Racial discrimination still lives in this country, especially in the housing market. This has become a major concern for racial minorities. The issues prevalence and persistence has created an almost overwhelming amount of socio-economic issues within racial minorities. This issue in particular has sparked many disputes on the topic of racism and whether it is even still an occurring issue. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has conducted several studies which revealed that discriminatory acts between potential home buyers and the property seller are still persistent. According to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, HUD conducted a test to see if these claims were viable: “[The test consisted of] well- qualified white and minority (black, Hispanic, and Asian) testers who contacted housing providers to schedule in-person meetings and view available units. Tests were conducted in 28 metropolitan areas across the country in both rental and sale markets” (“National Low-Income Housing Coalition”). The results of this test supported these assumptions because minority renters and white renters were equally able to make an appointment for a particular property. However, minority testers were explicitly told that there were fewer options available. There were instances where the housing providers were not willing to meet with them. It has also been reported for “both Black/ White and Hispanic/White tests an average incidence of [twelve percent] of steering that promoted racial/ethnic segregation” (George and Godfrey, 254) .There are many theories about why this discrimination type occurs. The most reoccurring theory is that racial minorities are assumed to be high-risk applicants in the real estate market. These p...
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...rly $180 million in taxes, and crime rates have fallen by twenty-one percent. This new legislation that California used was the “realignment” legislation, which was passed in 2011. The realignment legislation “facilitated the earlier release of inmates serving time in county jails and cut back on incarceration for parole violations” (Goldberger). There are many other programs to help criminals be sent on probation after committing non-violent crimes. This program is called the Adult Redeploy program; this is aimed to send nonviolent offenders to specialty courts or probation other than prison. America’s criminal justice system has to go from incarceration to decriminalization and by making these legislations and programs, it will cut the incarceration rates, cut government spending, and give prisoners a chance to reform their ways without locking them away for years.
The loss of public housing and the expanse of the wealth gap throughout the state of Rhode Island has been a rising issue between the critics and supporters of gentrification, in both urban areas such as Providence and wealthy areas such as the island of Newport, among other examples. With the cities under a monopoly headed by the wealth of each neighborhood, one is left to wonder how such a system is fair to all groups. Relatively speaking, it isn’t, and the only ones who benefit from such a system are white-skinned. With the deterioration of the economic status of Rhode Island, and especially in the city of Providence, more and more educated Caucasians are leaving to seek a more fertile economic environment.
The New York Times Editorial Board, in their article How Segregation Destroys Black Wealth (2015), argues that African Americans have been — and still are — discriminated against when buying property, resulting in the sprawl of poverty stricken, predominantly black neighborhoods. The Editorial Board supports this argument by providing historical evidence and analysis of the issue. They specify that “The Federal Housing Administration, created during the New Deal to promote homeownership, openly supported these racist measures; it forbade lending to black people even as it subsidized white families that moved from the cities to the suburbs. Cut off from
The United States’ government has always had a hand on our country’s housing market. From requiring land ownership to vote, to providing public housing to impoverished families, our government has become an irremovable part of the housing market. The effects of these housing policies can affect American residents in ways they might not even recognize. As several historians have concluded, many housing policies, especially those on public housing, either resulted in or reinforced the racial segregation of neighborhoods.
Prisons and correctional facilities in the United States have changed from rehabilitating people to housing inmates and creating breeding grounds for more violence. Many local, state, and federal prisons and correctional facilities are becoming more and more overcrowded each year. If the Department of Corrections (DOC) wants to stop having repeat offenders and decrease the volume of inmates entering the criminal justice system, current regulations and programs need to undergo alteration. Actions pushed by attorneys and judges, in conjunction current prison life (including solitary confinement), have intertwined to result in mass incarceration. However, prisoner reentry programs haven’t fully impacted positively to help the inmate assimilate back into society. These alterations can help save the Department of Corrections (DOC) money, decrease the inmate population, and most of all, help rehabilitate them. After inmates are charged with a crime, they go through the judicial system (Due Process) and meet with the prosecutor to discuss sentencing.
Although discrimination against minorities, such as Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans exists, residential segregation is imposed on African-Americans at a highly sustained level, more than any other racial or ethnic group in American society. “Blacks continue to live apart from whites; of all minorities, blacks are most segregated from whites. ‘They are also more segregated from whites than any other ethnic group has ever been segregated. The most well-off blacks find themselves more segregated than even the poorest Hispanics’” (Swain 214). Thus, it is evident that segregation imposed upon African-Americans subsists at a level that is not comparable to that experience by other minorities.
Donald L. Demarco published a piece in response to this book, providing his perspective on such a controversial issue. Titled as “pro-integrative housing,” Demarco describes the disparity as a world wide pattern. “All across America, racial segregation in housing is the rule, interracial living is the exception. Moreover, mixed-race housing is often transitory where it is found. Community development by local government and nonprofits is organized largely on territorial bases reflecting separate and unequal residential patterns. When operating on a race-neutral basis, segregation is maintained and extended with inner-ring suburbs joining the predominantly black cities. These are then surrounded by the further-out white suburbs, (DeMarco, 1994). DeMarco dissects the perpetual cycle at a federal and local
In contrast to popular assumption, discrimination in public housing is becoming more prevalent than ever before. Testing done by the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston has found that today people of color are discriminated against in nearly half of their efforts to buy, sell, finance, or rent property (“1968-Present Housing Discrimination). The statistics are even worse when considering colored people who have families as the testing found that they are discriminated against approximately two thirds of the time (“1968-Present Housing Discrimination”) In addition to facing great difficulty in property affairs, people of color are less likely to be offered residence in desirable locations. 86 percent of revitalized
The Criminal Justice system was established to achieve justice. Incarceration and rehabilitation are two operations our government practices to achieve justice over criminal behavior. Incarceration is the punishment for infraction of the law and in result being confined in prison. It is more popular than rehabilitation because it associates with a desire for retribution. However, retribution is different than punishment. Rehabilitation, on the other hand is the act of restoring the destruction caused by a crime rather than simply punishing offenders. This may be the least popular out of the two and seen as “soft on crime” however it is the only way to heal ruptured communities and obtain justice instead of punishing and dispatching criminals
Sidney, Mara S. 2003. Unfair Housing: How National Policy Shapes Community Action. Lawrence: Univ. Press of Kansas.
