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

The documentary I chose to watch was called Stickup Kid. This documentary was about a 16-year-old African American boy who was sent to an adult supermax prison. When 16-year-old Alonza Thomas was angry at his mother one day, he decided he wanted to run away. He met someone and stayed with him for a few days, he fed Alonza and took him in. After a couple days Alonza decided he wanted to go back home, upon saying this the guy that he was staying with pulled a gun out and held it at Alonza saying how nothing is free and he can’t stay there and get fed for free. The guy told Alonza that he was going to rob a store for him to pay him back. With Alonza being young and easily influenced he did not have much of a choice. Alonza went to a gas station and pointed a gun at the store clerk telling him to empty the drawer, when his gun accidentally went off Alonza realized exactly what he was doing and began to run away. The clerks then tackled Alonza, beat him up and held him at gun point until the cops arrived. Alonza was charged as an adult, with three counts of armed robbery, one count for each store clerk, each of these counts carried a possible sentence of thirteen years. In the documentary they mentioned how robbery with a firearm was considered the most dangerous crime there is besides homicide itself. Alonza pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery, and he was sentenced to thirteen years in Tehachapi California, supermax prison.

California has been known to lock up more juveniles per capita, than any other state. Two weeks before Alonza committed the crime, California passed a law making it easier to prosecute juveniles as adults, because of the nationwide trend and the fear of “super-predators” which we discussed in class, and how wrong this theory actually was. “America is now home to thickening ranks of juvenile ‘super-predators’- radically impulsive, brutally remorseless youngsters, including ever more preteen boys who murder, assault, rape, rob, burglarize, deal deadly drugs and create serious communal disorders” (Henning, 2017). This fear of juveniles being extremely violent gained significant traction in the media and soon everyone was scared of what juveniles were going to do. Because of this a sixteen-year-old boy was able to be charged as an adult stay in a supermax prison for thirteen years, despite the fact that Alonza knew what he did was wrong and was remorseful and clearly not the violent criminal or super-predator the world was so scared of. “Dilulio predicted that ‘not only is the number of young black criminals likely to surge, but…as many as half of these juvenile super-predators could be young black males’” (Henning, 2017). I believe that his race played a huge part in why he was prosecuted as an adult, and the fact that had the term super-predator and half of them being black males not been in peoples head, I think Alonza would not have been in an adult supermax prison and ruined his life. Obviously being so young in an adult prison has many detrimental effects, Alonza was included in this. While he was in prison he was treated for anxiety and depression, he spent most of his prison time in mental health treatment or solitary confinement. “African American prisoners make up 49 percent of the prison population but constitute 59 percent of those in solitary confinement” (Travis and Western, 2017). The way the system encourages young people to cope is by putting them into solitary for protection, once in there, things tend to spiral out of control, Alonza was no exception to this. In solitary confinement he was in his cell for 23 hours a day, having conversations with people who were not there and attempted suicide multiple times. Once he was finally released from prison and back with his family, his younger brother noticed that Alonza was not okay, he had to take multiple medications including anti-depressants, anti-psychotics and medication for anxiety. He frequently posted on his Facebook account, trying to help other people out there, he felt this was important and that he had to do this, because he does not have any help of his own. It is obviously that Alonza’s life was severely impacted and he is worse off now than he would have been had he not gone to prison.

This documentary helped me see how bad the super-predator theory had influenced some children’s lives, as well as the racial disparity that comes from this and how detrimental prison like that can be for young children. I think it is important to understand the consequences of predicting something so extreme with no real basis of it, and how it changes people’s lives. Saying that young black males will be half of the problem puts an enormous stigma on these children and makes them believe that they are criminals and they are dangerous and for people like Alonza, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it is not true. I would recommend this to others so people can see what happens when we place young people into adult prisons and what that does to their health and how it impacts them for the rest of their lives.

Citations

Henning, K. (2017) Boys to Men: The Role of Policing in the Socialization of Black Boys. In A.J. Davis, Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment. Vintage books

Travis, J and Western, B. (2017) Poverty, Violence, and Black incarceration. In A.J. Davis, Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment. Vintage books

Documentary Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0xmAA6lPhU&t=1s

anonymous

When They See Us is a Netflix original production that was released a few years ago about the central park 5. It took place in 1989 where a female jogger was attacked and rapped in central park supposedly by 5 black teenage boys. There was a bunch of black boys that got together that night to wild out. That became the story that the city was going to stick with. The DA pursued 4 of the boys after that night took place in order to formulate a story. The story was developed through coercive acts by the detectives such as promises, screaming and shouting, and also a lack of nourishment and sleep. Eventually the detectives had their story together, but there was a missing link. They needed another to fit the story together. When they picked up Yusef Salaam his friend Korey Wise went with him. When the police had received false confessions from the other 4 kids in the precinct. Korey Wise was asleep on a bench waiting on Yosef, and the cops took him in for questioning knowing he wasn’t even on the list. They had their 5^th guy and now they had enough to take them to court.

