The Judicial System
While all of these systems are important, the judicial system is the one system that tends to have the ability to paralyze a person’s trajectory towards success and limit options upon release. It takes fathers away from their daughters and sons away from their mothers. The absence of these figures causes unintended consequences for those they leave behind. Moreover, those who do find themselves in the web of judicial red tape often find themselves stuck, both while behind bars and when they leave the exit door.
Similar to The Fresh Princes’ Carlton and Will, in 2004 as an undergrad at Morehouse College, my cousin and I found ourselves in Fulton County Jail for the night. I had been an accomplice to my cousin as he jaywalked. I did it. I’m guilty. They caught me red-handed. For this, we were thrown on the pavement of Peachtree Street without warning and cuffed. My car was impounded. We spent that night in Fulton County Jail. Although a misdemeanor, the way it was written up has “the crime” defined as Reckless Conduct. What could have been solved with a ticket has had lasting consequences as I’ve had to explain this in every job interview, graduate application and background check since the incident. Yet this wasn’t the thing that resonated with me the most from that night. It was that every face but one in that jail was black. In a room with over a hundred people, there was only one white face. And so another question within the unit is this: when people say they want “law and order,” as a black man in America, should I believe in the law and does the law believe in me?
In addition to how the laws are interpreted, it’s also important to understand the incentives to be gained by the frequency of their enforcement. In Race to Incarcerate, the author describes the transition America made from 1972 when it had a total of 300,000 prisoners to the current number of 2.3 million. (26) Furthermore, from 1980 to 1993, the federal spending on unemployment and training programs was cut nearly in half, while spending on correctional facilities rose 521%. (27) The money-spending situation continued with the 1994 Guards, Administrators, Suppliers; it all comes with a price tag. Once these massive infrastructures are built, they have to be maintained and cannot close or drop too far in population. The Crime Bill of 1994 allocated $8 billion for prisons, $8.8 billion for policing, and $1.8 billion on the incarceration of undocumented immigrants. The wave of federal funding from this bill created jobs and boosted the economy in states. Thus, there is an incentive for state legislators to not only increase the amount of convictions, but also extend the jail time for convicted offenders and decrease the number of prisoners granted parole. The more people you put in jails, the more jails you have to build.
While using prisons for profit is an immoral practice, the glaring reality of the system is that it profits off of those who cannot protect themselves, many of whom are black and brown people (refer to the Education, Economy, and Founding Fathers sections to see why this is the reality). Race to Incarcerate explains this dynamic with different programs and initiatives carried out on a state and federal level. In 1980, African Americans made up 35% of arrests for drug sales, but that number soared to 47% by the year 2000. Yet, nationally, 24% of white teenagers reported that “it’s easy to find cocaine in my neighborhood” compared to African Americans teenagers that came in only slightly higher at 29%. African Americans make up only 12.3% of this country’s entire population. Blacks are more than twice as likely to live in poverty than whites, thus reducing their financial ability to hire quality legal representation when needed. Because of the disparity in the amount of legal representation, many African Americans find themselves under siege by eager prosecutors and a system that is unsympathetic to the struggles, a result of other systems designed to prey upon their condition.
By understanding the conflicting realties of the birth of the nation, along with the complexities in the educational, economic, and judicial systems, students and educators will be more prepared to study and find solutions to the social inequities plaguing our nation.
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