The Underclass Case Study

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The perception of the existence of the Underclass has associated poor minorities with crime, belligerence, and being unproductive members of society. This in turn also leads the so-called Underclass to being heavily criminalized and demonized by the dominant society, which can be seen throughout the entirety of the Central Park Five case. Five Latino and Black teens from Harlem were the epitome of what the ruling society saw as the most violent and dangerous potential criminals. Kevin Richardson recalls a cop calling him a little animal after hitting him in the face with his helmet the when he was being arrested. The behavior of the Underclass is what Reed points out most believers feel bind all of the Underclass together, blaming them for their own downfalls and low status in society. This association of behavior being such a defining characteristic of the supposed Underclass can be seen with the widespread use of the word “wilding” when the acts of the teens involved in the case were described. Black poet Kevin Young says …show more content…

Having a job and a flow of income are essential to easing back into the world after imprisonment. Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” has studies that found that finding employment after incarceration is more of a priorities to felons than finding or having access to housing. Most employers will have interviewers ask a job candidate about any past convictions, which then lessens the chances of a felon being able to receive that job. Even prior to the interview stage, many former felons may not even make it as far as to being interviewed, as most online and paper job applications ask for one’s criminal history. The inability to find employment after conviction and release can sometimes consequently lead to the felon falling back into a cycle of crime, perhaps in a means of illegally obtaining income, like through the drug

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