy will escalate (Cole 4). In this regards, it is prudent to state that we are likely to see an increase in the racial discrimination within the criminal justice system and the police (Boothe 150). Besides, the number of non-whites would not expectedly be equaled by the number of white people in incarceration.
In conclusion, it is quite apparent that it is important for a relook at the issue of racism in the United States. The country has made substantial steps towards eliminating the menace but it is pretty ostensible that racial discrimination against African Americans still seems ingrained in some of the important institutions in the United States.
Works Cited
Boothe, Demico. Why Are so Many Black Men in Prison?United States: Full Surface Pub, 2007. Internet resource.
Cole, David. No equal justice: Race and class in the American criminal justice system. Vol. 1. New York: New Press, 1999.
Harper, Thomas. Parting Shot. Place of publication not identified: Xlibris Corp, 2012. Print.
Herbert, Bob. "Too Long Ignored." 20 August 2010. New York Times .
Article. Accessed 1 March 2018.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/21/opinion/21herbert.html
