Black Injustices in the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

African Americans have been targeted, killed, and judged unruly in the United States by the police more often than white individuals (LaFraniere and Lehren, 2021). Thus, the problem is that the latest struggle for black lives is for society to recognize the humanity of African Americans and enable them to live freely, safely, and equally (Marilyn, 2021). Racist police behavior today is part of a deep legacy of racism in the United States, which often finds its extreme manifestations in law enforcement (Gabiner,2016). Black youth are 41% more likely to be victims of any police use of force than comparable White youth. Sadly, the patterns are similar when we predict stops in which officers pull their guns and are prepared to shoot. Black youth are over 50% more likely in similar stops to find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun than white youth (Rory, 2017). The discriminatory consequences of the war on drugs are clear. Three-quarters of those arrested for drug offenses are Black or Latino. In seven states, 80 to 90 percent of incarcerated drug offenders are Black. These differences cannot be explained by disproportionate drug use among African Americans; Studies show they don't use drugs more than any other group, and some studies have even found they use drugs less often than other groups (Butler, 2010). My main priority is to find ways to let African Americans be heard and to make it safer for them to live their lives.