Just how much the way on drugs impacts our overcrowded prisons, in one chart.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/10/war-on-drugs-prisons-infographic_n_4914884.html

I thought this article was not just interesting, but it was really informative. It shows the up to date (January 25, 2014) statistics on the U.S prison population. The chart reveals the offenses that were committed and the # of inmates that committed this crime/ percentage. Not even surprising, but drug offenses took on 50.1%, making it the top reason why people are in jail. I know we all knew that from class, but its interesting to see it all laid out like this. This article also reveals the types of drugs that the drug offenders had on them when they got arrested. #1 being marijuana with 27.6%, #2 with powder cocaine and methamphetamine with 22.5%, and #3 being crack cocaine with 11.5%.

Race as civic felony

Race as civic felony by Loic Wacquant is a really intriguing article that we can connect to multiple themes that we have discussed in class. This article discusses how African Americans are discriminated and treated unfairly because of the dominant political system that we are under. A lot of the material in this piece is similar to what we have read in Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, so in this post I want to bullet some of the key aspects of Wacquant’s article that I found really interesting to me.

• If someone closes their eyes and pictures a criminal, what kind of person would one imagine in their head? An African American male with a hoody, one may say. This concept is the “fear of the black male”. People are fearful of young black men because they correlate them with negative aspects, like crime. In the article Wacquant surprisingly reveals to us that it is not just the white community that is brain washed with this illusion, but the black community as well. Also I brought up in class how “the formula young + black +male “(128), reminds me of the line by line interpretation of the song 99 Problems by Jay Z. This is saying how being young, black and male basically gives police officers probable cause.
• Whether or not someone is guilty, a lot of the times they are forced to plea guilty. This article and Alexander emphasizes to us how people are forced to plea guilty for a more lenient sentence. This system does not give any choices to the people because the only non-harsh outcome forces people into saying their guilty, even if they are not. This is another way that the system controls criminals. When people plea guilty, they are now labeled a felon, which brings me to my next point.

In Wacquant’s article he gives an example of how being labeled a felon can permanently change your life. A “A resident of Mississippi discovered that he was debarred from the polls for life due to having pleaded guilty to passing a bad cheque in the amount of $150” (134). This example shows how the system can socially and politically control an individual. The system comes up with these ludicrous laws and rules that are specifically aimed towards criminals. And after reading Alexander’s The New jim Crow, we have seen how the criminal justice system is not to put away criminals, it is to socially control African Americans.

Double Blind concept

“In many workplaces, women are pressured to be “masculine” enough to be respected as workers, but also to be “feminine” enough to be respected as women” (Page 145).

Kenji Yoshino gives us the example of women in the workplace experiencing this Double Blind concept. This concept is an unfortunate because it puts women in a situation where there is no right answer. If women act too feminine they are perceived weak, affectionate, have long hair and as Yoshino says ” man-hating lesbians.” But then if a woman acts masculine, they are perceived with aggression characteristics, assertiveness, have short hair etc. and not respected by the women community. The double blind concept gives no option to women, and therefore suppress any individuality for women. The majority/ White supremacy want social control over any minority group to keep them above. So far we have seen how the White supremacy have passed laws that control Women, gay people , and racial minorities. Yoshino explains this concept for women as a “Catch-22.” Women are faced in this dilemma which there is ultimately no escape because of the conflicting conditions of social control of acting feminine or masculine.

Tax Breaks for Employers Who Hire Felons

Alexander educates us about the stigma and the discriminations that felons face after they are released from prison. She explains how hard it is for them to get situated back into life, especially getting a job. Employers obviously would rather hire someone that is “qualified,” rather then someone who just got out of jail for “breaking the law.”

There is this article that I read online which tells its readers about what the Work Opportunity Tax Credit program can do for businesses. This program is designed to give certain less-fortunate individuals jobs (SSI recipients, veterns, welfare recipients, ex-felons), in return for a tax reduction for the business .”It offers tax breaks to buisnesses that give a second chance to those recently released from prison…Many times criminal offenders find it difficult to find employment due to their past convictions. This arrangement is a win-win for everyone.”

I am not exactly sure how I feel about this program. Although I believe their goals are set in a right direction, giving people second chances in the work force, like ex-felons which we have seen how difficult it is for them to jump back into their lives after prison. It is also unfortunate that companies will only do this for their advantage, which of course is to save money in their pocket.