In New York City the legal age as an adult is 16 unlike the rest of the country which is 18. All the boys accused of the horrific crime were below the age of 16 accept Korey. Korey was tried as an adult and was sentenced to 6-15 in prison and went through all sorts of abuse which caused him to request to switch prisons multiple times. One of which was on Rikers Island, and Korey spent the majority of his time in solitary. Since the other boys were below the age of 16, they were taken to either a juvenile facility or another lighter sentence than prison. Through it all these boys went through a lot and upon their release they were officially registered sex offenders. It wasn’t until Matias Reyes came forward that he was the original attacker that these boys were finally given a chance to clear their names. Of course, it didn’t come without a fight, because the authorities never believed Matias of his confession. In the end, they finally got the man who committed the crime took the blame. Those 5 were finally awarded a settlement and were fully exonerated of the lies that were told about them.

The story of the central park five is sad, it’s upsetting to know that our justice system is not always correct. The thing that makes matters worse is that this was done on purpose. Which means that the justice system at that time was not looking for justice they were looking for answers. The 1989 jogger case or the central park five was not the only instance of wrongful convictions of a black male. Actually, black men are 7 times more likely than white men to be convicted of murder, and 3.5 times than white for sexual assault (Gross, 2017). By taking a look back we can see that this is a common theme throughout history as well. Through the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws it is evident that black men have been largely discriminated against. Since those five black boys were wild’n out in central park the night the jogger had been attacked the police had their answer. They had to come up with something quick, since the media was breathing down their necks for an answer, they acted fast. Why wouldn’t they think it was a few black boys, that’s what our country thought the answer was for years. Blame the black man it’s the easiest thing to do. This trend trickled down for years all the way through the 90’s even with the crime bill being passed. Even politicians calling them super predators, and its truthfully sad. Which is why we have so many individuals protesting for black lives matter, and activist writing books and trying to make changes. It’s all because of incidences like Emmett Till, the Central Park Five, Kalief Browder, and countless others whose lives were either taken or unwilling changed against their will.

Which is why watching the film When They See Us is important to watch. Not only is it written well, it tells a good story, and it is engaging, it tells the story of black men whose lives were changed at the will of others. It gives an insight to people who watch it what decisions in our courts do to men and women every day. In my opinion, I would recommend anyone to watch it. For it is very insightful, but it paints a picture of the lives that shape history. Without this story we may not know of the wrong that takes place in our courts. In the end, our justice system is in need of some reform, and we most definitely would not know this without films like this.

By: Josh Dauberman

Work Cited

DuVernay, A. (Director). (2019). When They See Us [Video file]. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from https://www.netflix.com/search?q=whe&jbv=80200549

Gross, S. R. (2017). RACE AND WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/Race_and_Wrongful_Convictions.pdf

The media source I chose to watch is an movie titled “A Time To Kill”. It is was made in the year 1996 and it was based of a novel. The main characters is Samuel Jackson , Sandra Bullock, Kevin Spacey , and Matthew McConaughey. The director of the movie is Joel Schumacher and produced by Amon Milchan , John Grisham, Hunt Lowry , and Michael Nathanson. The movie is about a black man by the name of Carl Lee Hailey  from Canton , Mississippi who is on trial for the murder of tow white man who raped his ten year old daughter. Which leads to a lot of racist tension and the town and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan. Carl is defended by a white man named Jake Brigance and his assistant Ellen Roark.

Watch A Time to Kill (1996) | Prime Video (amazon.com)

This movies fit into the media blog post race and crime because this movies is really all about crime and Carl killed the two white men because of a disgusting racial they did on his daughter by raping the ten year old girl. Throughout the film they just show different racist crimes committed by the Ku Klux Klan  which again all they stand for is racism so the movies really embodies everything  about race and crime. The movie shows a great example of disparity discrimination as discussed int the power point from week 8 ( Introduction to Racial Disparities and Discrimination in the CJS – PowerPoint ). The disparity that was show was that the two white men raped and almost killed a ten year old girl and was about to get away with no consequence because Mississippi was real bad racist state and they was going allow that to go. Now while Carl wasn’t right he didn’t want to see them get away so he took the justice in his own hand and killed them and they tried to get the death sentence for him from the jump. Like it said in the power point discrimination is differential treatment of individuals or groups not based on legal factors. I put that there because I for sure feel like Carl was dealing with that while the two white men and the Ku Klux Klan didn’t have to deal with no legal troubles for what they did. This movie was just feel with racial tension and just and crimes that people didn’t pay for because of the racial discrimination like one for example the lawyer who was representing Carl Lee the KU Klux Klan when to his elderly secretary house and assaulted her and her husband and that leads to her husband dying from a heart attack because of the assault and that is another murder they got away with. Also the KU Klux Klan kidnaps and assaults Jake Brigance assistant and leavers her tied up in the wood but she survived because somebody came and saved her.

