Part I:Du Bois begins this reading with a story about an experience in school. What happened and why was this story important to him; why does he tell this story? What is the veil? What is double consciousness? In contemporary society does race still operate like a veil? How does race still continue to shape people’s experiences in society? If white supremacy is still embedded in contemporary institutions, how can we work towards eliminating the racial hierarchy in our society?
Part II:Respons to the post below: (in short)
Blacks are extensively represented in each criminal justice system stage. For instance, 57% of defendants that commit a felony in big municipal counties throughout the United States are African Americans, while 41% are Caucasian (United States Department of Justice, 1998). Alternatively, blacks include almost 13% of the United States population and Caucasians are equaled to 81% (United States Bureau of Census, 2003). According to Thompson (2005), “there are two main reasons for the uneven depiction of blacks in the United States population in corrections. One reason is that blacks are overrepresented throughout the system of criminal justice just as a result of them carrying out additional crimes that are very harsh and have an extended history of criminal activities than the individuals that are not black. Another reason for the difference in race is discrimination on the ones that make the final decision in the system of criminal justice” (Thompson, 2005). In 1984, the Congress of the United States established an act by the name of Sentencing Reform Act. The Act’s purpose is to decrease the elements that disqualify an individuals as well as the discrepancy that exists.
Some of these elements include social status, gender or even race. The Sentencing Reform Act has influenced several stages of the system of criminal justice by reducing how much discretion is utilized as well as the decreased amount of lawful elements that influence the legal method.In the Rodney King case, the law enforcement officers utilized excessive force, this was then returned by bias and race. Several factors have a part in the discrimination like the level of poverty, the neighborhood or even their race. Numerous studies that have been done demonstrated that an abundant amount blacks are in prison or jail than whites as a result of the fact that they are not as educated or are impoverished. Black offenders can go include children, teenagers as well as adults, but most likely they will be a male. Throughout the time in which they were reared in the public, Caucasians had additional chances to obtain direction and an increased opportunity for improved education as a result of the fact that African Americans had to endure slavery. There are several instances in which a law enforcement officer comes to a scene and race has an effect on their choice of the result. The statistics reveal that race is not an issue regarding receiving a sentence but before being detained or the several times that they were called to court. Sentencing and convictions are founded on the criminal record that an offender has prior to the current crime and not based on their ethnicity, race or sex. “Throughout the system of criminal justice, racial inequalities can simply be characterized as a crisis in civil rights but in spite of the influence that it has on the community of African Americans, not much has been completed to adjust this disparity. Until these problems are handled and adjusted, ethnic fairness throughout the United States will continue to be a dream that is far off” (Jaworski, 2014).
To conclude, discrimination regarding race is shown throughout the system of criminal justice consistent with data. The abundant population of blacks in prisons or jails is essential elements of racial profiling and discrimination. African Americans have an increased amount of inhabitants in the system of criminal justice as a result of them being more probably statistically to carry out crimes when compared to the Caucasians. Black history of the level of poverty, missing education and slavery has directed them to carry out crimes that are extremely violent that has made them to be profiled racially as well as being discriminated against.
Part III:Respons to the post below: (in short)
Throughout history, racism has always been an underlying hinderance in society. There have been numerous sources documenting the experience of living as an African American in such a discriminating world. Dubois documents this in his book, “Of Our Spiritual Strivings”. Dubois introduces this chapter by explaining his experience of racism in society and discusses one significant story that had occurred during his childhood. A girl refuses to take his school card, because the first thing she had seen about him was his race. (Lecture Video). She did not know that he was kindhearted and intelligent, but rather assumed his race meant that she could not associate with him. This is the moment where Dubois realizes the impact race has on society, and how his struggles all tied back to his born race.
When discussing this story, Dubois uses two terms that are extremely significant to his experiences, the “vast veil”, and, “double consciousness”. The veil is metaphorical for the division of race in society. It is almost like a barrier, as differences in race create many differences in life, such as access to privileges. The veil represents the color of one’s skin, as it covers our entire face and body, similar to that of a veil. It is one of the first things we see about a person as well, along with gender, physical attributes, etc. When discussing this metaphorical barrier of race, Dubois states, “I had thereafter no desire to tear down that veil, to creep through; I held all beyond it in common contempt, and lived above it in a region of blue sky and great wandering shadows” (Dubois 2). Here, Dubois states his original desire to fit in, to feel welcome in society. However, after this experience, he decides to overcome this need to feel “normal”, and instead began to love and appreciate his race and culture. However, the journey that had led him to this point was filled with moments of double consciousness. Dubois refers to this as “…sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amuse and pity” (Dubois 2). Dubois describes the act of knowing that he is highly disliked and belittled due to his race, and often thinks of this when meeting others, or when he is out in public. He believes society views him to be “amusing” for attempting to become a person with free-will, as many still believed in slavery. Many often pitied him as well, because they assumed that he was incompetent or incapable, solely due to his race.
In contemporary society, the veil does still exist, however it is far less harsh than it was at this time. Regardless, racism is still a major issue in society, and many still hold racist prejudices and beliefs. Many still do not associate with certain people, solely for their race. This is especially true for white supremist. In fact, they believe that whites are the superior race, which leads to their racist ideologies. This sense of superiority is the primary issue of racism and can be resolved by making current privileges accessible to all, such as equal opportunities for jobs, rather than restricting a job opportunity to a specific racial group. Racism has not been fully alleviated, but our society has become more aware of the mistakes made in the past and will hopefully continue to improve each day.