What others think...

One of my friends who I work with helped me study for one of the exams. He had no idea of the subject and I studied by telling him what I knew about the course material. So, in reality it was like I was teaching him the things that we learned in class. If the conversation was taken out of context, the things that I was saying could have been in completely the wrong way. I was restated all of the goals and beliefs of white nationalist groups.  When it came to explaining the essay question from the first exam I had a summary of all the main points.  When I gave him an outline of what the white nationalist believed about the subject of the picture he was left sort of dumb founded. He couldn't really understand how they could get all of these really minute details from the dynamics of a race or religion. He knew of the surface racism that exists, but he didn't realize how deep  the hatred reached. I felt the same exact way he did.  I would never in a million years be able to dig that deep to find hateful things to say about people.

My roommate and I are in the white nationalists and ideologies class together.  Although we don't participate in discussions in class we discuss things between ourselves when class has been dismissed. She was pretty heated when we started talking about racism within politics. I am not a very political person and I don't follow any current events when it comes to politics. As a class we talked about racism in the the tea party.  She was telling me that she doesn't believe that just because you consider yourself a part of a political party that you are categorized as being racist. Things are not that black and white. I tried to have her explain to me why everyone is categorizing the Tea Party as racist. She told me that it is because these political people don't want President Obama in office anymore.  They only focus on his race as the reason why he is not excelling as president.  However, it is for many more reasons that just that. I really can't form an opinion on something I don't know much about, but I think that I agree with the fact that Obama came into office trying to fix something that not just one president could do. With this I don't think that white nationalist are as dumb as everyone is portraying them to be, they wanted America to see noted black person fail so they could get more support. I think they have succeeded in doing just that.

My boyfriend is looking to be a part of the law enforcement in Washington.  I discussed with him about the topic of my blog and how he felt about it.  We talked a little about the process in which he as going through in applying to be an officer.  I asked him if he felt like the criminal justice system was racist.  He gave the example of filling out the application for different departments. I guess they give a paragraph long disclaimer about how they do not hire people based on sex, age, religion, race, income, or personal values.  Then the next sections that they asked you to fill out is your sex and race.  If this issues truly didn't matter to them in the hiring process they wouldn't ask those questions at all. I completely agree. Getting hired should be solely determined on performance not what you look like. This could go both ways though.  If they wanted more diversity in their department they could choose a minority over someone who was higher qualified.  This could also go the other way in that they choose someone who was white but less able to do the job.  If they wanted to make this application process completely fair they would take out that section.

My friend pointed out how extreme white nationalist people are.  Taking this with the combination of people who are overly sensitive to racism heightens the problem with hate crimes, terrorism, and discrimination. I was telling him about the concept of lone wolves and how they work to support white nationalist groups.  He told me that he thinks that white nationalist groups target mentally unstable and vulnerable people to recruit.  That every group has an extreme member because they have never really felt like that were a part of something and now they are overly dedicated.  I think that they are called lone wolves for a reason.  They don't fit in and their are loners. So when a group takes them in they are willing to do anything for the good of the group, even if it is against the law.

Mainstream vs. Extreme

I remember in class talking about the mainstream and extreme when it comes to racism, also discussed by Jessie Daniels.  Extreme racism is obvious, easy to see, and usually really over the top and explicit.  Mainstream racism flies more under the radar and is hidden within our everyday and is not as easy to pick out.  I wanted to analyze two video games that represent these two ideals, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and Ethnic Cleansing. 

Ethnic Cleansing would fall into the category of extreme racism.  It is obvious to see the goal of the game that it, in no way, is trying to hide its racist message. The player is able to choose between a Ku Klux Klan member or a SkinHead and involves the player running through the ghetto killing blacks and Latinos and then eventually killing Jews in the underground subway.  There is no subliminal messages that the player needs to decipher   The music playing in the background supports white pride ideologies and uses racial slang like the "n" word. There are missing posters of white children on the walls of rooms. I think that this video game is targeted towards children who are unable to see the hidden messages behind the game. 