Overall I hate to say justice was served but it mine hearts of hearts I feel like justice was served because at the end of the day they tired to kill and raped a innocent very young girl and basically was bout to get away with because if ho they was. So Carl said forget this and decided to handle his own business and at the end of the day he got away with it because a great white lawyer and because of the crime that was committed to his daughter. This film is really hard to try to understand because I mean you get the concept of why he killed the two white dudes. But you never want to condone murder of any type so it is like you was torn on how to fell about the situation but I don’t get it twisted I would want justice but I would want to two people in prison to rot and suffer but they the criminal justice system was set up back then they probably would have gotten away with it. So I see why Carl lee did that because he know true justice wasn’t going to be served that’s why he called the lawyer Jake Brigance to tell him  he was going to do it and if he did it could he get him out of it and another reason he called is to see is there a real chance the rapists can walk free and when he finds that out he really just decides I am going to do this myself.

References

Week 8 – March 23-28 – History of Racial Discrimination Introduction to Racial Disparities and Discrimination in the CJS – PowerPoint

The film that I chose to watch for this media blog is called “500 Years Later” This film was published on October 11, 2005 by Owen ‘Alik Shahadah. The Film studies the African diaspora and the impact of slavery throughout history, identifying key issues facing the world’s black communities, including poor education, poverty, crime, and the way that such issues dehumanize and degrade black peoples. The film also gives insight into the struggles faced by continental Africans today, for instance in terms of poverty, disease, and corrupt governments. While the continuing negative impact, influence, and effects of the trans-Atlantic slave trade are highlighted, scholars interviewed for the film express hope that “old scars can be healed” and Africans as a race will advance through education about their history. The film gave knowledge on how inadequately African Americans have been treated consistently and it hasn’t beaten that. It demonstrated the day by day battles of African Americans from subjugation, lynching, isolation, and then some. It additionally talked about how life really was after the Civil War. It was very enlightening to me since it genuinely gave a comprehension on how unreasonable and degenerate our criminal system is. A central issue talked about in the narrative was Jim Crow laws. As we have talked about in the readings, Jim Crow laws sanctioned racial isolation. A lasting example of the stereotypes referenced in the film is a study performed in which black children were given a variety of dolls, including black and white ones, and were told to pick the “smarter” or “better” one. A majority of the black children chose the white dolls. Many of those interviewed believe that a distinct change to the educational system is necessary to change the mindset of people of African descent. The film affirms that “the kind of education that we have is to still enslave our minds, to make us believe we are inferior.” Education should be the main weapon for the new generations of Africans and African descendants, to remind the world of the richness and struggle of African history.
The film demonstrated the awful occasions of isolation and how individuals of color were not permitted schooling, sea shores, on transports, and that’s just the beginning. “Individuals of color in this country should manage the cost of a similar security, wellbeing, and occasion to flourish as any other person. Yet, that won’t occur until we defy our set of experiences and focus on drawing in the past that keeps on frequenting us,” (Davis 2018). This statement has adhered to me since it shows that even in the wake of viewing the narrative, African Americans actually don’t have the equity that they need and the security like each American deserves to have. I likewise accept this statement is genuine in light of the fact that with the end goal for there to be equity, we should examine the horrendous occasions that occurred in our past to understand that everybody should be equivalent regardless of what the shade of your skin is or what identity you are. African Americans being imprisoned at in excess of multiple times the pace of whites has a major association from the battle on medications. As talked about in class, public information on utilization of medications propose whites are almost certain than either African Americans or Hispanics to have ever utilized an assortment of medications, yet state examiners are bound to allude racial minorities to the government system for arraignment available to be purchased of rocks and sentences were a lot harsher under administrative law for them. This returns me to the episode with Clarence Aaron in our perusing, Policing the Black Man.
Aaron was a dark undergrad who had no criminal record and was available for the offer of cocaine and was paid by the seller. Aaron was affirmed in court and he was condemned to three terms of life detainment in government jail. This narrative identified with Aaron’s circumstance in our perusing from various perspectives. It demonstrated how inconsistent blacks are dealt with regards to the battle on medications. It additionally demonstrated how cruel their disciplines are contrasted with whites. As the narrative depicted it as whites simply getting a “token punishment” with regards to getting in a tough situation with drugs. All in all, this film was very educational. I would suggest it not just for the understanding on the set of experiences that is examined in the film, however for an acknowledgment on mass detainment and African Americans everyday lives on the planet and in jails. Has this been going on for quite a long time, yet it’s actually occurring in the present society. This narrative caused me to acknowledge how we as a general public need to cooperate and make a superior evening out on the planet for all races.

