A slave is someone who sits down and waits for
someone to free them – (Frederick Douglass). If slaves are people who have to
be freed by someone, then are we slaves? Most minorities are wrongfully
convicted of crimes or killed and the people responsible are not prosecuted.
This is a point of frustration for most, but we must use that frustration and
anger towards actions that could help changes transpire. Change is good in most
circumstances, but it can also be good or bad in different situations. The judicial
court system of the United States creates a negative chance for African
Americans to win because of racism, lack of knowledge of the court system, and
their often criticized or punished upon developed stereotypes.
According to the article “Sunday Reading: Commemorating
Juneteenth”, there have been many lives taken due to tragic incidents including
racism. Actions like this used to be referred to as a “hate crime”. The New
Yorker provides detailed reasoning for why June 19th also known as Juneteenth should
be celebrated as a holiday again. Juneteenth is a holiday celebrated because
June 19th is the day slaves were declared free in 1862. This article explains
the tragic losses of black lives recently throughout the years. Therefore, many
families still grieve over these innocent lives taken. “Black bodies are
increasingly becoming battlefields upon which horrors are routinely executed,
each one so close to the last that there is barely enough time to fully grieve
and mourn – David Remnick.”. This article indicates that many black lives have
suffered, and the suffering is still happening today because the fight for
justice is still a work in progress. Nevertheless, I question why is this still
a reoccurring problem with no solution? Since these issues occur with a
pattern, hopefully, a solution can be created soon, yet is already being
developed. I believe that a solution will soon be developed because all of the
names on the long list of wrongfully convicted and innocent killings will not
sit in vain. Every aspect of pain that is being felt with more names being
added to the list every day can be accounted for with the right actions.
In the article “The criminal justice system still
treats black lives as if they don’t matter, Benjamin Crump argues in a new book”,
black people are still being treated unfairly in the courtroom. This could be
due to the lack of knowledge African Americans hold about courtroom injustices.
There’s a possibility that African Americans are less knowledgeable in this
instance because this is not something that is exaggerated in the black
community. This is a discussion that should take place at a young age so that
the awareness is present, and the knowledge can expand. We need to be aware of
these heavily impacting issues because innocent black lives are still being
taken, and not just by killings and multiple brutalities by people who
bleed black and blue. Benjamin Crump believes that the criminal
justice system of the U.S. “disappropiately kills black people – physically,
legally, and socially. Bringing forth awareness of issues can help others
understand how important it is for solutions to be created now rather than
later because it’s not getting better. Are black lives only being taken by
every killing and gun violence? Gun violence is a major issue in the world, but
“black lives are being taken not just by bullets, but every day in every city
and every courtroom with trumped-up felony convictions” (Petrella). With a
courtroom being a place where justice is supposed to be served in the eye of
the law; prosecuting others with inadequate charges or reasons is very
unlawful. I feel as though this is unfair and something should be done to
correct these actions so that more people don’t continue to suffer.
Most of the time when an African American man is
seen in the streets, he is commonly seen as an unfit father who’s on child
support, a criminal, a thug, a ghetto, a basketball or football player,
uneducated, violent, and more. If this is how you generally view black males,
then you are using stereotypes. If you are a black male and you know that this
is how others may view you, then most of the time you may find yourself upset
or feel rage and that’s ok, but instead of increasing the statistical viewpoint
and reacting out of rage as others would expect, why not do the opposite? In
the text “A Philosopher’s Defense of Anger”, all of the anger and rage that is
being held within because of the unlawfulness and racism in the world can be
understood but using those emotions for the better is what we need to try and
understand. In the article explanations of anger being used for better actions
are explained. This could help expand the way we think or react to something
that makes us feel upset. However, when a loved ones’ life or freedom has been
taken without a clear reason or for no reason at all, then another form of rage
may be felt because you may not understand why something like this could’ve
happened to your family. This may have an unimaginable effect on you, but when
this happens try holding onto that anger you feel and your dignity and pride
because gaining justice for that loved one could be your fight for them. “A
black poet by the name of Audre Lorde once explained how we must first
acknowledge the anger that racism gives and transform that anger into action.”
(Anger; Helen Rosner). I agree with this article because if you put on a fight
using anger for a positive outcome rather than adding more negative energy to
the situation resulting in a negative outcome will not help anything improve,
yet justice is to be served. Your voice can always be used as a power source if
you choose to use it. Anytime you hold resentment towards something and want to
take action, then try using the rage for good.
Some may argue that the reason for most African
American males being incarcerated is because they were associated with drugs.
According to “14 Shocking Facts That Prove the US Criminal Justice System Is
Racist” states, “As a result, African Americans, who are 13% of the population
and 14% of drug users, are not only 37% of the people arrested for drugs but
56% of the people in state prisons for drug offenses…”. I disagree with this
misconception because there are other convictions besides drug associations and
most of the time their convicted for crimes they didn’t commit. However, others
may view black males as a “rebellious figure…He is seen as a force to be feared
and avoided.” The only thing that makes a black male different from any other
male is his skin color. So, is the black man feared because his complexion is
darker or because he is free and trying to proceed with a life of
freedom?
https://lljp.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/crowd-of-black-inmates-1-of-1-1-600x314.jpg
Nevertheless, creating a diverse court system would
help to increase the possibility of justice being served to minorities. I feel
as though these 3 articles share similar standpoints about racism which I agree
on. For the most part, I see the overall strengths and weaknesses of this
literature being it helps to break down important information, details, and
quotes for writers and for the audience to understand when reading. Although I
can think of multiple strengths, I cannot determine any weaknesses. The steps I
hope to take next for research is to find more amusing articles, but articles
that differentiate a bit more.
Works Cited
Petrella, Christopher. "The criminal
justice system still treats black lives as though they don’t matter, Benjamin
Crump argues in a new book." 19 Dec. 2019,
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/12/19/his-new-book-attorney-benjamin-crump-argues-that-criminal-justice-system-still-treats-black-lives-like-they-dont-matter/.
Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.
Rosner, Helen. "A Philosopher’s
Defense of Anger." 14 Oct. 2021, www.newyorker.com/culture/q-and-a/a-philosophers-defense-of-anger.
Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.
"Sunday Reading: Commemorating
Juneteenth." 13 June 2021, www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/sunday-reading-commemorating-juneteenth.
Accessed 22 Feb. 2022.
Watson, Quentin. "Black Men vs. The
Stereotype of the Hyper-Masculinity vs. Hardness of Rappers." Spring
Hill College's Peace and Justice Magazine, 3 May 2016.
Quigley, Bill. "14 Shocking Facts That Prove the US Criminal Justice System Is Racist." OpenDemocracy, 27 July 2010, www.opendemocracy.net/en/14-shocking-facts-that-prove-us-criminal-justice-system-is-racist/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.
Reflective Essay 3:
During
the process of writing my argumentative essay, I had to find two opposing sides
that differed from my opinion of the subject. This part was somewhat difficult
because I had to find two opposing sides that were against my opinion as well
as each other’s perspective. Finding the second opposition was the most difficult
part for me because there were very few articles about it. However, using essay
1 to complete essay 3, made the writing process a bit easier.
The
writing process was easier because I didn’t have to rewrite my entire essay. The
main objective was to make sure every piece of information included in my essay
made sense. However, I made a few errors such as not putting every source in
the correct format when used, every piece of evidence was not included
properly, and I made some grammatical errors. For future reference, I should
make sure all sources used in my essay are cited in the desired format, fix all
grammatical errors, and make sure I do not misuse the information of other
sources.