I was wondering what you guys thought about this program? Do you think it purely has the right intentions to help these people who have difficultly getting a job? Or is this set up primarily for businesses to make even more money? Is this the only way in which ex-felons can easily get a job? Do you guys have any other alternatives that would help ex-felons to get a job, instead of basically bribing business companies with money?

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/tax-breaks-employers-hire-felons-14421.html

New Policy on Minor Pot Possession

Yesterday I read this really interesting article on Vice News, titled NYPD to Stop Making Arrests for Simple Possession of Marijuana. This article shows light on how specifically NY is starting to break away from the “New Jim Crow system”. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that a new policy on pot possession will take place on November 19th. 2014. People in possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana will be subjected to a summons, which they say is similar to a traffic citation. Mayor de Blasio said “too many people have been arrested in NY for possession and it goes on to hurt them in the future..it hurts their chances to get a good job, it hurts their chances to get housing, it hurts their chances to qualify for a student loan, it can literally follow them the rest of their lives.” I really admired De Blasio for making change to this matter, because like we read in The New Jim Crow, once convicted of a crime and labeled a felon, an individual is literally excluded from public life. “For drug felons, there is little hope of escape. Barred from public housing by law, discriminated against by private landlords, ineligible for food stamps, forced to “check the box” indicating a felony conviction on employment applications for nearly every job, and denied licenses for a wide range of a small amount of drugs for recreational use find themselves locked out of the mainstream society and economy- permanently”(Alexander, 94).

This new policy will hopefully make a small opening in this “closed circuit” system, because as of November 19th, minor pot possessions will be dismissed with a summons, giving more life opportunities for those who would have been labeled a felon. Another important thing I want to add quickly is that De Blasio also said ” arrests for simple marijuana possession have disproportionately affected blacks and latinos in NY, adding that the policy change is another step in the effort to improve relations between police and the community.”

I wonder what this new policy means for people who are in prison right now serving their sentence for minor pot possession. Does their sentence get shorten? Does this new policy not effect them at all?

https://news.vice.com/article/nypd-to-stop-making-arrests-for-simple-possession-of-marijuana

Byrne grant program

The Byrne program was a bribe offered to the state and local law enforcement. This bribe set by the Federal Government aimed to prioritize the War on Drugs by funding the program. The Byrne program existed despite the fact that drug use/abuse was actually in decline; therefore it defends Alexander’s theory of a New Jim Crow through mass incarceration. Mass incarceration is just a “cover up” to white conservatives wanting to suppress African Americans to the bottom of the system.

” Obama, as presidential candidate, promised to revive the Byrne grant program, claiming that it is ” critical to creating the anti-drug task forces our communities need. Obama honored his word following the election, drastically increasing funding for the Byrne grant program despite its abysmal track record. “(84)

So my question is, Why is Obama reviving the program? I feel like the Byrne program’s main purpose was not the War on Drugs, but in fact it was to keep African Americans at the bottom of the system by locking them away. Why would Obama invest in a program that has such a negative view upon it? I could be completely misunderstood on this matter but can someone explain this to me?

The New Jim Crow: Chapters 1 & 2

In Michelle Alexander’s chapter 1 of The New Jim Crow, she took her readers on a roller coaster ride of the discriminations and achievements that African Americans faced in the United States. In this first chapter, Alexander informs her readers that there is a reoccurring theme of systems coming to an end and then shortly after, are reborn again. The birth of slavery began right after the Bacon’s Rebellion. Planters did not want the poor whites and blacks to unite with the common interest to end servitude, therefore the planters placed a wedge in between the two races through racial bribes. This control gave power to the white servants, pushing the African Americans even lower in the system as slaves. Eventually slavery ended during the Reconstruction Era, which abolished slavery (13^th amendment), provided due process (14th amendment), gave African Americans the right to vote (15^th amendment), and many other programs assisting African Americans. Just when things were improving significantly for former slaves (when we are at the top of the roller coaster), a new racial caste system awakens (bringing us back to the bottom). The Jim Crow laws were a way to segregate whites and blacks without utilizing slavery to force it. The Jim Crow laws separated whites and blacks by excluding blacks from public places like schools, churches, restroom, etc. Eventually The Jim Crow system came to an end in 1964 when the “Civil Rights Act formally dismantled the Jim Crow System of discrimination in public accommodations, employment, voting, education, and federally financed activities” (38). With the Civil Rights Movement a success, African Americans “stood a brief moment in the sun”(20), before another racial order launched. The end of the Jim Crow laws put us on the top of the roller coaster ride, but yet again the ride can never stop at the top, because another racial order must bring us back down to the bottom. The conservative whites cannot watch as African Americans thrive and succeed to their level. Every time the black community passed through an obstacle that held them back from being considered a first class citizen, the white elite men searched for a new system to keep blacks below them.