Raunya Mitchell

References:

https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/resgest9&div=4&id=&page=

https://humanrights.iowa.gov/cas/saa/african-american-culture-history/jim-crow-laws

The film that I chose to watch for this media blog is called ‘Traffic’ This film was published on Jan 5, 2001 by Steven Soderbergh. This Film is about a moderate adjudicator who is delegated by the President to lead America’s heightening battle against drugs, just to find that his teenage daughter is a break fanatic. In the film an advanced glance at America’s battle on drugs recounted through four separate stories that are associated somehow. A traditionalist adjudicator who’s simply been designated as the US drug despot discovers that his teenage honor understudy little girl is a medication junkie. A wonderful strikingly attractive wife battles to spare her rich husband’s medication business, while two DEA and ICE specialists ensure an observer with inside information on the life partner’s business. In Mexico, a marginally degenerate, yet devoted cop battles with his still, small voice when he discovers that his new manager may not be simply the counter medication official he portrayed.
This narrative likewise worked admirably at clarifying how various organizations have handled settler strategies. Workers are separated by the police since one traffic stop could change their entire whole life. Cops typically possibly approach the driver for ID when they are pulled over, cops presently will approach the travelers in the vehicle for their recognizable proof in the event that they speculate they are undocumented. This implies if an individual does not communicate in English as their first language or on the off chance that they look unfamiliar, they could be halted and solicited to introduce evidence from citizenship. This narrative indicated that the undocumented immigrants and the U.S government are thinking about the inverse, they are dedicated people who were moving from war torn nations and entered the United States to look for a superior life. The narrative followed various families from various societies who were all getting away from the viciousness in their country. We examined in class that this issue of movement isn’t only an issue in the U.S. it is an issue in pretty much every nation on the planet. As the U.S government keeps on zeroing in on restricting migrants and movement, they continually push the account that immigration will consistently have inclusion in the wrongdoing in our nation.
The central issues introduced in this narrative is that the United States regards foreigners as though they are criminals and huge enterprises benefit from this criminalization. This relates intensely to segregation because of the generalization that migrants are drug smugglers or criminals in America. Rather than giving workers the correct apparatuses so as to become residents, we treat them as the criminals and enemies. The United States current organization has focused on metropolitan safe-havens by slicing subsidizing to the migrants, yet the American residents until they “they help out government in the authorization of migration laws” (Secretary Nielsen Implementation Memo January 25, 2019) This makes the suggestion that condemning migrants is compensated monetarily, while absolving and helping foreigners is rebuffed monetarily. Mass imprisonment has influenced minorities at a disturbing rate and has harmed their locale monetarily, mentally, and actually given the disregard inside these criminal justice systems.
This narrative uncovered the misfortune that families experience inside the condemned movement in the immigration system. It obliges what we have discussed in class concerning how troublesome the immigration system is on the foreigners in it and how the U.S. will go similarly as hurting their own residents so as to get consistency on the movement laws. What I had not perceived was the way troublesome the excursion could be to try and make it to the fringe. The narrative additionally shows a little bit of how these typical individuals are treated by ICE officials. They treat the individuals who are being ousted like they are in jail and they attempt to incite them to accomplish something like get into a battle to make sure they have motivation to expel them. The individuals who are trying to get a better life are moms, fathers, sisters, and siblings that are being isolated from their families and being sent right once again into the spots they were attempting to escape from. Workers will lose all that they have so as to cross the outskirts just to be treated as criminals, enemies and be isolated from their families at whatever point they do. I would suggest others watch this narrative so as to completely comprehend the impacts that this immigration system has on the individuals inside them just as the amount it takes for workers to arrive.