It is clear that it was not the intent of the creator to spend too much time perfect the graphics of the game.  The images are very choppy.  These types of video games are in circulation to introduce racism into more of the mainstream games like Grand Theft Auto. Thus, these two tactics work together the get their message of white pride and hate towards other races across.  Below is a clip of Ethnic Cleansing so that you can see the comparison to that of Grand Theft Auto.

Grand Theft Auto is an example of a video game that has inherited mainstream racism.  The premise depicts Carl, a gang member, who is trying to learn more about the murder of his mother while expanding his business ventures. The players of the game are able to make the characters do many motions.  It is the person playing that creates the racism on their own. For example, they are able to run black people over with a car and use bombs explosions to simulate suicide bombers.  The video below relates  to my issue of police discrimination. Some user of the game created a video of why you can not trust a black man to be your partner as a police officer. He did this by using clips from the game. I think that mainstream racism is worse than extreme racism. You have to actually work towards making a mainstream video game into something racist.  So, those are the people with deeper rooted discrimination issues. 

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas

 Ethnic Cleansing

CARTOONS

Southern Poverty Law Center

The Southern Poverty Law Center, SPLC, is a non-profit organization in the United States that works to fight against white supremacist groups. The organization was founded in 1971 by Morris Dees and Joseph Levin.  It began as a civil rights law firm.  They provide legal representation for victims of hate crimes and for those that are affected by crime for traits that are out of their control.   The SPLC has been victorious in cases concerned with racial segregation and discrimination.  Since the organization is not run by the government they raise money through fundraising in order to afford the lawyers that they supply.

Though this is not directly connected to the discrimination within the criminal justice system the Sothern Poverty Law Center aids minorities against white nationalists. One issue that I have discussed in another post concerned how minorities are usually of low socioeconomic status and therefore cannot afford their own lawyer.  As a result the courts will appoint one to them.  This organization understands that justice needs to be brought to white nationalist members as well as proving the innocent. The SPLC provides well educated lawyers who care about the victims unlike those who are circulating in the system.  It also aims to connect the unfair treatment back to the core of the problem, the organization.  This can relate back to the discrimination of minorities and the criminal justice system.  Parts of the system may seem unfair when it should be rooted deeper into the entirety of the process.  It is the goal of the Southern Poverty Law Center to cripple the origination that discriminates.

It would benefit the organization if they were to branch out to demographics other than the southern state of the United States. There are hate crimes and discrimination that occurs more often in larger cities of poverty. Also, it would be effective if they were to expand their clientele to fighting controversial cases concerning race. The center provides hope for victims who experience discrimination and perhaps it will spark a sister organization representing discrimination within the criminal justice system primarily.  This way it will be one less legal factor working against minorities.

For more information on the Southern Poverty Law Center visit http://www.splcenter.org/

NAACP speaks up when Seattle officer's assault charges are dropped

The NAACP leaders of the Seattle chapter spoke out against the dropped charges against one of Seattle’s own police officers.  They claim that the department continues to use excessive force against minorities.  

The Seattle police officer, James Lee, was convicted with assault for kicking a man outside of a convenient store. Initially Lee was believed to use excessive force, a fine line for officers to cross, but then after Lee gave his statement.  After the statement was given Pete Holmes, a Seattle City Attorney, dropped a charge against a police officer.  This decision sparked the NAACP to make an official statement disagreeing with the conclusion.  President James Bible claims that the Seattle police department has problems that need to be addressed.  Bible uses past encounters of violent police tactics for cases he has represented as an example of his outrage.

In addition to the case of Darius Yearby, who was kicked by Officer Lee after being placed in handcuffs, there was Terry Jefferson.  Jefferson was pulled from his car and thrown to the ground resulting in the bruising of his face. Bible was disappointed to hear that all charges against these Seattle officers were dismissed.  However, Bible plans to work to ensure that enforcement is being regulated by Seattle Police Department’s Chief John Diaz and Mayor Mike McGinn.  However, he fears that since neither one of these men will be in their positions next year, officials will blame the problem solely of the leadership ethics.  So, now that they are gone there will be nothing to fear, but action will be to be taken eventually.

