Black Americans suffer from political, social, psychological and economic exploitation at the hands of powerful Whites in this country. As a result of this exploitation, Black people generally are purposefully put into situations where the commission of criminal acts are seen as the most effective solution to their problems.
Most Whites, however, will probably never understand the quandary in which most Black find themselves. Stolen from their homeland, (making them the only ethnic group in the US who came against their will), forced to work under the most wretched conditions imaginable for no money and kept in slavery of different forms and fashions up to this very day, Black people have been under the constant control of Whites. Today, their most effective means of maintaining control is through the criminal justice system.
Black people are absolutely correct when they say there is not justice there is just us! Look in any courtroom in any urban area. What you will find is a steady stream of Black males going to jail, and a steady stream of White males going home.
When the uprising occurred in Los Angeles after the first Rodney King verdict, Whites started to take a closer look at the injustices perpetrated against Blacks because they didn’t want more of the same in other major cities. Suddenly, Whites began to realize that there might be some racism in greater society and in the legal system.
It is truly odd that after the first King verdict, so many Whites talked about how we all should honor the legal system even though we may not have liked the outcome. However, after the O.J. verdict, Whites everywhere started questioning the legal system. It is this type of hypocrisy that leads to further racial prejudice. When Whites don’t win, they want to take their bat and ball and leave the field, only to play again under a new set of rules, their rules.
It is not until Black people begin to make some noise in this country that we get the attention we have been screaming for years. We do not ask for more than our fair share, and yet Whites have historically denied us even an opportunity to get that fair share.
Even the most die-hard integrationists must admit that there is racism in the criminal justice system. Just how much, however, is up for debate. I can not, for the life of me, understand why Whites just don’t seem to understand that the prejudices of the larger society are also held by judges, cops, lawyers, bail bondsmen, etc. Why do Whites think that Whites connected with the criminal justice system check their racism at the door? That is absolutely ridiculous!
Sure, we have some internal issues in the Black community that we must attend to. But Whites also have internal issues in their respective communities to which they must attend to. The primary issue for Whites, in my opinion, is racism. They practice it, they must end it. When or if they do, then discussions like these will no longer be necessary, and Blacks will not face the racism that we do presently in the criminal justice system.