The criminal activities and the punishments accorded to the perpetrators of the crime offer some of the most compelling signals of racial discrimination both in the 20th and 21st century and even earlier. In the early years, judicial bigotry, lynching, chain-gang approach to penal practices were common events, especially in the southern states. Across the United States, racial minorities faced court trials in front of an all-white, particularly in the 20th century. The laws followed in making court rulings were equally discriminatory with the black Americans getting the worst rulings in the form of many years of jail terms. The situation is the same in the political system where it seems that the political infrastructure and laws are formulated in a manner which disadvantages the minority groups. The paper in this stance seeks to discuss the issues of racial inequalities in the political and criminal systems in the United States.
Racial inequality in the criminal system
Offenses and victimization
The criminal justice system of the United States is overrepresented by the minorities, notably the African Americans both as victims and as offenders. The African American minority group is the group which is massively affected by the partial judicial systems. For instance, in 2003 the black Americans were arrested for 37% cases of violent crimes (which include rape, aggravated assault, murder or manslaughter) while 29% were detained because of property crimes (Walby, Armstrong " Strid, 2012). There is a disproportionate tendency of arresting African Americans for violence-related crimes while whites are primarily associated with burglary and property offenses.
Further, men involved in criminal acts that women, the females are also included in offenses which get them arrested. The rate of detention of African women in the justice and criminal system is increasing at a faster rate than any other group including African-American men. Blacks fall victims of serious violent offenses than their white counterparts. For instance, the black Americans had a six times chance of being murdered as compared to the whites (Walby, Armstrong " Strid, 2012).
Partial judicial practices and policies
The unevenly applied administrative systems have adverse effects on the minority groups especially the young African Americans from the inner cities and low-income neighborhoods. From around the 1970s, the federal government and various states have enacted compulsory minimum sentencing such as 3-strikes, sentencing guidelines, truth-in-sentencing among others which are perceived as harsh and deemed as effective in reducing crimes (Oliver " Shapiro, 2013). Others critiques argue that such sentencing regulations are intentional efforts to connect the minority races with criminal acts especially the African Americans by building a moral panic about offenses and fear of the black Americans (Oliver " Shapiro, 2013).
Public approaches called “War on Drugs” formulated around the 1980s and 1990s primarily targeted the minority races something policymakers and politicians acknowledged. Scrutiny of criminal penalties for powder and crack cocaine offenses shows disproportionate impacts on criminal sanctions on the small racial groupings (Oliver " Shapiro, 2013).
Race differences in the criminal justice system
There are different explanations for the persistent partiality in the criminal and justice system of the United States. First, the juveniles from the minority groupings are likely to be disadvantaged by the juvenile judicial and criminal regime, thus accumulating records of partiality in an individual’s lifetime (Ma " Schapira, 2017). Secondly, the offenders from minority races experience higher arrest rates and more cruel treatments from the police. Thirdly, the strict anti-drug laws enacted around the 1980s both by the federal and state governments disadvantage the minorities from the African American minority. Fourthly, the minority groups in the U.S experience high rates of unwarranted and persistent arrest which lead to higher rates of incarceration compared to white counterparts. Lastly, many quotas believe that the death sentence directly or indirectly targets the black Americans (Ma " Schapira, 2017).
The juvenile justice system: studies reveal that critical disparities for minorities particularly the African-Americans at several stages of the juvenile criminal system. Moreover, studies show that racial discrimination varies from one place to another with time, implying a jurisdictional disparity in a fragmented juvenile justice system. Furthermore, experts caution that overrepresentation of the minority races in the criminal ranks may suggest instances of discrimination, even though it may not be the case always (Lynch, 2002).
The police and minority relationship: after the massive racial riots of 1968 in the united states, the commission tasked with the duty of advising the government on civil disorders concluded that approximately all cities which had witnessed riots since the summer of 1964 was as a result of deeply rooted hostility and negative relationships between the police and racial minorities (Lynch, 2002). The underlying problem which leads to discrimination in judicial and criminal systems is the under policing issue and abusive law enforcers. Nonetheless, the government has put a lot of measures in place to ensure that animosity between the police and the minority groups is done away with. Some of the reforms include recruitment of the minority groups into the police, higher education requirements, community policing, professionalism in the police service among others (Lynch, 2002).
