For the sake of this assignment writer will examine contemporary racial justice movement, Black Lives Matter. Writer will show how to incorporate the movement’s perspectives into social work practice. Black Lives Matter created in 2012 after Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted of his crime, and dead 17-year old Trayvon placed on trial for his own murder. Rooted in the experiences of Black people in this country who actively resist our de-humanization, Black Lives Matter is a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society. Black Lives Matter is a unique contribution that goes beyond extrajudicial killings of Black people by police and vigilantes, it centers those that is marginalize within Black liberation movements. It is a tactic of (re)build the Black liberation movement. When they say Black Lives Matter, they are broadening the conversation around state violence to include …show more content…
Between 1990 and 2006, the number of white and Latino inmates increased at an equal average annual rate, whereas the number black inmates increased at a slower pace, perhaps signaling improved system 's efforts to provide more equal protection (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004). Each year, the U.S. spends more than $146 billion dollars in the criminal justice system, including police, the judiciary and court systems, and correction (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004).
Desired Outcomes
Incorporating the 5Cs, a Model of Diversity Awareness and Social Change, the writer 's desire to see outcomes that advance social justice through the protection and preservation of individual civil liberties.
The 5C’s of Change: Confidence, Courage, Commitment, Conflict, and Community.
Action Steps
The first C of change is ( building ) Confidence (DeRosa and Johnson, 2002).
These corrections are powered
Two exceptions to the class avoidance phenomenon: discussion about the middle class as acceptable and presenting glimpses of the poor and wealthy that conform to common stereotypes. Americans are misinformed to believe the following myths: class distinctions are non-existent, middle-class is the norm, everyone is getting richer, and the chances of success are equal for everyone. The U.S. has the highest income gap between the wealthiest and poorest in the industrial world, which is approximately 12 to 1. In 2004, the affluent experienced a wage increase by 12%, whereas the 99% of average income makers saw an increase of 1%. The Making of the Ghetto: One of the biggest forms of equity is home ownership, and between 1933 and 1978, the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) supported millions of Americans by providing small down payments and reasonable payment plans, if they fell within their requirements.
criminal justice system. If the current trends persist, one out of every three African American men can expect to go to prison over the course of his life, as can one out of every six Latino males, compared to only one in seventeen white males (Bonczar 2003). For females, the figures are significantly lower, but racial and ethnic disparities are very similar. For instance, one out of every eighteen African American females can expect to go to prison, as can one out of every 45 Latino females, and one out of every one-hundred and eleven white females (Bonczar 2003). The racial disparities in imprisonment have been felt the most by young African American males (Western and Pettit 2010). Males are a significant majority of the prison and jail populations, accounting for around ninety percent of the population (Western and Pettit 2010). Racial disparities in incarceration are astounding when one counts the men who have been incarcerated in their lifetime rather than those serving time on any given day (Western and Pettit 2002). For instance, in 1989, approximately two percent of white men in their early thirties had been in prison compared to thirteen percent of African American men in their early thirties (Western and Pettit 2002). These extreme racial disparities disproportionately affect communities of color and have significant collateral effects such as family stress and dissolution,
The majority of our prison population is made up of African Americans of low social and economic classes, who come from low income houses and have low levels of education. The chapter also discusses the amount of money the United States loses yearly due to white collar crime as compared to the cost of violent crime. Another main point was the factors that make it more likely for a poor person to be incarcerated, such as the difficulty they would have in accessing adequate legal counsel and their inability to pay bail. This chapter addresses the inequality of sentencing in regards to race, it supplies us with NCVS data that shows less than one-fourth of assailants are perceived as black even though they are arrested at a much higher rate. In addition to African Americans being more likely to be charged with a crime, they are also more likely to receive harsher punishments for the same crimes- which can be seen in the crack/cocaine disparities. These harsher punishments are also shown in the higher rates of African Americans sentenced to
The change in policies orient the Richmond Police force into a manner in which they are able to interact with individuals without being overtly and overly aggressive. Richmond officers are oriented to defuse high-tension situations and be reminded that the person they are dealing with are indeed human, a person like anyone else. One of the reasons why Richmond Police officers deal with situations with the least amount of force, is because of the new training regime that was that instated in 2008, according to Mercury News (2014), by Chief Magnus. Chief Magnus instated a very rigorous and diverse training segment based on solely dealing with the use of force at the training facilities and the streets of Richmond. Every utility a Richmond Officer
Today there are many controversial subjects discussed throughout the media. One of the most discussed is race and the Black Lives Matter movement. Recently, I came across an article titled “The Truth of ‘Black Lives Matter’”, written by The Editorial Board. The article was published on September 3, 2015, to the New York Times. In the article, The Editorial Board writes about what they believe African Americans are facing as challenges in society today, including the all-too-common police killings of unarmed African-Americans across the country. The Editorial Board is right that some African Americans have been treated unfairly, but all ethnicities have been. Life is a precious thing that comprises all ethnicities. This brings us to ask; why
Black lives matter is a social media movement that went of the Ferguson, Gardner cases etc. Also very rapidly it was to show as a opposition to the police and cops. Somehow when saying black lives matter it was like saying all life matter don’t matter. It’s a touchy subject due to why people view things and for most case I can understand. I feel that the person that made black life’s matter didn’t mean for it to be just all about black life but to inform others around the nation that there is a special problem that is only happening in the African American community and we have fix that issue . we as a society has to recognize this that the African American are not making this up this its not something being politicalized its real and there’s a history behind it so we have to seriously.
