Gender and Race play the most prominent role in the criminal justice system. As seen in the movie Central Park 5, five African American boys were charged with the rape of the a white women. In class decision we’ve discussed how the media explodes when it reports cross-racial crimes. The Central Park 5 were known everywhere and even terms were being made up during the process such as wilding. Also, during one of the class discussions it was brought up that victims of crime are of the same race of the perpetrator. However, the media likes to sensationalize crime of the victim being of a different race, because it makes for a good story. By doing this, the media does create more of a division of race. As seen in the video Donald Trump was trying …show more content…
This movie really tied everything we’ve been discussing in class and seeing it unfold was actually really eye opening. I found it important going forward to make sure I do not fall into that tunnel vision mentality and to make sure I follow the evidence rather than fitting the suspect to the evidence. Again, I found it interesting like in the Norfolk Four case and in the Central Park 5 case police neglected to look at surrounding crime areas to see if any other cases matched the same modus operandi. If the police did look at surrounding cases they would have established a link between previous assaults and the assault that took place in the park that night. I was amazed how the detectives did not connect how each of the confessions varied by who did what and how they attacked the victim. It was Korey Wise in the video that kept putting up his hand when asked how big was the rock and he was just moving them back and forth. Police also neglected to look at the attack patterns of where the group first was hassling people in the park. They would have found that the boys were at one end of the park, while the victim was being attacked and there was no way they could have been in two places at once. I also found troubling during the time was the media portrayal of the Central Park 5, how they were painted as vicious young men, who brutally attacked a harmless white women. Even after each one of them was exonerated from the crime the media still portrayed them as vicious men. As we discussed in class, I think a lawyer like a magistrate should be available 24/7 when it comes to juveniles, because I believe that this five did not know their Miranda Rights and what they were entitled. If they knew what their rights were I believe the confessions never would have happened and none of them would have gone to
In my eyes, this theory is very visible through the recent “Black Lives Matter” campaign. The media has a high amount of control for how the African American and criminal justice population are viewed within society. For example, when a police officer shoots an African American, every news channel takes a different approach at rationalizing the situation or placing blame on one of the parties involved. One news channel may focus on the events leading up to the shooting while another news channel may choose to cut that out of the clip they broadcast. These actions lead to changes in society’s expectation for both police officers and African Americans. The sequence of the labeling process can be seen throughout our
Network news appears to convey more stereotyped impressions, a narrower range of positive roles for blacks than for whites. Representations of whites in network news are more varied and more positive than of blacks, not because of conscious bias, but because of the way conventional journalistic norms and practices interact with political and social reality. The findings raise questions about the journalist ability to represent the reality of black America while adhering to the professional practices that currently shape network news. Mainstream news portrayed African American as criminals, homeless beggars, welfare queens, ghetto-dwelling gang members, or drug addicts in American Society. Perpetuation of young black men as dangerous has been planted in the mind of American society not only by words and images projected by journalists but also in the mainstream news especially. Television particularly the news has the least positive representation of African Americans especially young males. When television became a house-hold item in the early 1950, this was a dark time in American History because there were huge racial tensions brewing in the south. The news show African American mostly young males getting abuse, hosed by police and attack by police dogs during a peaceful protest. It gives the negative images that African American was unlawful people and need to be dealt with swift action. Most of the time African Americans weren’t resisting but the news media depicted the images that they were and police were just doing their job to keep the peace.
I found this film to be a good tool for people going into the criminal justice field. I think it is important for people going into this field or already in it to understand the importance of racial biasing. The exercise in the video that was used where they changed what the juvenile was wearing was very eye opening. Trained professionals were drastically characterizing the same person differently based on their appearance. I found this to be the most powerful part of the video and gave me a better understand how important it is to not judge someone based on his or her appearance. It is defiantly not only relevant in the juvenile system. People in the adult system are also characterized on how they look. I think the exercise they used in the film for juveniles would also be helpful for people dealing with adult
Similarly talking about racial discrimination, in United States, if somebody commits violent activity, it is judged, viewed and treated differently depending upon that person’s race and gender, For example, Collins mentions “the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, an African-American journalist, who was accused of murdering a white police officer, received a death penalty and many false evidence, coerced eye-witness and inadequate legal counsel were presented against him to arrest him” (Collins 922). Since he is black race person, he is punished although he is
Racial bias in media causes prejudice and discriminatory practices against African-Americans and other minorities groups in America. Today in our society, we are still struggling to overcome racial tension within America because we are over shallow with prejudice and discriminatory images and ideas. Many White Americans feel that the media refuses to report on all crimes committed by blacks against whites, yet report on all crimes committed by whites against blacks. Therefore, they see the media as being not bias. My research will show that African-Americans are over-represented in news reports on crime, and within those stories, they are more likely shown as the perpetrators of the crime than as the persons reacting to or suffering from it. The news media has often been criticized for the way it chooses to portray Latinos and African-Americans.