I think that, in order to make things fair, and it dispel all acquisitions of the Seattle police department being racist that they should take action with their law enforcement officials.   It is clear that there are imperfections in the system and it doesn’t benefit the reputation when you have a large organization like the NAACP speaking out against your department and questioning your integrity.  I mean, police are supposed to keep people safe, not hurt them no matter who it is.  I agree with James Bible in that Seattle officials are going to do their best to make it go away.  However, it is going to be difficult with a nationally known organization calling you out against racism.

Also, another argument was made about certain situations that don’t get handled the best way out of thousands of call they get frequently.  So, Sean Whitcomb, the Seattle department’s spokesperson,  is trying to down play the severity of the incident by saying that since this doesn’t happen very often it is not that big of a deal.  With this, he said they seek to do better but had no formal plans to address the issue at hand.  In other words, he is just telling the NAACP what they want to hear. 

American History X and Autobiography of a Recovering SkinHead: The Frank Meeink Story

I personally was not a fan of this movie and I would not choose to watch it if it was not shown in class. I had never heard of it, but many people that I talked to after watching it really liked it including my boyfriend.

American History X gives a fictional, though clear, example of an African American who was treated unfairly by the criminal justice system based on his race. Guy Torry's character, Lamont, is a black inmate who bonds with the main character Derek, played by Edward Norton.  Lamont was caught stealing a television from a store right next to a doughnut shop where he runs into three police officers. He was charged for assaulting an officer which landed him six years in prison.  Lamont had accidentally dropped the television on the officers foot and it was seen as intentional.  Though Derek was an active skinhead he did not think that was a fair sentencing for Lamont. Now, Derek, a white man had been convicted of murdering two men and only served three years in the movie.

This movie represents a clear depiction of the unfair treatment of criminals between races.  Even the ex-white nationalist character thought his friend was given a harsh punishment because he couldn't believe it at first.  You would think that they would try and find a witness to his crime if Lamont tried to fight the charges.  People want to buy into the stereotype that black men are violent that is why some things can be interpreted in the wrong way. The trends within the types of crimes, victims, and offenders have made it so that some races are represented falsely.  If the roles were reversed Derek may not have even served a day in jail where as Lamont probably would have gotten life in prison, or worse. African American men are seen as violent criminals by white nationalists, but most convictions made for black criminals are not for violent crimes.  In this film it was the police officer who determined the fate of Lamont.  Within the criminal justice system it is not uncommon for the arresting officer to influence the jury.  This illegal act is to ensure that jurors are not randomly selected and will grant them the decision they favor.

The book, Autobiography of a Recovering SkinHead: The Frank Meeink Story, follows a former skinhead member and his experiences of salvaging his life.  Meeink served as a SkinHead at the age of 13 and began recruiting members by 18 to join other Neo-Nazis. The big turn around in his life was when he was arrested and incarcerated with kidnapping and beating an opposing gang member.  All of his actions were caught on video tape. Frank Meeink is now an inspirational speaker to youth groups and works as a coach for a hockey league.

Meeink claims that this group that he was formerly a member of is, "nothing but violent."  He even calls himself a sick, twisted human being for being a part of it and the crimes that he committed for the group.  For a SkinHead, to say that his group was more violent than that of the race that they are trying to protect themselves from is interesting.  The only difference in the matter is that the SkinHead group thinks their actions are justified because it is their "job" to act this was and do these things.  They deny the existence of violence within their group and Frank Meeink is proof of that lie with the crime that he committed. So, how is it that black people are the ones who are labeled as destructive to others? White nationalist are the same if not worse in their actions, but to them it is okay because they have a obligation to their race.  And yet black with all this black people are considered the most violent of all criminals.