Raunya Mitchell

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181865/plotsummary

https://www.seattle.gov/police/community-policing/traffic-stops

The film that I chose to watch for this media blog is called ’Poor Kids’ This documentary was published on November 22, 2017 by Frontline. This film is dependent on destitution and getting homeless from it. I state this since vagrancy and destitution is something that is being managed everywhere in the world and it is significant that we as a general public comprehend this is an all-inclusive issue. Two families end up removed by their landowners. They should manage a time of vagrancy and changing from house to house to remain with their loved ones. The families introduced in this narrative are single parents with small kids. The kids need to ride a rush of vagrancy, while attempting to confront sudden changes day by day. In the narrative, the moms were confronted with difficulties on how they have kids that are still in school and they are getting destitute. These difficulties that were confronted were on how they planned to get the children to class when they are moved so distant from it and in the event that they are as yet going to have the option to go to class. A perusing note that we examined in class expressed,
As indicated by the U.S. Division of Education, practically 1.4 million younger students experienced vagrancy during the 2016-2017 school year. A portion of these youngsters were among the assessed 4.4 million destitute individuals in 2017 who were incidentally resting on the floors or love seats of family or companions since they couldn’t manage the cost of their own lodging,”(Jezza NeuMann 2017).This is an enormous issue in our present reality where there should be a change. School is a significant factor in each kid’s life where they have to begin at an early stage and proceed. How are they expected to go to class when they’re destitute? They essentially cannot possibly get the right training . A central issue introduced in this film is the court and law when managing vagrancy and neediness. The same number of angles in class we examined how race in courts is an issue that our reality manages. In this narrative, it was examined how the court accused the mother of being purposefully destitute, this is a major issue in the criminal system. No one has goals to be destitute. As I would see it, the appointed authority expressed that the trouble ought to have been taking a shot at approaches to get her and her children to be protected and find them a home.
A central issue addressed at various occasions in this narrative was neediness. Neediness on the planet is an emergency that has been continuous for quite a long time. Living in destitution is something one will never comprehend except if they experience it themselves. Subsequent to perusing and finding out about destitution is vagrancy, it gave me additional homelessness, all things considered. Not a Crime to be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America said that “We need to turn the coin over and give pre-birth care to all, youngster advancement for all kids, top notch instruction for every single, fair job and powerful work underpins, reasonable lodging, wellbeing attorneys varying, safe neighborhoods, no brutality in the city or at home, solid networks”. (Edelman, 2017, p. 183) In the wake of seeing the everyday battles of what these families needed to experience for quite a long time, it caused me to acknowledge how significantly these battles can influence individuals and what they can do to somebody’s life.
This narrative gave me a superior comprehension to the genuine battles in everyday life of vagrancy and neediness and how it can influence a person. It additionally gave me a superior visual comprehension to what we have been learning in our readings and conversations in class. In this narrative, it helped me relate a great deal of the insights and realities that we have learned in our readings and shown what really goes on when somebody is destitute and battling intellectually and genuinely. I would suggest this narrative not just on account of how enlightening it is, yet the amount somebody can gain from watching it. It makes you want to help these individuals battling and make us as a general public have any kind of effect on the planet so individuals don’t need to experience this any longer. Fortunately, the families in this narrative had the option to discover harmony and a home in the long run. However it was as yet an encounter that they should manage in their regular daily existences intellectually. It causes you to acknowledge how genuinely honored you are throughout everyday life.

Raunya Mitchell

References

Edelman, P. (2017). Not a Crime to Be Poor: The Criminalization of Poverty in America. The

When discussing criminal offenses, race is always a part of the discussion. More specifically African Americans committing crime is the topic of discussion. According to Chanel4.com, “Blacks were disproportionately likely to commit a crime and to be the victims. In 2008 the offending rate for blacks was seven times higher than for whites and the victimization rate was six times higher.”. Chanel4.com statistics show that blacks are more likely to commit a crime than any other race. It also states that African Americans rate at which a black person offends is seven times higher than whites. One may ask why is this found to be true? African Americans, typically, are products of their environments. This theory can be found in differential association. Differential association theory proves that through the interactions a person associates themselves with, they eventually observe the behaviors of others and imitate those same behaviors. The individual learns the attitudes, techniques, and motives for criminal behavior (citation, i.e. Sutherland, 1939). Blacks are involved at all points in the criminal justice system at higher rates than whites. Furthermore, African Americans, when facing criminal penalties, deal with racial disparities while moving through the justice system. It is common for blacks to receive excessive bail, unreasonable punishments, and incompetent public defenders. According to Sentencingprojects.org, “ Prosecutors are more likely to charge people of color with crimes that carry heavier sentences than whites. Federal prosecutors, for example, are twice as likely to charge African Americans with offenses that carry a mandatory minimum sentence than similarly situated whites.”. Sentencingproject.org shows prosecutors are more willing to charge blacks with heavier sentences than whites for the same crime. Unfortunately, the criminal justice system, for years now, have had illegitimate convictions when detaining African Americans. 