In 2012, the total number of inmates incarcerated in the state and federal correctional system for was 1,571,013, of which 108,866 of those inmates were females. In the last two decades, until 2009, women were the fastest growing population within the state and federal correctional institutions. Since 2009, the number of inmates incarcerated in state and federal correctional facilities has slowly declined mainly due to public policy changes in both state and federal laws. California accounted for fifty one percent of the decrease in the overall population due to the Public Safety Realignment policy that mandated a decrease in the inmate population to alleviate overcrowding; this led to a 25.5 percent decrease in the female population in California alone. (Carson & Golinelli, 2013)
“Gatekeepers and Homeseekers: Institutional Patterns in Racial Steering';, is an informative article that touches upon many of the key points gone over in class. This article deals with the difference in the way blacks and whites were and are treated, past and present, by real estate agents when shopping for a new home. In the study, one can see that blacks were not treated as fairly as white people in the real estate market were. Many times the potential black homebuyers were discouraged from purchasing homes in the same areas that the agent would readily show a white homebuyer. The real estate agent played a very peculiar role in doing this. They were, in essence, the racist gatekeepers of a seemingly non-racist neighborhood. The study further goes into this issue by giving explanations and interpretation of this behavior that is seen all over the United States. From thorough examination of the article, one can come to the conclusion that the author, Diana M. Pearce, is following the “interactionist'; perspective to sociology.
For instance, the Asian American population has, on average, the highest level of education and the highest income among all races. Due to this, the racial discrimination this group had to endure throughout history is overlooked. Nevertheless, the manifestation of this inequality can be observed by the Asian communities still present in the United States, such as Chinatown in San Francisco. These communities appeared after white people brutally attacked and killed Asians because they felt the Asians were stealing their jobs and lowering their wages, driving Asians out of cities and forcing them to rely on each other and their own businesses for survival (Croteau & Hoynes, 2013). In addition, since Asians were not considered qualified for American citizenship throughout most of history, they are often still considered foreigners today. Another example of inequality today can be seen through real estate and the wealth gap between whites and minority groups. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 ended the discrimination against non-whites in the housing industry, but racial inequality still remains. When white neighborhoods began to integrate non-whites, white people sold their homes after their realtors instilled the fear of their homes decreasing in value. Realtors bought white homes for less than they were worth, and sold them to non-whites at inflated rates, a process known as “block-busting”.
In recent discussions of prison reform, a controversial issue has been whether diversion programs are more beneficial than not. On the one hand, some argue that diversion programs give convicted criminals a chance to hopefully better themselves and get back into society. On the other hand, however, others argue that these programs are allowing dangerous criminals back into the streets with no guarantee of them changing their behaviors. In sum, then, the issue is whether society and the government should allow these unguaranteed hopes to continue. While some believe that diversion programs may be a good substitute for prison, diversion programs are not an efficient substitute because they release potentially dangerous criminals and felons out onto the streets.
...lt of increased jail and prison populations, as well as correctional caseload increases (Petersilia, 2003). However, mandatory sentencing fulfills the severe aspect of the tough on crime policy, it is harsh, being disproportionate to the crime. It also places limitations on the rehabilitative programs offered, favoring incarceration. Whereas, a “soft on crime” policy would actually attempt to address the root cause of the crime to effectively reform and aid the offenders needs (In Class Discussions). Moreover, the tough on crime policy disregards Augustus reform principles. The policy has no incentive to embrace community relations, reduce crime rates, jail and prison population incomes and to assess the individual for rehabilitation to reduce recidivism. Therefore, evidence suggests that probation and parole programs could be more effective if properly administered.
Community-based corrections alleviate overcrowded correctional facilities, reduce taxpayer burden, and rehabilitate offenders, while providing effective, efficient low cost methods of supporting public safety, community rehabilitation, behavior modification and personnel responsibility, because it uses multiple approaches and involves both legislative and judicial personnel in all steps of the process. Community-based corrections facilities are located in the community and support diverse rehabilitative programs including restitution, community service and repayment of monetary fines (Moses, 2007). Community-based correction is not incarceration; there is accountability, responsibility and supervision with graduation within nine and twenty four months of enrollment (Honarvar, 2010). Probation, day reporting and house arrest, which use global positioning satellite tracking devices, are forms of community-based corrections, which cost less than five dollars a day (Honarvar, 2010). The efficiency by which community corrections reduce cost, prison populations, and decreases this rate judges should disposition to these programs in lieu of incarceration (Honarvar, 2010). The state spends taxpayer money on building correctional facilities and staff to supervise offenders, while the research shows reduced recidivism rates when community service and other alternative methods of rehabilitation are used (Hovarvar, 2010). However, to maintain the balance of justice and rehabilitation, society demands incarceration for all criminals. Judges continue to support determinate sentencing guidelines over reducing the taxpayer’s burden and placing victimless crime offenders in community workhouses (Taylor, 2011). The issues of restitution and pub...