The Myth of a Racial Criminal Justice System

The Myth of a Racist Criminal Justice System was a book written by William Lee Wilbanks in 1987.  The book has opposing theories written dispelling what Wilbanks believes.  The Myth of a Racial Criminal Justice System is a book that aims to persuade readers of the idea that the criminal justice system is not racist.  The book doesn’t deny the existence of racism within the system but the criminal justice itself is not racist. It doesn’t use evidence of arrest data, charging, pleas, imprisonment rates, or parole decisions.  Methodological flaws and interpretation is the main focus. The text expresses Wilbanks analysis of how the criminal justice system can be broken up into right and wrong and his opinion of the matter.

William Wilbanks believes that most decisions in the criminal justice system are not based on discrimination.  However, they are based on the severity of the crime, amount of evidence, and prior criminal record. He is known for coining the term systematic racism in The Myth of a Racial Criminal Justice System.  Systematic racism is used as a standard to measure American criminal justice which disproves the presence of discrimination. Wilbanks argues the fact that for racism to occur that there needs to be discrimination in all aspects of the criminal justice system or none at all; a go big or go home ideology.  After reviewing he concludes that the system is not racist during all steps of the process.

William Wilbanks attempts to disprove an idea using logic.  However, the majority of scholars believe that there are certain biases that are evident in certain practices and policies.   The criminal justice system is not completely color blind though and the issue of racism which the system is not as black and white as Wilbanks believes.  Wilbanks makes it seem like whole is not racist by claiming that one innocent portion of the system is what make it so.  But, if one part of something is broken isn’t everything that the system contaminated.  It is like saying it is only a little racist, so it is not that big of a deal.  Besides he backs up his evidence with in his book with no statistics, only interpretations of what he thinks.  It gives proof that even someone who does not believe that the criminal justice system is racist does claim of the existence of it.  So there is such a thing as a middle ground. 

True Life: Racism in the Criminal Justice System

This video I found on YouTube in the format of a popular MTV television show True Life.  It is titled True Life Racism in the Justice System.  The reporter analyzing the information is Marjie T. Britz.  Britz tells viewers that there are different aspects that allow for discrimination to grow within the criminal justice system. She mentions race, gender, socioeconomic status, and previous offenses as being factors for determining sentencing.  With this in mind it is not as superficial as saying blacks are treated differently than whites.  However, the system favors whites more highly than black people. For example, because the majority of black people have a low income they are unable to provide an adequate lawyer which is most likely going to be a white male.  This confirms the white race is educated and is of higher power while the black is not. In addition, the judge will most often be a conservative white male which creates opportunity for discrimination. Considering this, the dynamic of the races will more often than not remain the same.

More often then not the harsher sentences for minorities are unexplained.  The video gives the example of Tyrone Brown who received a life sentencing for merely violating parole with drug possession.  Though he was pardoned by the Texas judge Brown lost half of his life due to unfair punishment.  Brown comes from a low income family which is not supposed to be a factor in determining sentencing. He was initially imprisoned with a robbery charge when he stole merchandise valued at two dollars. Brown's story compared to that of a different white man, Alex Wood, shows evidence of racism in the justice systems process.  Alex Wood had connections to congress and the religious community. Wood was found guilty after committing murder and was only given parole, not to mention numerous cocaine violations.  He never spent a night in jail for what he did.  These two men were both tried by the same judge.  The story of these two men shows favoritism to the rich white man to that of a poor black man. There were no other variables other than race and severity of the crime.

The other case mentioned in the video summarizes an African American male, George McFarland, who received the death penalty for a murder he did not commit.  No forensic evidence was presented against him and was no confession that linked him  to the murder. Only a witness connected him to the crime.  His defense attorney was a elderly white male who fell asleep during the court sessions. McFarland's lawyer was appointed to him because of his low income, though he did not fight the case.  Most of the time lawyers that are appointed are inexperienced, underpaid, overworked, and don't care about the clients case.  I think the case's outcome would have turned out much differently if McFarland would have been able to afford a proper lawyer.  The criminal justice system has an evident bias to income and race. Race has become socially constructed and an element that determines race is environmental surroundings such as income.  If convictions are decided according to economic status of the suspect and the economic status is how race is defined then the verdicts are being determined, in some way, by race.

