Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Crime in the Media Fall 2020

To begin, since the beginning of time power and wealth have controlled society. Many theorists such as Max Weber and Karl Marx have tried to explain the connection between power and wealth. Karl Marx developed his theory of power by believing it has a connection to class domination. Marx believed that power is linked to class relations in economics and politics. With this being said, the higher up a person is in class the more power they can obtain. Typically, those with extreme wealth can control economics, politics, and others around them due to their ability to control. An individual’s power in society also links them to committing possible crimes such as embezzlement, fraud, or violent crimes like rape. Rape is common for all classes, rich or poor, yet for the poor, justice is less likely to be served due to the rich using their power to silence their victims or making charges disappear. Unfortunately, cases like these are common in today’s society.  

Crime in Connecticut: The Story of Alex Kelly is a film produced by J. Mayboom and released on May 16, 1999. It is  based on the true story of Alex Kelly. Alex Kelly was a senior in school when he raped Carrie Roberts. To silence Roberts, he threatened to kill her if she told, hence forcing her to keep quiet. After learning another female was raped by Alex, she built up the courage to press charges against him. His parents, believing their son is innocent, bailed him out of jail and helped him flee the country. Eventually, the cops were able to find him and rearrest Kelly. He faced a trial where the jury found him guilty. With the help of his successful parents, he fled the country and escaped his charges for many years, leaving Carrie in despair with no justice. This then also prevented her from moving on. The many effects that rape has on a victim is typically never-ending. 

Similar to Alex Kelly, Brock Turner was also a privileged school student who raped a female after a long night of partying. People v. Turner, March 30, 2016,  is the criminal case that convicted Turner of rape. Turner was sentenced to only six months in jail and three years of probation. Due to Turner’s connections to Stanford and being one of the best on their swim team the justice system did not view him as a rapist but instead as a young teenager making a bad decision. Turner’s connections and Kelly’s wealth both allowed them to escape their case in some formal way.

Power and wealth become connected as one in a sexual abuse case against O’Reilly in which he paid thirty-two million dollars to settle a sexual harassment accusation. According to nytimes.com, “Last January, six months after Fox News ousted its chairman amid a sexual harassment scandal, the network’s top-rated host at the time, Bill O’Reilly, struck a $32 million agreement with a longtime network analyst to settle new sexual harassment allegations, according to two people briefed on the matter — an extraordinarily large amount for such cases”. By this time, this was his sixth harassment settlement totaling forty-five million dollars to silence his rape victims. As one can see power and wealth have a way of relating to crime. Many who have power and wealth believe since they have powerful connections and are financially stable, they can do as they please. In some forms, those who have power and wealth benefit others which is also why the upper class can escape jail time when being faced with charges. For example, Brock Turner was an excellent swimmer which added value to Stanford’s swim team. Portrayal of Turner as a horrible person diminished the school’s swim team value. This desire to save face helped Brock Turner escape his short sentence. Unfortunately, situations like the rape victims of Kelly, Turner, and O’Reilly are reoccurrences and continue to show the class struggle. 

Next, despite crim 410 not discussing rape victims it still addresses the class struggle within society. Typically, power is achieved through wealth and the rape victims of Kelly, Turner, and O’Reilly show what happens when going against a powerful wealthy person. Justice at times is denied and not fully achieved. The wealthy get let off easy, disregarding how this affects the victim. Society shows that to achieve you have to be wealthy but to achieve and control you have to be wealthy and powerful. Class is portrayed as a social construct due to the control it has over society. The wealthy are powerful due to them having the financial ability to control what’s around them. In today’s time money rules the world and without it, others fall behind. Also, since money rules the world others would do whatever to receive it, legal or illegal. Sexually assaulting and raping people is another way for the rich to exhibit their power on others. They rape and then pay their victims off to silence them. In return, the victims take the money since they often need need it more than justice. The rich believe their money protects them from the justice system and this thought is proven to be true when the justice system lets them off easy. The class structure is what determines who has power and how high up a person is determines how much power that person has. Unfortunately, the class structure continues to shape society and determines who and who does not achieve ahead. 

In conclusion, the media covered throughout this paper proved my belief in the issues covered. I believe that the criminal justice system is corrupted and run by the wealthy. It constantly goes against the meaning of equality by letting the rich off and the poor suffer. America was built on equality, however, many times the justice system fails to provide fairness. Letting a white man off with only three months of jail time for rape is typical and not surprising. A man being able to silence his victim with a big pay-off is demeaning of a woman’s character. Finally, allowing a man to flee the country due to his parents having the financial means is another way the wealthy use their power. I would recommend this media source to others to get a better understanding of how society works and how the criminal justice system only benefits the rich. In the future it is expected for this unfortunate class struggle to continue. 

References:

“Vanity Fair Confidential” The Fugitive Son (TV Episode 2017). (2017, January 23). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6461270/

Steel, E. (2017, October 22). Bill O’Reilly Settled New Harassment Claim, Then Fox Renewed His Contract. Https://Www.Nytimes.Com/#publisher. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/21/business/media/bill-oreilly-sexual-harassment.html

Brockes, E. (2019, September 26). Chanel Miller on why she refuses to be reduced to the “Brock Turner sexual assault victim.” The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/sep/25/stanford-sexual-assault-victim-chanel-miller-interview