Race and the Law
It is not a coincidence that the majority of men in jail are men of color. It is equally not so surprising that we have uncovered situations involving men of color who are found to be innocent. There have even been cases where white people have made up a crime story and use a person of color as part of their made up scenario. In one such story a woman who killed her three children in her car claimed that a black man jumped into her car, high jacked it wiith her and her kids and killed her three children. In fact Miss Crazy had killed her own children and the black man did nto exist. In yet another situation of many a white woman picked a man of color from a line up accusing him of being the man who raped her. After many years in jail and a mother who would not give up he was found to be innocent based on DNA samples that were ignored by law officials, the judge and a court system that loves to put people of color in jail, in fact as my sister puts it "under he jail".
As time passes there are more and more cases of people of color who are found to be innocent of the crimes of which they are accused. Every time it happens I think myself lucky that I have not been one of those men rotting in jail who have not done anything to be there. What I believe is that there is a different form of justice for people who are dark than people who are white. One of my favorite stories involves a white man who swindeled millions from investors and only got five years in jail. Had he been Hispanic it would have likley been a case where more time would have been given. To think that there are no racist judges in the court system and jurors who are bigots is simply living in a fantasy. There are in fact many judges and jurors and lawyers who are racist people who live to put a person of color in jail and who have opinions of us that are to put it mildly prejidicial.
I am appalled at the situation of one of my friends who while under the influence of pain meds wrote some texts to a woman who wanted to see him be jailed for ten years. This white woman lived in a very affluent suburb and befriended his separated spouse. In the end it was uncertain as to who sent the texts because the former partner had access to his phone on many occasions and likely framed him by writing the emails himself. One poor lawyer later and a few months of anguish a person who had an immaculate record as a perfect citizen had a record and was given one year os probation. To me and others it was obvious that it was a case of a nice white lady being harassed by a "spick" as they sometimes refer to Latinos. Had the person being accused of writing the texts been one of her neighbors nothing would have come of it, and she had her share of neighbors who disliked her and with whom she had conflicts. The law does not work the same way for Latinos men as it does for white men or women and this was an example of teaching the Latino male a lesson.
Justice for people of color will only get worse for as long as the people who are judging them are either not people of color or people who are racist, bigoted or prejudice. Justice for people of color will happen when more of us become lawyers, judges and jurors. Injustice for people of color is an epidemic. We and only we can resolve it and even the odds. We must question the acts of a judicial system that is flawed and that is geared at placing anglos at an advantage over others. As long as we believe that this justice system is fair we will continue to be lulled into a false sense of calm. We must question the actions of police, judges, attorneys and the government. We must be suspicious of a system that places more of us than them in jail and where there is a different measure for people who have money and people who are white. It will take everyone in power that is of color to fight for all of us to get the same justices as others do. Like other causes there must be a cause dedicated to investigating a system that places more men of color in jail when the MO of serial killers is a white male about thirty five years of age and people like Jeffrey Domar are eating people after killing them.
Enough said.
As time passes there are more and more cases of people of color who are found to be innocent of the crimes of which they are accused. Every time it happens I think myself lucky that I have not been one of those men rotting in jail who have not done anything to be there. What I believe is that there is a different form of justice for people who are dark than people who are white. One of my favorite stories involves a white man who swindeled millions from investors and only got five years in jail. Had he been Hispanic it would have likley been a case where more time would have been given. To think that there are no racist judges in the court system and jurors who are bigots is simply living in a fantasy. There are in fact many judges and jurors and lawyers who are racist people who live to put a person of color in jail and who have opinions of us that are to put it mildly prejidicial.
I am appalled at the situation of one of my friends who while under the influence of pain meds wrote some texts to a woman who wanted to see him be jailed for ten years. This white woman lived in a very affluent suburb and befriended his separated spouse. In the end it was uncertain as to who sent the texts because the former partner had access to his phone on many occasions and likely framed him by writing the emails himself. One poor lawyer later and a few months of anguish a person who had an immaculate record as a perfect citizen had a record and was given one year os probation. To me and others it was obvious that it was a case of a nice white lady being harassed by a "spick" as they sometimes refer to Latinos. Had the person being accused of writing the texts been one of her neighbors nothing would have come of it, and she had her share of neighbors who disliked her and with whom she had conflicts. The law does not work the same way for Latinos men as it does for white men or women and this was an example of teaching the Latino male a lesson.
Justice for people of color will only get worse for as long as the people who are judging them are either not people of color or people who are racist, bigoted or prejudice. Justice for people of color will happen when more of us become lawyers, judges and jurors. Injustice for people of color is an epidemic. We and only we can resolve it and even the odds. We must question the acts of a judicial system that is flawed and that is geared at placing anglos at an advantage over others. As long as we believe that this justice system is fair we will continue to be lulled into a false sense of calm. We must question the actions of police, judges, attorneys and the government. We must be suspicious of a system that places more of us than them in jail and where there is a different measure for people who have money and people who are white. It will take everyone in power that is of color to fight for all of us to get the same justices as others do. Like other causes there must be a cause dedicated to investigating a system that places more men of color in jail when the MO of serial killers is a white male about thirty five years of age and people like Jeffrey Domar are eating people after killing them.
Enough said.
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