Institutionalized Racism

Time and time again, our justice system targets minorities. Although maybe blatant racism isn’t the primary culprit, a internal version we may be unaware of could run rampant. Where does this come from? When stripped back, it is extremely possible that we understand our own background better, because we ourselves have been there. If this is the avenue we wish to pursue, one will arrive at the question of how we will deal with this. Not easily answered, this is a complex issue, due to its sensitive nature. To come even further than we already have as far as civil rights, we still have a very long way to go. To view ourselves as a growing society, we clearly ignore the facts of how we approach the punishment minorities in our justice system. …show more content…
In New York City, fifty percent of the population is “colored”, yet they account for eighty percent of all traffic stops. Mathematically speaking, that’s an absurd number. Also, they are arrested at a rate of two to eleven times higher than whites for the very same drug offenses! These numbers all correlate with the theory of institutionalized racism, but is it really that simple? How can we claim to have a fair justice system with these jaw dropping statistics?

Consequently, this puts a significant hindrance onto the minority community. With an arrest on their records, depending on the offense, could put a stranglehold on their job, house, or school search in the future. Is it feasible to expect these people to grow into productive citizens? Well, it's much more difficult once you're in that predicament. When the job search goes arrai, the necessity for a source of income may drive them back to what put them in this scenario to begin with. Thus, possibly thrusting them into an additional arrest, and becoming another …show more content…
Youth judge LaDoris Cordell, an African American, believes that we are seeing the effects of an unknown racism, deeply imbedded in the human psyche. A completely reasonable theory, leads us to the point that we see institutionalized discrimination our whole lives, and subconsciously accepting it the norm ("Fourteen Examples of Racism in Criminal Justice System." The Huffington Post). On the other hand Thomas Edwards, a white judge, says that the majority of poor ethnic youths need the system to give them the structure their parents can’t afford to do at home. Whereas a middle class white child, will be believed to have the structure at home, and actually save the taxpayers money, by making the parents use theirs.

Following up, both of these hypotheses are conceivable, and makes the mind wander further. Does the validity of Mr. Edwards statement guide you to the question, is the idea institutionalized racism a product of an attempt to explain a sensitive subject without offending anyone? It may be a scapegoat to not accuse a certain people of blatant racism, and acknowledging that some are oppressed? Statistics are hard to deny, minorities are seemingly targeted by our criminal justice system, and there isn’t a lot of explanation out there, just more

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