This was how the birth of mass incarceration came to be. Anyone that supported the civil rights legislation through direct-action and civil disobedience was considered a threat to law and order. In 1982, Reagan announced a “War on Drugs,” which targeted African Americans. Because of the discriminations of African Americans, they were given little to no job opportunities, which led them to sell drugs, in particularly crack cocaine. Unfortunately this was used against African Americans, for this so called “War on Drugs” and “Crack-Cocaine epidemic.” “The War on Drugs, cloaked in race-neutral language, offered whites opposed to racial reform a unique opportunity to express their hostility towards blacks and black progress, without being exposed to the charge of racism”(54). You would think the War on Drugs was to put away big time drug dealers, but that was not the case at all. Alexander revels to us that the New Jim Crow is another system that allows discrimination of African Americans by throwing them in jail for no reasonable reason, but the color of their skin.

Although chapter 1 had its ups and its downs through the progression of African Americans, It is an important and informative chapter to start out this book. Throughout history I noticed there was a pattern. Every time African Americans successfully took a step closer to their equalized citizenship, the white elite had to find a new system to keep blacks at the bottom. Alexander informs us that black discrimination never ended, and in fact it is reborn into our law and order system today.

Moving forward to chapter 2, Alexander educates us readers about how the legal system really works. She starts the chapter off by completely mocking the show Law and Order by saying how it misinterprets how real legality works. Basically, the legal system is corrupt and the way it is structured, police officers can put anyone they want in jail. This chapter reminds me of when we read The Common Place of Law, because Alexander refers to legality as a game. For an example, in the beginning of the chapter Alexander writes about the “Rules of the Game.” She states how there are few legal rules on police behavior. The 4^th amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure, but what constitutes reasonable? Many times a police officer follows through the search even if there were not probable cause. Police officers “cheat” in this legality game, making it hard/impossible for anyone else to play (anyone accused breaking the law). Throughout chapter 2 Alexander reveals different ways the legal system is corrupt.

1. If a police officer deems someone “dangerous,” they can stop and frisk them without a warrant.
2. Police officers do not inform the accused that they need consent.
3. Police officers use pretext in order to find drugs.
4. The “Volume Approach” technique
5. The “Drug-Courier Profile” technique
6. Byrne program funding local and state law enforcement to make drug arrests number one priority. (Even though drug use/abuse was at decline at the time)
7. Local/state police have access to military base/weapons.
8. Law enforcement gain profits through drug market.
9. Civil Forfeiture- departments can seize assets of a certain crime. (Property, money)
10. The more assets you have to trade, the shorter your sentence/punishment is. The fewer assets you have to trade the longer your sentence is.
11. Public defenders are not as meaningful. They have many clients, so the defender will not have the best-qualified lawyer/ if they even can get one.
12. Defenders are often forced to plea bargain in exchange for some form of leniency on sentence.
13. Harsh sentencing also forces people to snitch and fabricate/ falsely give wrong information
14. Drug crimes are sentences longer than violent crimes.
15. Being labeled a “felon”

After reading this chapter, it made me disgusted of the legal system I live in. I always believed that this system was primarily here to protect us and give justice, but little did I realize it also had an underlining propose as well. Michelle Alexander claims this discrimination still prevails today. So I was wondering if people agree or disagree with Alexander? Does anyone have any recent examples that prove this does exist today?

Time is an advantage

In our discussion on Letter From Birmingham Jail, we talked about how time is in the individual’s advantage. I am not one hundred percent sure what is meant by that, but I do think I found an example of what I believe it means. In the Letter From Birmingham Jail, Dr. King Jr. discusses an event that parallels the unjust laws that are degrading African Americans. Dr. King Jr. brings up Nazi Germany and how the Jewish people were persecuted. I believe this connects to the idea of time, by that we can look back in history and see the mistakes that have been made, and learn from them( to our advantage). To our advantage we can view that “some just laws become unjust when they are mis-used.” I can be totally wrong with this idea, but it is what came to mind when I re-read my notes. Can anyone tell me what the idea of  time meant to them?

Why the Poor is poor

Hi everyone,

(thought I already had posted this the other week, but realized it never published, so better late then never.)

I know the topic on “why the poor is poor” has not been the main topic in class, but I know we have touched basis on it with several assigned readings. Online I found a really interesting article called Americans Think People Are Poor Because Of Bad Breaks, Not Because They’re Losers: Poll. This article from the Huffington Post provided surprising (at least to me) percentages about what Americans thought about the poor.