We see on T.V police brutality happening all the time. We see cops breaking people bones, throwing them on the ground, and even killing them. This documentary opened my eyes to see how bad it is. Seeing the random stops because of race, and the pushing and shoving of people who do not deserve it. Another thing I learned is how stressful being a police officer is, especially in a city like Newark. These officers face life threating situations daily. With this, I can understand the use of force when there is no immediate threat, because the situation could escalate and it is better to be safe than sorry. The documentary also showed me ways of improvement. Police officers should be required to have at least and Associates degree in Criminal Justice and receive extensive training. Seeing this documentary opened my eyes to what is happening in the Criminal Justice System
Regarding justice, we have whites and minorities being treated differently in the court and with the police. For example, a white man in Florida can easily get away with murdering an innocent black teen because of the stand your ground law. Similarly, white rapists are treated differently from minority rapists. As an example, Brock Turner, a rapist was released from jail after 3 months. This would not be the case for minorities because they are labeled as “super-predators”.
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.” Nearly half of the more than two million Americans behind bars are African Americans. These statistics are well known and frequently cited by white and black Americans; for many they define Black humanity”. (Ryan D. King, 2010) Since the end of slavery African Americans were believed to be prone to crime and in general a menace to American Society and are to blame for this disparity. While this minority population has broken the law and deserve retribution they are ultimately products of their environment. In a study conducted as early as the late 20’s concerning minority crime. Thorsten Sellin’s research in “The Negro criminal”; a statistical note (Sellin, 1928) put it in perspective. “the stigmatization of crime as “black” and the masking of crime among whites as isolated failure, was a practice of discriminatory views by a majority white population. “The practice of linking crime to blacks, as a racial group, but not whites, he conclu...
In the past few years, race and ethnicity has affected the way humans interact and react with each other. Sometimes it becomes the leading barrier that causes individuals of different ethnic backgrounds and races to lack unity with different ethnic groups, communication skills and respect for each another. In the case of Jordan Davis, the lack of communication between races was a major barrier that caused a normal evening to end in such a tragic manner. If both individuals were to handle the issue with better respect and better communication skills, Davis would still be alive, and Dunn would be a free man. Sometimes as individuals we tend to forget that we can sometimes be too judgmental towards individuals because of personal feelings, and make prejudice assumptions of people, based on the color of their skin or even the type of music they prefer to listen to. On November 23rd, Michael Dunn made prejudice assumptions about four black teenage males playing music, and decided that he had the right to fire shots into unarm vehicle to get them to turn the loud music down. If we continue...
New Century Foundation. (2005). The Color of Crime: Race, Crime and Justice in America. Retrieved from http://www.colorofcrime.com/colorofcrime2005.pdf
Racism has been a sensitive subject that sparks heated discussions amongst members of our society. Although laws have been passed to protect minorities, we are still struggling to provide equality to everybody. Last year, it was the Trayvon Martin debacle that garnered public attention, and now people are outraged by the Michael Brown case. According to the article, “When Whites Just Don’t Get It” by Nicholas Kristoff, many white Americans say they are fed up with the coverage of the shooting of Michael Brown. They think that this incident should not be gaining so much attention. In fact, a 2011 study done at Harvard and Tufts that indicated that whites, on average, believed that white anti-racism was a bigger problem than anti-black racism. Michael Brown’s case is just one of many racial problems this country faces.
Crimes in America can be vicious and brutal, often leading to long, draw out trials, but it is only fair if you charge the right man. The only way that it can be fair is if you go by the facts and not the appearance of the accused. Many trials in America have men of color pointed out to be criminals. Many crimes are committed for a reason but many people label it as unknown. People are racist especially against colored people, they believe that white men are innocent but that is not always true. They always turn against the colored people for many crimes that could have been committed by a white man. The novel,Monster and the documentary “Murder On A Sunday Morning” are the same because,both cases have similar charges,both crimes were taken in a public place,and the both consist of racism either by the jury or police.
On the day of August 9, 2014, Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer that goes by the name of Darren Wilson. WIth a black vs white case, there is always bias either towards the white police officer or the black victim. In the daily media, there is an abundance of misinformation that is perpetuated by the Audience. Many news outlets have articles on the shooting of Michael Brown, some of those interviewed the officer who shot him, what had occurred moments before his death, and the aftermath of his death had. One source, Darren Wilson explains why he killed Michael Brown by Terrence McCoy published on November 25, 2014, has a Left center Bias where they often publish factual information, that may require further investigation and
Zheng’s research only further supports this suspicion of media’s role in raising public awareness of racism, or racially motivated violence. As Zheng notes, “...instances of everyday racism are only reported on if famous people are involved...The public has become...jaded with cases like these and the repeated media coverage of only high profile cases neither mitigates the everyday realities of racial profiling nor makes a difference in our society’s views on these issues (Zheng, Racial Profiling and the Media, berkley.edu).” Of course, the effective result of this is that the widespread influence of racism on American society, in its most common, every day occurences, goes unaddressed. Racism and the challenges of addressing it in the average American’s
I intend on making the connection that it is almost difficult to assert the American criminal justice system is colorblind and racially reasonable, as some citizens trust it to be. As negative demeanors towards African American and Latino, men and women, “are as yet unavoidable all through society by data collected through scientific research”(Alessandro, 2016). I end with an examination on the culpability debate proposed by numerous scholars as the reason for the above racial differences and set to show that it is defective according to data and distorted. In hopes to show what research has given us that, race is vigorously interlaced inside the criminal justice system since the establishing of our country.