The miniseries, When They See Us, is a drama series directed by Ava DuVernay produced in 2019. When They See Us is based on a true story that depicts the events of the Central Park Jogger case. The film starts with the five adolescents being accused of raping and assaulting Trisha Meli. The detectives interrogating the kids are shown coercing the five into admitting their involvement in the assault, despite each originally stating they did not commit any crimes. Linda Fairstein, the prosecutor, failed to uphold their rights throughout their proceedings by not having their parents present, allowing the coercion to take place, and charging them with lengthy sentences despite their ages. As the film progresses it shows the struggles of the five adolescents while in prison. Richardson, Santana, Salaam, and McCray’s sentences were shortened after admitting they committed the crimes charged against them. However, Korey Wise was charged as an adult and sentenced to fifteen years in prison due to him entering a not guilty plea. Once Richardson, Santana, Salaam, and McCray time was completed the film showed the challenges they were faced with while being considered a felon. Housing and jobs were hard for the four to find since they were felons. On the other hand, Korey Wise suffered extreme violence and abuse while being in the adult prison. To escape this torture, he would purposely get placed in solitary confinement. In the end, Korey met Matias in which he confessed to the rape and assault of Trisha Meli. The five were paid reparations for their time and all offenses were expunged from their record. 

Ava DuVernay’s film indicated an accurate portrayal of how blacks are put against the justice system that consistently fails them. When analyzing crime, race has to be considered for the reasons of what the five teens had to experience. Their rights had been disregarded ordinarily. They were not listened to or protected by the justice system when being interrogated. Korey, while in prison, was not ensured by law authorities to such an extent he deliberately placed himself in solitary confinement. To some, solitary confinement is considered one of the worst places to be while in prison, however, this was Korey’s safe place. At the time, Fairstein was pressured to discover the guilty parties who carried out the brutal wrongdoings against Meli in which the five teenagers with a criminal past were seen as an ideal fit. Society has made these injustices deemed to be fair. In class, it is discussed how racial injustices and disparities affect African Americans. Law officials have adapted race-neutral policies. They consider race before the actual crime committed when sentencing and contemplating pleas. When They See Us confirms the ideas discussed in class by expanding on the fact that racial injustice in the world is real. According to Policing the Black Man, Henning (2018) states “ black boys are policed like no one else, not even black men. They are targeted, stopped, and harassed. They are not viewed as boys but as dangerous criminals even when they are not engaging in criminal activity”.  This applies to the film because it shows why the five teens were so easily targeted for the rape and assault of Trisha Meli. Korey Wise went to the station to support his friend Yusef, in which during the time the crime took place he was out to eat with his girlfriend. However, due to Wise being present at the station, he was also targeted which applies to Hening’s belief that boys are targeted even if not participating in criminal behaviors. The film portrays race as a social construct because it allows individuals within a society to determine how they treat one another. Race constructs how one is viewed in their community before becoming acquainted with that individual. 

In conclusion, When They See Us is a great film that shows the challenges of what being black in America is like. Situations, as the five kids experienced, are unfair and enraging. The justice system should work on ways to do better at securing African American rights. They are entitled to due process and equality when being tried for a crime. Stereotypes of blacks should be aborted when law officials are trying a case. Why have amendments if authority figures are not going to follow them? When They See Us is a film I would recommend for others to watch when trying to get a good grasp of what obstacles African Americans face. The color of anyone’s skin should not characterize how they are treated. Until the world ends racial injustices, race and crime will always consistently be associated. One can only hope that in time all races can come together as one and reconstruct what the founding fathers attempted to build. 

References:

Davis, Angela J. Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment. , 2018. Print.

Report to the United Nations on Racial Disparities in the U.S. Criminal Justice System. (2018, May 1). The Sentencing Project. https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/un-report-on-racial-disparities/

Finn, H. (2019, September 20). “When They See Us” Reveals the Heartbreaking Truth About Korey Wise. Good Housekeeping. https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/a27757516/korey-wise-central-park-five/

Worrall, P. (2014, November 27). FactCheck: do black Americans commit more crime? Channel 4 News. https://www.channel4.com/news/factcheck/factcheck-black-americans-commit-crime 

