The Image of a Criminal

Over the last week I spent a large portion of time visiting and working in New York City. This time in the city overlapped my reading of Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow and presented me with some experiences and thoughts that have sparked a further desire for discussion. The idea that Alexander develops that resonated with me the most while in New York was the image of a criminal. She explains how Reagan’s “War on Drugs” in 1982 coincided with a media campaign that promoted racial biases in reaction to crime (I mention this in my response to Chapter 3). These advertisements became a form of propaganda that in Alexander’s words “solidified in the public imagination the image of the black drug criminal” (102).

Stepping away from the drug war, I believe to a certain unfortunate extent Alexander is correct. Walking home after a few late evenings at the office this past week I was mindful of crime and keeping myself safe. When making these trips I began to recognize the types of people that I would naturally assume were less trust worthy. Grouping people in such a way was pre-conceived and not something I did consciously. Could it be that our society really does have an image of a criminal? If I caught myself doing this sub-consciously could people who occupy various roles in our justice system be doing the same? This makes me believe that the problems with the justice system in America could be deeper than systemic. They could, in fact be a result of a number of other factors inherently human.

In a past post Kai discussed the issue raised by Alexander that criminals are systematically disenfranchised after being released from prison through a denial of certain societal rights. If I have understood correctly, Kai is arguing that instead of choosing which rights to grant or deny prisoners we should defend a prisoners right to a second chance. I find this to be a simple, yet noble solution—if the prison system’s intention is to rehabilitate individuals so that they may make a positive contribution to future society we should we not offer them a second chance. Of course this is definitely not as straightforward as it seems. As Kai points out, we still need to negotiate a prisoner’s debt to society.

Working off of the “right to a second chance” proposal I would like to raise a concern in response that was born out of Alexander’s writing and my experiences over the weekend: as a society, are we denying certain groups of people a chance (i.e. a first chance) at all? Alexander raises a number of different Supreme Court rulings in her book that are evidence of this phenomenon. Whren v. United States allowed police officers to use fast judgment when determining whom to pursue in a drug investigation—many of these snap judgments are influence by stereotyping. McClesky v. Kemp ruled that racial bias in sentencing could not be challenged under the Fourteenth Amendment and Armstrong v. United States protected prosecutors from claims of racial bias. It has become a justice system where groups (primarily young African Americans) are not only denied a second chance, but also never given a chance to begin with. These racial groups are searched and profiled unjustifiably and then sentenced and prosecuted without protection from racial bias—a racial bias that is in many way unconscious and ingrained in members of society.

Certain beliefs, actions, and ideas that were introduced in the past have influenced generations as they have grown. In the drug war of the 1980’s racial bias was—as Alexander asserts—essentially inevitable because it became public consensus, constructed by politics and the media. Today that racial bias remains, presumably a shock wave of the drug war that has passed. Once a belief is developed in the mind of a generation it may never be completely removed. I believe this parallels the racial tensions of the American south, which are slowly dissipating as the older generations are replaced by younger ones. It seems plausible that the generation that experienced a propagandized drug war will be replaced by younger minds that will bring a non-biased perspective to the streets and the justice system of America. This coupled with some fundamental changes to the way the justice system (Supreme Court rulings) handles racial bias will need to occur to in order allow all individuals a first chance let alone the opportunity for a second.