Racial inequalities in the Political Systems of the United States
Racial disparities have persisted in the United States’ political systems for quite a long time now. Some few explanations for racial inequalities in the political systems of the U.S exist. First, that the people of color have biological traits of inferiority hence giving a chance to the white population to mistreat them (Brewer " Heitzeg, 2008). Some white critics view the people of color as a having natural traits of less intelligence and have specific inborn weaknesses which limit them from acquiring the best education and accord them a chance to actualize the American dream. However, this view is no longer accessible as it was in the 1800s when it was used to justify some cruel against the non-whites such as harsh treatment and slavery (Brewer " Heitzeg, 2008). Secondly, the cultural limitations of the African Americans which may include the attitude which does not value hard work especially for the African Americans and the absence of strong family ties. This is the perspective which reflects on the idea of “culture of poverty” and other challenges which makes the minority have limited representation in the political systems, thus denying them a better an opportunity of airing their grievance (Brewer " Heitzeg, 2008). These limitations portray the “the culture of poverty argument” and which is popular in the present American setup. For instance, a more than one half of the Latino population hold that the poverty which bedevils the African Americans is because of the lack of will power and motivation. Nonetheless, the values which characterize “cultural deficiency” are found by some scholars as dominant in some Asian Americans and is one of the groups of U.S residents with high levels of education, hard work, and active family and these are the factors which explain the success of this minority group. Thus, this implies that the lack of political inequality and progress can be attributed to the failure of their cultures (Bonilla-Silva, 2017).
The conflict theory which falls under the blaming approach is the third explanation for the unequal representation of the minority people in the American political systems. The view advances explanations on ethnic inequality to individual and institutional discrimination and lack of opportunities in the school system and many facets of life (Bonilla-Silva, 2017). For instance, segregated housing holds back the African American from moving away from the inner city and move to the places which promise expanded employment opportunities. Moreover, discrimination in the corporate world keeps the compensation of people of color much lower than the ideal level. Furthermore, the situation in the education system is, even more, worse because the children of minority groups attend are typically under-funded and over-crowded schools which negatively impacts on the quality of education the descendants of the minority group receive (Bonilla-Silva, 2017). This limitation continue to accumulate and thus compromise the development of colored children which in turn orchestrate the inequality directed towards the minority in the long-run. As these limitations continue to build up for many generations, it becomes increasingly difficult for the individuals at the bottom of the socio-economic setup to rise from their compromising situations because of their ethnicity and race (Bonilla-Silva, 2017).
Conclusion
The paper in this stance sought to showcase that there is inequality in the criminal and political systems of the United States. The people of color are exposed to severe punishments whenever they found themselves in crimes, unlike their white counterparts who find themselves in the same situation but receive a lesser sentence. Also, the political systems are organized in a manner that people of color do not receive the same quality of education as the white children because of the poor funding of their schools and overcrowding of classes thus affecting this people in the long-run. Much has been achieved through the efforts of trying to do away with discrimination, but still, the vice has not been eliminated competely from the society.
References
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2017). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America. Rowman " Littlefield.
Brewer, R. M., " Heitzeg, N. A. (2008). The racialization of crime and punishment: Criminal justice, color-blind racism, and the political economy of the prison industrial complex. American Behavioral Scientist, 51(5), 625-644.
Lynch, M. (2002). The culture of control: Crime and social order in contemporary society. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 25(2), 109-112.Ma, C., " Schapira, M. (2017). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. Macat Library.
Ma, C., " Schapira, M. (2017). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. Macat Library.
Oliver, M., " Shapiro, T. (2013). Black wealth/white wealth: A new perspective on racial inequality. Routledge.
Walby, S., Armstrong, J., " Strid, S. (2012). Intersectionality: Multiple inequalities in social theory. Sociology, 46(2), 224-240.