Series: Living Undocumented S: 1 E: 3
Ethnicity and Crime

This episode of the series, Living Undocumented, which is produced by Selena Gomez, films the story of three different people and their struggles with ICE and deportation. The first person the film mentions is a man named Luis. Luis was detained by ICE for a few months and is now facing possible deportation back to Honduras where his pregnant girlfriend and child are waiting for him. The second person being filmed was a woman named Alejandra, who is the wife of a United States military man. Alejandra and her daughter are in the process of being deported back to Mexico. In the documentary, Alejandra talks about how Donald Trump loves and supports military families living in the United States, yet he is doing nothing for those families whose lives are in danger. The next person introduced in the documentary is a man named Vinny, who had a legal right to stay in the United States, however, after getting in trouble for drugs and spending about 12 years in prison, ICE put him on the list for deportation. His situation is a difficult one because ICE unable to send him back to Laos because the country does not have a repatriation agreement with the United States.

In class, we discussed crimmigration and how deportation has been a common phenomenon all around the world. We even read the article, The expansion of ”crimmigration,” mass detention, and deportation (Menjivar et. al., 2017). Crimmigration is the merging of criminal law and immigration. This relates to the documentary I watched because Vinny was facing deportation for being charged with an aggravated felony, which under the Immigration and Nationality Act, it is mandatory that he be deported. I do not think that is a fair law, especially in Vinny’s case because while he was in prison for those 12 years, he was rehabilitated and turned his life around completely. He found God and I do not think it is fair that Vinny should be deported just because he made a mistake whenever he was younger. Another person that this article relates to from the documentary is Alejandra. The story of Alejandra is very sad because even though she was the wife of a soldier who fought in America, the government still had her deported. They let her down and because of that, both she and her daughter were forced to return to Mexico.

Another article we discussed in class that relates to this documentary is the article, Providing Sanctuary or Fostering Crime? (Martinez et. al., 2017). Again, I use Vinny as an example because he came to the United States seeking asylum because his country was extremely dangerous. His father was a soldier in Laos and whenever the war ended, he was placed in a camp that was basically like a prison. He was able to escape from that camp and moved his family to the United States to keep them safe. The article states that “the adoption of limited cooperation policies could bring about behavioral changes in the local immigrant population by increasing the likelihood that individuals will engage in crime” (Martinez et. al., 2017). Even though Vinny was involved in some criminal activities, if he had not come to America and got himself in that trouble, then I do not think he would be where he is today. That time in jail was the eye-opener that he needed, and he works every day to prove that he is not the same person that he was in the early 2000s. In my opinion, the United States gave him more of an opportunity to change than Laos did. Had he stayed in Laos, he might have been dead or in even more trouble.

After watching this documentary, I think it is really important for everybody to watch it as well because it shed some light on what it is actually like to live as an undocumented person. It gave insight into how the courts treat minority families. It also opened my eyes to their fears and the problems they face on a daily basis. It was honestly hard for me to watch because it was sad to see people torn apart from their families, especially whenever they have young children that depend on them. Alejandra had to leave behind her husband and one of her children. Luis was separated from his pregnant girlfriend and his child. Vinny was patiently waiting to see whether or not he had to leave behind his daughter and his wife. This documentary made me even more grateful for what I have because there are a lot of people who are living worse than I am.

References

Menjívar, C., Gómez Cervantes, A., & Alvord, D. (2018). The expansion of “crimmigration,” mass detention, and deportation. Sociology Compass, 12(4), e12573. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12573

Martínez, D. E., Martínez-Schuldt, R. D., & Cantor, G. (2017). Providing Sanctuary or Fostering Crime? A Review of the Research on “Sanctuary Cities” and Crime. Sociology Compass, 12(1), e12547. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12547

-Anonymous

The media source I chose to watch is “When They See Us” it is a 4 part series based on the true story of the central park jogger case ad the central park 5. This fits into the media post of  ethnicity , race , and crime because the five boys who was excused of the crime  had different ethnicity and race they was Latinos and African Americans. Also the lady that was assaulted was white women so in this case there is a ton of different races that goes into this crime. This was a really interesting mini series because it showed the true events of what happened that horrible night.  It shows that there was a lot of assaults happening that but one specially was terrible and it was a lady named Trisha Meili (born Patricia Meili)  she was raped and almost beat to death ny one guy but because of the number of high assaults in the park that night  by groups the police thought that it was it was a group of people that did it. So they picked out the five boys named Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana , and  Korey Wise. The police coerced them and beat them into false confessions.