A father purchased a toy gun as a birthday gift for his young son. His son went outside to play and and encountered a police officer who shot him seven times. This incident occurred in Sonoma County in October 2013. A similar incident occurred in November 2014 when Cleveland police killed a 12-year-old boy carrying a toy gun. Use of excessive force by police is common in impoverished "black" or "brown" communities.
For the past 400 year African Americans have suffered severe forms of oppression, hatred and racism. Even though America has made great strides to eliminate the practice of hatful ideologies and discrimination the residue of inhuman treatment still resides in our society. Racial violence and institutional racism is still in full effect and receiving media coverage like never before. Controversy has arisen due to lives of many African Americans being taken by law enforcement. The African American community has been in an uproar as they feel injustice has occurred being that many of those law enforcement officers have been acquitted of all charges. Birthed from this pain was a chapter-based national organization
Although some say the high disparity of minority to white prison sentences is due to repeat offenses by second and third time offenders, the disparity in the population between black and white Americans in the U.S. doesn't support the fact there are more minorities than whites in American prisons. The make-up of judges, juries and law enforcement officials in the judicial system is a factor. The high disparity amongst minorities in prison is due to the societal issues such as racial discrimination, racial inequality of lawmakers in the court system, and presumptive sentencing guidelines. Racism in American society plays a part in the manner in which the judicial system operates. The American prison population is larger than at any time in the history of the penal system in the world.”
According to statistics since the early 1970’s there has been a 500% increase in the number of people being incarcerated with an average total of 2.2 million people behind bars. The increase in rate of people being incarcerated has also brought about an increasingly disproportionate racial composition. The jails and prisons have a high rate of African Americans incarcerated with an average of 900,000 out of the 2.2 million incarcerateed being African American. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics 1 in 6 African American males has been incarcerated at some point in time as of the year 2001.
There are so many more African-Americans than whites in our prisons that the difference cannot be explained by higher crime among African- Americans - racial discrimination is also at work, and it penalizes African- Americans at almost every juncture in the criminal justice system.1
“Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a movement against police violence that is, as argued by BLM supporters, disproportionately and systematically directed at black people. The movement has highlighted incidents in which police have harassed and killed black men and women. BLM is considered one of the most visible and controversial civil rights movement of the last decades.” (Black Lives Matter. 2016) “Black Lives Matter is an American social activist organization devoted to stopping violence and injustice against African Americans. The group was founded in 2013 following the acquittal of In the sixties African Americans began a Civil Rights Movement that, to some, still continue today; hence, the Black Lives Matter movement. During the sixties, the
Black Lives Matter is an international activist movement, originating in the African American community. It campaigns against violence toward black people and has become a uniting call for an innovative chapter in the black freedom fight. The clearance of Trayvon Martin’s killer in 2013 and the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014 stimulated this movement. Black Lives Matter isn’t just about the loss of Black lives; but mainly about the lack of consequences when African American lives are taken by Caucasian officers. The question is; do black lives truly matter to those that claim to protect it? The answer is no they do not because the movement’s alleged “peaceful” protests continuously
In discussions of The Black Lives Matter movement, a controversial issue is whether this movement exposes police brutality or promotes antipolice hate. While some argue, this movement’s purpose is to expose the realities of police brutality and how African Americans are often left powerless in the law. Others contend that this movement is an excuse for unjustified violence and the demonization of police. Subsequently, the death of Trayvon Martin is seen as the motive to construct a response to anti-black racism, similarly known as The Black Lives Matter movement.
Black Lives Matter is not a movement that believes all lives do not matter; nevertheless, it highlights the fact that black lives are taken for granted by the judicial system. Protests around the world have taken place to fight for justice in the black community. The immense number of deaths of unarmed black men and women is a clear sign that they are more likely to be killed by police than white people. Physical violence and excessive use of force by the U.S. police towards African Americans are seen in the news regularly.