Race in Social Problems

2303 Words5 Pages

Last semester when I signed up for classes, I thought Sociology 260: Social Problems in the US would be a course where a minimal amount of time would be spent on discussing social problems and a maximum amount of time would be used to discuss public policies to combat such social problems. I wanted to jump the gun. I did not see that in order to implement a public policy, which would be of use, I had to fully understand all facets of the problem. Through these various books and articles, The Condemnation of Little B by Elaine Brown, "The Ghosts of 9-1-1: Reflections on History, Justice and Roosting Chickens," in On the Justice of Roosting Chickens by Ward Churchill, Perversions of Justice: Indigenous Peoples and Angloamerican Law by Ward Churchill, No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Justice System by David Cole, Welcome to the Machine: Science Surveillance, and the Culture of Control by Derrick Jensen and George Draffan, "Mastering the Female Pelvis: Race and the Tools of Reproduction," in Public Privates: Preforming Gynecology From Both Ends of the Spectrum by Terri Kapsalis and "Race and the New Reproduction" in Killing the Black Body by Dorothy Roberts, a better understanding came to light on social issues currently seen as problematic like poverty, health care, race and discrimination, gender inequality and crime.
In the book The Condemnation of Little B, Brown's central theses is the criminal justice system. Throughout the book the one argument she is constantly supporting is the idea that young black boys, in their early teens, are arrested and put through the criminal justice system in a new age version of lynch-mob justice. The alleged crimes of these young black boys recieve much media fanfare, but when they are cleared of any wrong-doing nothing is said about it in the media. She makes her arguments by using the story of Little B as a frame for her theses. By taking his story and stripping away the prosecution's rush to judgment in the investigation and trial; using the words of drug dealers awaiting sentencing and addicts, such as Little B's mother, to ramrod through a conviction in which there was no physical evidence connecting the boy to the killing. To supplement the frame she recaps high profile cases of young black children being arrested and charged for crimes despite evidence to the contrary.

Show More
Related

  • Monster By Walter Dean Myers Analysis

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    When the books are written they tend to mirror real life situations. In this case the movie and the book are centered around a male, African-American teen who is accused of committing a crime and how the situation is dealt by going through records to persuade the jury that the boy didn’t commit the murder of a person. For example, both boys were arrested without even questioning as to what’s happening before handcuffing them and sending the two to jail. They are also similar in that they are set in Harlem and Jacksonville respectively, which are notorious for having

    Read More

  • The Scottsboro Trials, Brown v. Mississippi, and trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

    1727 Words  | 4 Pages

    The purpose of this essay is to compare three very similar cases, the Scottsboro Trials, Brown v. Mississippi, and the fictional trial of Tom Robinson in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird; and to prove why the defendant of the third trial never had a chance. Each took place in the rural South in the 1920’s and 30’s and involved the unfair conviction of young black males by all-white juries pressured by the threat of mob violence. Each lacked the evidence sufficient for conviction, most especially for the death penalty. Last, heroes emerged from each trial and made small but solid steps towards equal justice for all.

    Read More

  • Pride In Gaines A Lesson Before Dying

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Gaines’ novel is centered on a massive injustice, which is a young man who is falsely convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death by electrocution. When Jefferson was brought into a trial for the murders of the three white men in the bar, most of the jury quickly assumed that he was guilty due to his skin color, because, at that time, the assumption of innocence does not

    Read More

  • Victim or Villain? Mayella Ewell in To Kill a Mockingbird

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the major events in Harper Lee’s award-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird is Tom Robinson’s trial. It is based on the Scottsboro Case that took place in 1931 in Alabama, in which several black men were accused of raping two white women. Both the Scottsboro Boys and Tom Robinson are unfairly judged, however, because of prejudice against colored people. The racial discrimination makes whites’ testimony more believable even when it contradicts itself. The same happens in To Kill a Mockingbird. As we delve deeper into the case and get increasingly closer to the truth, it is quite suprising to see that Mayella Ewell is the true villain rather than a victim. She shall and must bear full responsibility for her actions because she makes the decision to tempt Tom Robinson, gives false testimony in court that directly leads to Tom’s death, and has been well aware of the consequences of her behaviors.

    Read More

  • Critical Race Theory: Race As A Factor In Inequity

    4780 Words  | 10 Pages

    Race as a factor in inequity. Ladson-Billings and Tate (1995) posit that race continues to be a significant factor in determining inequity in the United States. Race matters in society. If we look at high school drop out, suspension, and incarceration rates of men of color in America we see a disproportionate amount of men of color marginalized and profiled by society. This is further compounded by the perception that male faculty of color cannot be educators or at least are not often conceptually visualized in that capacity (Bryan and Browder, 2013).