https://www.netflix.com/title/80200549

This series does a great job of showing how the criminal justice system is crooked and how police is crooked. Its crazy how they can coerce and beat up teens into confessing into something they did not to and have to serve time for it. Also I think that it was implicit bias because they wanted five boys of different races to serve time for a rape and assault they did not commit. I also think this ties into implicit bias power point it said that police believes that African American men are violent and crime prone and that says a lot because in their head they don’t care about not evidence any thing to that nature we just want to get these five black kids in jail and geta bad name (implicit bias pp). After having their name speared in the dirt and being locked up for a good amount especially korey wise who was locked up in adult prison and had to deal with many assaults during his time in adult prison. A guy by the name of Matias Reyes saw Korey Wise in prison and confessed to murder and his DNA matched the  evidence that was on the  crime scene and Matias Reyes was a serial rapist at the time so it make sense. Even after all that The attorney who was responsible for putting the five boys in jail Linda Fairstein still said that the five boys was guilty even after Matias DNA matched with what he said. She even said the police investigation was brilliant so to me that goes with race and crime because she did not care about the facts she just care about getting five colored boys in jail and of the streets.  It got so bad that her book publisher dropped her after the making of when they us came out. Another prominent figure in the case is the president now Donald Trump he took a eight five thousand ad page saying they should bring back the death penalty for the central park five and even after they was set free just like Linda Fairstein he said he still thinks they was involved and that the police did a great job knowing they did not because they beat the kids.

At the end of the day this was a horrible case for the central park they had their names smeared and lost valuable years of their lives. Four of the kids moved from New York when they was released and the Five of them won a settlement case and got money from New York.

References

Week 6 -Implicit Bias (Sept. 28 – Oct 2)

The media source that I chose to watch is an American Crime Story: The people vs. O.J Simpson. This fits into this post of class and crime excellent because O.J was one of the most well know people in the world. He won the Heisman which is an award that goes to the best college football player and when he got to the NFL he was the first running back to rush for 2,000 yards , he won NFL MVP , Broadcaster , and he was an actor. Now retired he’s on trial for the murder of his ex wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman. The producers of the media source that I chose is Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski , the release date is February 2 2016. It is a limited series with 10 episodes that takes you inside the O.J Simpson trial with real actors portraying the real life events that happened during that time that you may not even know about.

(https://www.netflix.com/title/80083977)

This series does a great job of showing how even the most famous , rich well known people can be involved in some of the most wicked evil thing like murder and how sometimes you may think you can get away with anything because of the high class structure you got in the world or Another way to look at it is people may wanted O.J locked up because he was black successful man that was accused of murdering his white ex wife and her white friend. This ties into the reading we had the first week of class called The Concept of Social Structure in Sociology (Crossman 2019). In one part of that reading it was saying how usually in the social structure in the US very few people have power and they tend to be white and male and OJ was black and male and that may had led to systematic racism. What I mean by that is that when they first found that Nicole Brown was murdered along wither friend they automatically thought it was O.J and charged him. One of the famous faces of this trial was the face of Johnnie Cochran he is one of the most well known lawyers and is a civil activist. So he even played with the high class wealthy black man card which is seen in episode five of the series. Cochran speaks  to the judge and jury and delivers a fiery and real moving rebuttal about and how the jury might perceive O.J or any other black men and what words we cant handle like if someone call us the N word. This heavily ties into our week 2 power point ( race and class as social constructs). That ties into that episode because in one the pages of slide the title is “our location in social structure impact our perceptions of and interaction with the criminal justice system”.  That is so true because if you are black in the social structure your interaction and perceptions with the criminal justice system can be horrible sometimes don’t matter if you are a wealthy black male or not and like Cochran way saying they ca have these perceptions of us that is just not true at all. Now to change the tone up a little bit if  you know the O.J Simpson trial you know that he was found not guilty of the double murders. I f he was a regular dude and not one of the most famous people of the world at that time would he have gotten away with leading the police on a low speed way chase on the high for that long without getting hurt by the police and would he have even gotten away with the double murder if he was a normal black guy or even normal white guy. So with him being ranked high in the social class structure that led to so much media attention that the judge called it a circus that might’ve helped him get away with it. Also with his wealth he was able to hire a all start team worth a defense attorney’s to defend him.  That team consisted of multiple high case lawyers that have one big time cases for celebrities and again they was known for winning and with O.J high social class rank every big time lawyer wanted to take this case

Watching this series it was really interesting watching the two aspects of high social class which is race and wealth and power.  To be honest it really open my eyes up more to there is levels to certain stuff and if you have a high social status you can certain things even things like murder and you can get out of by hire high profile lawyers and just  by being a certain somebody. With this being based on real life events you can tell this is not made up and this happens a lot with real famous people getting away with stuff.

References

Crossman, A (2019)- The Concept of Social Structure in Sociology

Power Point (Week 2)- Race and Class as Social Constructs