Black People Disproportionately Targeted in War on Crime
The issue of police force being used against black people recently came into sharp focus after the murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of police officers - those sworn to protect the public. Alton was selling CD's when he was arrested for allegedly threatening someone with a gun. While on the floor being pinned down by officers and without any provocation, he was shot in the chest.
The following day, Philando Castile was pulled over on a routine traffic stop and shot four times in front of his girlfriend and small child. He had not offered any resistance or threatened anyone.
Unfortunately the deaths of the two men were not simply due to rogue police but were systematic of widespread institutional prejudism within law enforcement agencies against black people. The United Nations condemned 'structural' racism and called for an independent investigation, pointing out that black Americans are twice as likely to be shot by police than white people. While this is the most extreme of outcomes, there are many others among the spectrum of discrimination towards black people.
Blacks are Incarcerated More
A black person is six times more likely to be incarcerated than a white person. African Americans and Hispanics make up 58% of the U.S. prison population, despite comprising only one quarter of the total population. Figures from 2001 showed that one in every six black men are imprisoned at some point during their lives and the situation hasn't got any better in more recent years. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People estimate that if the trend continues, one in three black baby boys born today will spend time in jail during their adulthood.
Why is this? Because black people get arrested more, they're more likely to be given custodial sentences and they get harsher punishments for minor misdemeanors, when compared with their white counterparts.
Black People Do More Time for Drug Crime
In California, possession of an ounce or less of marijuana is a misdemeanor that will incur a fine similar to that paid for a parking ticket. Despite this, nearly 9,000 people were arrested for using marijuana - a larger majority of them were black or Latino. Black people had double the chance of being arrested for a cannabis-related misdemeanor and are nearly five times more likely to be arrested for a cannabis-related felony. This isn't because they smoke more weed. All the research shows that blacks, Latinos and whites use and sell the plant to a similar level so there should be no disparity among arrest and conviction records.
For the 'harder' drugs like LSD, PCP, heroin, meth, cocaine and mind altering prescription medications like anti-depressants, more whites have reported trying them in a bid to get high. Even though more whites dabble in these toxic concoctions, more blacks end up in prison for drug misuse.
Blacks with No Previous Criminal Record Severely Punished
A study looking at U.S. court sentencing decisions for petty crimes in which judges have more leeway over the kind of punishment they impose, found that the more minor the crime, the harsher the sentence. This is because in serious crimes such as rape or murder, there is no such leeway and the tariff is set by the state. With lesser crimes or misdemeanors, licence is given to the judge to decide what sentence to pass. What was reflected in the research was an unfair bias against black offenders, even for those coming before the judge for the first time.
Black people with no criminal record at all were 43% more likely to be jailed an if they are, they get on average a slightly longer sentence than white people incarcerated for the same offence.
Dr. Todd Hartmann, a lead author of the study, said that the fact that race can influence sentencing is 'troubling'.
What Can Be Done to Stop Institutional Racism?