    Read More

  • Bryan Stevenson Just Mercy

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the United States, what it means to be a black? In many cases will be "presumption of guilt". The more cases Stevenson works, and he feels sad about that: even if he is a master of law, when he is in front of the power of unfair, and it is still unable to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the individual. When he takes Walter Mcmillian’s case, these are confirmed. Walter Mcmillian has nothing to do with the white girl murder case, but he becomes a “perfect suspects” to the police and the Judge. Stevenson is on death row for six years until acquittal. Walter’s case is such outrageous. No matter how Stevenson finds out the evidences can prove Walter’s innocence, and the court always refuses to reverse the conviction. Sometimes he has frustrated and thwarted about it. Whereas, it is lucky for Walter that he could escape from the prison, there are some criminals as previously not fully defense should be sentenced to death. In Stevenson’s career life, he meets several prisoners who are the victims of the justice system. There are those who were executed even though they suffer from mental illness. Some cases that the court's sentence to death without taking into other factors, and execute children as adults and send them to adult prisons. The poor women are arrested because their children stillborn. Anger and sorrow make him scarred, but he gets encourages from

    Read More

  • Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

    1336 Words  | 3 Pages

    Yen, Hope. "More than Seven in 10 U.S. Teens Jobless This Summer." USATODAY. Associated Press, 12 June 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

  • Race Tensions

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    The town I grew up in is Show Low, Arizona. Surrounding Show Low are many small neighboring towns. These towns all come together to form the White Mountains. Most of the citizens of my community are of a Caucasian background. There are also some different minority groups that come from different background that also live there. The majority of the non-Caucasian residents are of Native Americans decent and Mexican decent. There are Native Americans because of the Apache Reservation that lies to the East, and the Mexicans have immigrated because of the vast amount of construction jobs. The mixture of these different groups has caused many different problems with in the community of the White Mountains. There lies within the community old roots of prejudice and discrimination towards people of different cultures. Not only does prejudice still run high, but has also been a hindrance to the progress of the community, which has not just affected the progress of the community, but most likely the traditions will be passed down of prejudice and discrimination to the children of Show Low and the rest of the White Mountains.

    Read More

  • Race, Class And Gender Play

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alexander does an incredible job of covering the issue of race in today’s criminal justice system. We discussed in class that it is a relatively difficult issue to discuss and a sore point of our country, but she recognized the need for it to be addressed from start to finish and really paints a picture of how racially biased the laws are and have been since the days of slavery. I think an important framework to discuss race and the causes and responses to crime is something that Alexander deems the new caste system. She argues that our new system is the rebirth of a redesigned caste system. In her introduction, she notes that “to put the matter starkly: the current system of control permanently locks a huge percentage of the African American community out of the mainstream society and economy. The system operates through our criminal justice institutions, but it functions more like a caste system than a system of crime control” (Alexander, 2012, p. 13)

    Read More

  • Causes of Poverty in the United States

    2299 Words  | 5 Pages

    The United States generally looks at education as a path to success but the people with the longest road towards success are not getting enough education. In the years before kindergarten, children form their basic thinking skills and children who don't learn these at home fall behind everyone else. In most cases children in poverty do not achieve these skills to the extent of middle-class children from their environment at home. When poor children enter school they are generally a year and a half behind the language abilities of their middle-class peers. Already children of poverty are behind in their ...

    Read More

  • Race And Race Relations

    676 Words  | 2 Pages

    The connection of race and race relations in the United States was an ongoing issue, and while much progress was made, there are still people who revert back to old and ignorant takes on different races as the white man. This clearly relates to my own history based on the fact that various races are still being discriminated and treated unfairly and looked at as unequal. I can only hope that one day the whole population of the world can do the right thing and look at everyone as equals.

    Read More

  • Should The Minimum Wage Be Raised?

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shierholz, Heidi. "Teenage Jobs and Minimum Wage." Economic Policy Institute. N.p., 25 Nov. 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Race As A Social Construct

    1076 Words  | 3 Pages

    The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of mankind around the ideal man. This idealism evolved from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be seen from as early as the Middle Ages through the present. The social construction of racism and the feeling of superiority to people of other ethnicities, have been distinguishably present in European societies as well as America throughout the last several centuries.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Race: The Power Of An Illusion

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    Racism is often considered a thing of the past, with its manifestation rarely being acknowledged in the United States today. Race: The Power of an Illusion, is a documentary that addresses the legacy of racism through its significance in the past, and its presence in society today. To understand racism, it is vital to understand the concept of race. Race is a social invention, not a biological truth. This can be observed through the varying classifications of race in different cultures and time periods. For instance, in the United States, race has long been distinguished by skin color. In nineteenth century China, however, race was determined by the amount of body hair an individual had. Someone with a large amount of facial hair, for example,

    Read More

  • Working At Mcdonald's By Amitai Etzioni Summary

    546 Words  | 2 Pages

    Etzioni emphasizes on three negative effects of teenagers part-time employment on education. He highlights that fast food jobs impede with education, do not convey new skills, and alter youngsters’ moral values and work principles. Further, the writer continues in following paragraphs giving appropriate ideas to support each of his claims. Etzioni depicts the American convention with respect to teenagers’ employment. The essay utters that youngsters’ employment was a conventional way of teaching “self-reliant, work-ethic-driven, productive” in young people. He then goes on providing a synopsis of the variation from the standard in the current situation. Etzioni also accentuates on the positive effects of teen jobs in terms of raising money for college for poor

    Read More

More about Race in Social Problems

Open Document