 

Among all Americans:

44% believe poor people are poor mostly because of a lack of opportunities

30% poor people poor because of their individual failings

more specifically..

47% poverty has to do more with the fact good jobs aren’t available

28% because poor people have poor work ethic

 

52% wealthy people got where they are primarily because they had more opportunities

31% wealthy just worked harder

 

These percentages surprised me because I thought most Americans would assume that poor people got poor because of their own individual failings, rather then societal circumstances. And to be honest, I thought the same. I assumed that people were poor because they did not work hard enough and were lazy. But I was wrong. Poor people are poor because of the way society deems them, and the societal restraints that are upon them. This article was significant to me because it shows me that not all Americans think negatively/ wrong about why the poor is poor.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/poverty-poll_n_5167460.html

Eyes on the Prize

The film Eyes on the Prize is a very powerful and moving documentary that expressed the harsh discriminations that African Americans still faced after the Civil War. Although the Civil war was at its end, it never stopped the discrimination and racism that African Americans still faced everyday. This film told the story of the Black Panther Party and what their purposes were. The Black Panther Party is an organization group, founded by Heuy Newton and Bobby Seale, for the main purpose of fighting against African American oppression and fighting for their first class citizenship. The Black Panther Party originated in Oakland California, and eventually branched off to different locations like Brooklyn, New York. Although there are many cases where inequality against African Americans took place, this post will focus on the police brutality in Oakland, California, and the inequality school system in Brooklyn, New York.

In Oakland, California, the Black Panthers stood up to the police enforcement that treated the African Americans in town unjustly. Many African Americans claimed that in Oakland, they were in contact more with the police then the actual city council, and something had to change. The Black Panthers decided to take action and follow the police around town to watch their every move. The purpose of tailgating the police was to make a firm statement, that they were watching the policemen very carefully when they arrested a person of color. In fact, every time an African American would be arrested, they would read out their rights. Not only did the Black Panthers intimidate the police officers by following them around, the Black Panthers carried around guns to prove their seriousness and willingness to take violent action, to get the equality they deserve. Although the Black Panthers are proving a point (for the good) by carrying a weapon around, I do not agree with this method. I do not agree with this method because I do not believe that someone can fully get their way through physical fighting, because in the end both parties will be hurt. The Black Panther may not agree, but I believe Dr. King Jr.’s Direct Action method from Letter from Birmingham Jail that expresses a non-violent method, which forces tension is a more productive and civil way of fighting for what one wants. Eventually, the Black Panthers were charged with disturbing the peace and were claimed to be anti-white. But in fact, the Black Panther party was not anti-white; they would fight for any minority group that experienced the oppression and inequalities that they are also facing. Therefore, the Black Panther party came up with a Ten Point Plan that laid out the demands they want from government.

In Brooklyn, New York, parents wanted change to the unequal school system. The Ocean-Hill Brownsville School consisted of all white teachers, in a mostly African American neighborhood. The idea was that children would learn better with a racially mixed array of educators, versus just white teachers. So, the New York City board system purposed an experiment that would place racially mixed teachers into the Ocean-Hill Brownsville School. This plan worked, the children’s education was broadened and more cultural. Eventually, the white unionized teachers had to be transferred out of Ocean-Hill Brownsville school district in replace of minority raced teachers. This event raised much conflict between everyone in town, especially between the whites and African Americans. The action of the African Americans replacing the white educators raised another issue. It was claimed that African Americans resented Jewish people because the teachers that were transferred were white Jews. This event caused the unionized teachers to strike against the school district. This was a very significant event in history because it shows the collective power people can have against the school system. At the end of the film, it showed the Ocean-Hill Brownsville community marching on the Brooklyn Bridge that symbolizing “power to the people.”

Eyes on the Prize was over all a great film that we watched in class. It was very inspiring and definitely impacted all of its viewers in a good way. Even though it is seen very negatively today, I liked the way the film maker included the harsh racism statements that the white people made, so that the viewers and myself can briefly grasp how horrible and blunt the racism was back then. Another aspect of the film I admired was the real clips from history that was played, versus reenactments of some civil right movements that I have seen in other films. Real clips tell a better story and show the real reality of what is being told. After watching Eyes on the Prize in class, I gained more respect for the African Americans who fought for what they deserved, equality.

 

Do you agree with the Black Panther’s method of carrying weapons?

Did the film impact anyone? In what way?