The Longterm Effects of Slavery
Even with the abolition of slavery African Americans are still being unfairly treated in our current justice system
It is unmistakable during these tumultuous times that racism is still an extremely prevalent issue in America’s society. America and its justice system was built off the demise of African Americans. African Americans have continuously been sabotaged in society by both the government and its people. Starting from slavery and leading into today’s society African Americans have been mistreated and set up for failure by using a range of various discriminatory methods. Although many Americans are under the impression that since slavery has been diminished African Americans are being treated as equals, however that is not the case. A variety of slavery reparations have been implemented, but despite that African Americans are still being mistreated in America due to the underhanded methods used to prevent them from advancing in society.
After the abolition of slavery white supremacists utilized domestic terrorism like lynching in order to intimidate African Americans into submission. “Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror” by the Equal Justice Initiative explains the lynching in America and the deep effects it has left within our country. Oftentimes African Americans were lynched with no cause but in order to justify their actions these white supremacists deemed them as criminals. This led the American justice system into viewing the “black body” as the standard criminal. The justice system in America is now wrongfully skewed against African Americans and oftentimes will unfairly treat them under the guise that Black people are dangerous criminals.
From the 1940’s to the 1980’s as a means to prevent African Americans from advancing in society America implemented various discriminatory laws and practices. With the intention of keeping African Americans out of white neighborhoods banks would simply deny loans to African Americans who were trying to move into these areas even if they were financially qualified for the loan. In “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nahisi Coates, Coates tells the story of a Clyde Ross and the blatant economic criminality weaponized against African Americans — like redlining. This article informs readers that through utilizing practices like redlining African American citizens in our society are struggling due to their lack of economic stability. Jim Crow laws were laws put into place that legally prohibited the intermingling of Black and white people. Both these racist practices were done in order to keep people segregate citizens based on their race.
In “Race, Gender, and Prison History: From the Convict Lease System to the Supermax Prison” by Angela Davis the author explains how African Americans are being taken advantage of by America’s prison system and being unfairly thrown into prison simply to turn a profit. Davis educates readers on how practices like this and slavery have also manipulated the justice system into viewing the “black body” as the typical criminal due to the disproportional numbers of African American prisoners. This kind of racist perspective is still prevalent within our society today as practically no improvements have been made within America’s justice system. America’s justice system was built off of white supremacy, so it is unsurprising that African Americans today are still battling the repercussions of America’s inherently racist justice system. From receiving no rehabilitation after incarceration to having a higher rate of incarceration, it is blatantly clear that African Americans are being disproportionately affected by America’s justice system.
According to the United States Census Bureau in 2019 there were approximately 328 million people living in America and 76.3% of citizens were white while only 13.4% of them were Black. Additionally, according to the Bureau of Justice 422,800 white people were incarcerated in 2019 and 452,800 Black people were incarcerated. The percentage difference between the number of Black versus white people who were incarcerated in 2019 is about 6.6%. The disparity between African Americans and white people in the prison system is substantial. Despite making up less than 15% of the overall American population African Americans make up the majority of inmates within America’s prison system. It is evident through these statistics that there has been no significant change made within our justice system since the abolition of slavery.
All these writings prove how these racist practices are negatively impacting African Americans even within modern times, whether it be through the justice system or simply through the racist ideals of others. It is clear that racist practices used against African Americans in the past and present are having major negative effects against African Americans. America still has not made amends with its racist past so African Americans are still being pushed down even in our modern society. The only way to combat an issue as deeply rooted as our America’s racism is to completely abolish these racist system and start from scratch. Continuing to use an outdated and racist system simply leaves African Americans disproportionately negatively affected by the system that is supposed to be protecting them.
