With February, also known as Black History Month, approaching, many people recall the brave individuals, both black and white, that fought for African American rights. Now, in modern times, we can see the fruits of their labor, or can we? Recent incidents, such as multiple shootings of unarmed black men, have raised concern for the possible fact that racism may still be alive. As a young black woman, I myself have not been the target of racism, but I know that it is a problem that many of my black brothers and sisters deal with every day of their lives.
Racial prejudice is very hard to pinpoint. Many ideas are instilled in our minds starting at a very young age, wether through our parents or the media or even through personal experience. We use these ideas every day of our lives, even if it's not conscious. These ideas can be harmless, or they can mean life or death, as we can see in the case of Tamir Rice. On November 22, 2014, two officers, 26 year old Timothy Loehmann and 46 year old Frank Garmback, responded to a police dispatch call describing a young black boy pointing a gun at people at a park. The caller stated twice that the gun was probably fake. Upon the officers' arrival, twelve year old Tamir Rice allegedly reached for the gun in his waistband. Loehmann fired two shots within two seconds of arriving at the scene. The gun was later found to be an air soft pistol, and Rice died within a day after the shooting. Had it been a twelve year old white boy, there is no doubt in my mind that that boy would still be alive to this day. Unfortunately, the life of a black boy was taken because of a split second decision that relied on prejudice, depriving a mother of her young child.
The case of Tamir Rice is not an isolated incident. Since 1999, there have been at least 76 unarmed African American males and females killed by police. On average, young black men are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than young white men. People of color are also more likely to be killed by police overall. The cops that do the killing-I don't even think I have to say that they are almost exclusively white- however, don't get very much punishment. Many of them aren't even found guilty, much less indicted. In fact, not many white men in general get much prison time.
The United States is known for having the worlds largest amount of people in prison, housing about 2.1 million male inmates. Of those 2.1 million, approximately 40% of those inmates are African American. That means that approximately 1 million African American males are currently incarcerated. White men make up about 5% of those incarcerated. In 2006, an estimated 4.8% of black men had been in prison or jail, followed by 1.9% of Hispanic men, and ending with, not surprisingly, 0.7% of white men. 1 in 3 black men can expect to serve time in prison. 1 in 17 white men can expect the same. To put this into perspective, here are the percentages of a the people living in the United States, both incarcerated and not: White people, or people of European descent, make up about 72.4% of the U.S. population. Black people, however, make up only about 12.6% of the population. This means that there are 6 times more white people living in America than black people. That makes sense, right, since there are 6 times more white people in prison? Wait, that doesn't make sense. How is it that there 6 times more black than white people in prison, when it should be the complete opposite?
The American Justice System is arguably the source of racial injustice. Black people are more likely to be sentenced to prison for the same crime than white people. 1 out of 3 black people would have been given a shorter or non-incarcerative sentence if they had been treated as white defendants facing the same charges. As we all know, wether a defendant is charged depends on the jury, and the sentence depends on a judge. 78% of the U.S. Court of Appeals active judges just so happen to be white, with only 12% of them being black. Juries, however, change with each trial. The Sixth Amendment, or the right to an impartial jury, is an inalienable right embedded in our Bill of Rights. Our right is called into question, however, when black defendants are given an "impartial" jury that consists of all white people, which happens more times than you think. They did a study in Florida where 700 felony trials were examined. With a black population of about 5%, it is not surprising that in almost 40% of the trials there were no black jurors. The study showed that when there were no black jurors, black men were convicted at an 81% rate, while white men were convicted at a 66% rate. When the jury had at least one black person, black men were convicted at a 71% rate, and white men were convicted at a 73% rate. The inclusion of only one black man severely altered the conviction rate. This leaves black defendants at a horrible disadvantage, since, as aforementioned, the population consists of mostly white people, meaning that most juries will be all white. No matter how much evidence there could be to prove their innocence, more black men will be put in prison or jail because of preconceived notions.
With a growing amount of injustice, it is hard to turn a blind eye, especially if it could happen to me. With this editorial, I have barely hit the tip of the iceberg. This is not the end, though. As time passes, things will get better. Eventually, racial prejudice may even be a thing of the past. For now, though, it is important to raise awareness of all the injustice that goes on.
