Race and Crime within the American Society

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Race and Crime within the American Society
African Americans within the United States justice system have remained overrepresented throughout history. As Browning et al. (4) explain, black men make up about 13% of the male population within the country, but those locked up behind bars comprise 35% of the prison population. Equally, one in three African American males can expect to spend time incarcerated at one point in their lifetime (Browning et al. 5). In comparison, only one in six individuals of Latin American descent spends time in prison, with a lower one in seventeen white men spending time in prison at one point. The situation for African American women remains equally grim too. According to Browning et al. (5), one of every 18 women of African American descent is likely to spend time behind bars at some point in their lifetime. In comparison, only one in about 111 white women born within the same timeline will ever spend time in prison during their lifetime. The above statistics go a long way to prove the deep-rooted bias entrenched within the criminal justice system. Since the reconstruction, America's criminal justice system has continued curating and enforcing policies and practices that unjustifiably treat black men and women. For instance, during and immediately after the reconstruction era, Vagrancy Laws and Black Codes were popular tools applied to African American communities to maintain control (Hunt et al. 2).
Origins of Discriminatory Laws during the Reconstruction Era
Most of these laws trace their origins to the south immediately after the Civil War and abolishing slavery. During this time, white plantation owners experienced an immediate and acute labor shortage that threatened their farming enterprises. These shortages were a primary motivation for the white ruling class to create laws that would stem the process and manage the shortage. While the newly freed African American communities in the south did not put down their tools immediately, they became vastly aware of their rights as individuals. To this end, many became opposed to working under slave-like decisions, such as putting in long hours without breaks, harsh beatings, and working on weekends. As Müller (3) explains, many men sought to reduce their work hours on Saturday, preferring leisure over work. Equally, African American women began to prefer foregoing weekend work to spend time caring for their families. As Dodsworth (2) explains, vagrancy laws trace their origins in Europe towards the end of the feudalism era. Landowners introduced these laws and upper aristocratic classes to serve the dual purpose. First, they helped to restrict access to public places by undesirable classes. Moreover, these laws were also useful for ensuring these aristocrats and landowners had a near-constant supply to a pool of cheap labor providers.
At the onset of reconstruction, many Whites in the south also developed the perception that vagrancy by Black Africans was a sudden social problem that posed an immediate danger (Hunt et al. 4). The notion of black inferiority by the white American race was a major catalyst to such prevailing notions. For instance, many whites st...