America and Injustice in the Criminal System

In “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, we learn that America still has injustice, especially when they arrest and convict people of color for drugs. The criminal system is corrupt in so many ways. What is their reason for targeting people of color for these crimes? What’s more is that they incarcerate a larger percentage of blacks than South Africa did during the apartheid. Even in Washington D.C., America’s capitol, there is a high ratio of young black men being incarcerated. The ratio of young black men who are incarcerated are three out of four young black men. All across America there are similar rates within black communities. What will it take for police to stop assuming that young black men are carrying drugs? What does the color of their skin determine? Michelle Alexander said, “Jim Crow and slavery were caste systems. So is our current system of mass incarceration” (Alexander 12). She goes on to talk about the topics in America that are avoided. “Public discussions about racial caste in America are relatively rare. We avoid talking about caste in our society because we are ashamed of our racial history. We also avoid talking about race. We even avoid talking about class” (13). The issues of racial caste, race, and class are important discussions to have. Many people are unaware that these issues are still a problem today but having a discussion about these topics can help bring awareness. Some people are blind to these issues. I believe that police need to take a different approach when they stop and frisk. It is not enough to just stop a young black man because of his skin color. It’s the job of police officers to make people feel safe but taking action to stop people of color as well as minorities is harassment and abusive. Abusing others and violating their rights is not the job of a police officer. Chances are if a young white man looked more suspicious than a young black man when passing by police, the young black man would be stopped because of his skin color. What’s wrong with this system? Everything. Racism still exists today and so does a corrupt criminal system. The criminal system needs to be reevaluated and it also needs to be aware of these ongoing issues that should no longer exist; racism. I hope in the near future that these issues will be resolved. Until then, awareness and discussions about these topics need to happen.

This graph represents the percentage of Hispanic, Black, and White people that are incarcerated in America. As you can see, the number of blacks who are incarcerated is much higher than Hispanics and whites, which shows the injustice and racism that is in the criminal system.

This is another example of injustice towards people of color and within the criminal system. More than half of the people that are stopped by police are people of color.