It is often important that we remind ourselves that the Civil Rights Movement is on going. Racial segregation and slavery have been the law of the land for the majority of America’s existence. Policies as pernicious as separate but equal are bound to leave scars that a long time to heal. One of the effects of racial segregation is the racial prejudice found in our justice system. African Americans, especially men, make up a disproportionately large portion of the United States’ prison population. Additionally, studies have shown that African American men tend to receiver harsher sentences for crimes than whites. The Jim Crow south gives us a wide range of particularly egregious examples of racial discrimination in the justice system. Often whites who would attack civil rights demonstrators or even kill them. These criminals were typically not indicted by local courts. Even if an indictment was issued, southern white juries would refuse to convict “their peers”. However, this was not the only result. Black men, objects of suspicion and fear in the eyes of white southerns, were seen as the logical perpetrators of crimes. Just as white juries would not convict whites based on their shared race. Those same juries were keen to convict blacks. This resulted in a large number of black men landing in prison for crimes they simply did not commit. This is not to say that this is simply a problem for the black community. False convictions affect members of all races and especially the poor. Affluence and the skilled lawyers it can purchase, have helped keep the wealthy out of the criminal justice system upon many an occasion. The poor of all communities lack this advantage that the wealthy possess. However, due to racial segregation and slavery, African American men are stamped with an unjust stigma that leads many members of society to view them as criminals. Contemporary society and the justice system has a chance to begin to partially cleanse our nation of some of many sins it has committed by finding those who were wrongfully imprisoned and freeing them. The most prominent of the efforts to achieve this is known as the Innocence Project. The project seeks to free those wrongfully convicted, primarily through DNA evidence. Physical evidence is often kept long after cases are closed. The Innocence Project attempts to obtain that evidence and test it for the alleged criminal's DNA. Should their genetic material not be found in what was believed the time to be their blood or bodily fluid, the Innocence Project attempts to appeal their convictions. The project has had tremendous success freeing 321 people nationwide. Of those 321 61% are African American. The stigma of racial segregation still exists; however in this instance contemporary society has the ability to help deal with its effects. By recognizing that racial segregation continues to negatively impact our society and criminal justice system we can make a fairer justice system and society for all members of our nation.
Sources:
http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet
In one of my other courses, we have discussed the criminal justice systems and the ways in which racism is deeply at the heart of many policies, convictions, etc. Often times that course has left me feeling hopeless in regards to how these things may be reprimanded because of how difficult racial justice seems to be. This, however, has left me feeling more optimistic about the ways the wrongful imprisonment of people of color based on racial profiling may be mended. I hope that with this the criminal stereotype of the black community will disappear and make way for an understanding of this race as no more likely to commit a crime than any other.
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