The issue of race and justice in America has, for many decades, elicited mixed reactions. The interview was conducted on harper as he holds interesting views about racism and the various hindrances to justice due to discrimination of people of colour. Harper is a white Christian American currently working in law enforcement. In addition to him being a republican, these characteristics make his views on justice and racism critical. Particularly, racial discrimination involves antagonism by individuals owing to one being of different skin colour.
Effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System
The criminal justice system has been most effective in ensuring criminal cases such as robbery, domestic violence and murders. However, it is necessary to address the system's ineffectiveness in ensuring the reduction of police instigated violence against minorities ( Marger, 2011 ). Some of these instances have led to cases of the arm of justice being heavier on some people than others based on skin colour and stereotypes.
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Race in the Justice System
For many years, the US criminal justice system has been prejudicial and unfair to the African American and Latino population. In essence, despite the black adult population being only 12% of the population, the number of people of black skin incarcerated by the end of 2017 was 33% of the federal and state prisons population ( Fridkin et al., 2017 ). This means that minorities, including black people, Asians, and Hispanics, are particularly targeted by the system. While it is true that all groups are represented in the prison population majority of the inmates are Hispanic and black adults who are from minority groups.
Race and Police
There are various instances when biasness has been evident in policing. Despite there being no evidence of racism in police officers' recruitment in recent years, there is a need to note that arrests are mainly dictated by racial profiling, at least in 3 of 5 cases ( Fridkin et al., 2017 ). Black people are shot and killed twice as much as it is bound to occur for white people. This fact explains why police brutality is the leading cause of the killings of young black adults.
Race and Terrorism
Significantly, the race has played a significant role in profiling of people of colour in the fight against terrorism. Black people, for example, are likely to undergo more checkups that white travellers entering the USA ( Balko, 2018 ). This fact is because just as Muslims are received with suspicion, black people are associated with violence.
Recommendations
There is a need to ensure less police presence in black communities as that is one way to reduce racism in policing. Heavy police presence in these communities increases rebellion towards the criminal justice system, leading to violent behaviour against the police. To reduce criminal behaviour in minority communities, the criminal justice system should ensure the economic empowerment of individuals released on parole. The increase in the number of police officers from minority communities in the force is also a crucial move to create a better perception of the force by the minority groups. Ideally, the inclusion of minorities in political positions is significant as it is likely to enable them to sponsor more minority friendly legislations and policies.
Conclusion
Racism has, over the years, been prevalent in the criminal justice system. There are more arrests and incarcerations of black people and Hispanics as compared to those of white individuals. Significantly, to solve this crisis, there is a need to reduce police presence in minority communities.
References
Balko, R. (2018). There’s overwhelming evidence that the criminal-justice system is racist. Here’s the proof. The Washington Post , 18 .
Fridkin, K., Wintersieck, A., Courey, J., & Thompson, J. (2017). Race and police brutality: The importance of media framing. International Journal of Communication , 11 , 21.
Marger, M. N. (2011). Race and ethnic relations: American and global perspectives . Nelson Education.