Judge Greg Mathis

Greg Mathis

Greg Mathis was born April 5, 1960 was born in Detroit, Michigan.  He is the youngest of four boys and the son of a member of a street gang called the Errol Flynns.  Mathis eventually followed down the path of his father and was arrested many times and was imprisoned at the age of 17.  Due to his father’s past he was offered parole and obtained a minimum wage job to stay out of the legal system.  Despite his troubled past Mathis rose to the top when discovering an interest in politics while attending Eastern Michigan University.  However, his criminal background restricted him from obtaining a license to practice law after graduating from law school. 

In 1995, he was elected a superior court judge for Michigan’s 36^th District, the youngest person to do so.  During his time spent as a judge he was rate within the top five out of 30 judges each year.  In attempts to stay involved in the political world he was appointed the head of Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign as well as Mayor Coleman Young’s election.  Mathis is also the author of a book written in 2008 called Street Judge and is in the process of creating a video game based on his own experiences.  Currently, Judge Greg Mathis is in the national entertainment industry. He serves as a judge on his own television show focusing on African American movements and urban politic cases.  Judge Mathis is a legal reality TV show which has aired over 2000 episodes and has renewed to air for the 2011-2012 seasons.  The cases are real cases considering tort laws chosen by the producers of the show. Mathis’ attitude has laid back persona which differs from most televised court based shows.

   

The story of Greg Mathis dispels the stereotype that black men are inferior to the white man.  He overcomes adversity by breaking away from the norm and his troubled past.  His story is unique in that he went on to become an entrepreneur and notorious judge of high power and wealth.  Mathis worked to be an active member in politics and get ahead of the criminal justice system.  The system worked positively for him which is rare for many cases of distressed black youths.  If more cases turned out like they did for Mathis’ then maybe blacks would not be discouraged to obtain a position of high power and education. However, sadly that is a rarity today.  Do you think that if more blacks were treated like Greg Mathis early on in life we would have more African Americans within the justice system rather than in prisons?

Judge Mathis fighting against racism in his courtroom

Jail or College?

Below is a video of someone doing a survey about asking people of the community of whether there is more black men in jail than in college. It it interesting to see that the man interviewer is questioning all black people and they are giving in to the stereotype that black people are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system. They believe it is the norm to be in prison if you are black which is an idea promoted by many white nationalist groups.  However, in fact, there are more blacks enrolled in college than in jail. 

Preserving Racial Purity

The idea of preserving the white race is perhaps the largest goal of all white nationalist groups.  White nationalist groups are against interracial dating because it leads to the extinction of whites by race mixing. They believe that any other race is inferior to them and when race mixing takes place it is polluting our nation.  Even just one drop of a black person's blood will erase the purity of the white race. So, when the purity of their race is threatened they will do anything to protect it.  This includes profiling other races and segregating them from whites by locking them away in prison.  It includes constructing lies to segregate lower races, like African Americans.

The United States criminal justice system has been characterized as having a bias against black people.  Statistically more black people are incarcerated than white people and those who run the criminal justice system are typically rich white men. It supports the ideologies and goals of white nationalist members saying that whites are above the law and are on top while blacks are on the bottom.  Over time the gap between the races is only increasing as the white men gain more control of the legal system.  Since blacks are inferior in every way to white people if they are to mix it will create future generations that are impure.  I believe that white nationalists use the criminal justice system to instill fear of someone who is black. If enough people are incarcerated then they can provide statistics and a profile of the black race as being savage, likely to rape, and dangerous, then no women will voluntarily have sexual relations with a black person. So, this will prevent a portion of white and black relationships although they are off false pretenses.

White nationalists try to support the idea of black sexuality as being criminal.  This can be done through false accusations as well; which is morally wrong.  They use the rape statistics found in the criminal justice system as justification to terrorize the black race and protect their pure white women.  Black men have a much higher percentage of committing physical crimes than a white man and white nationalists use this as a reason to fuel their ideologies.  In addition, harsher punishment for black people will make it so that they will not be able to reenter the community for a longer period of time than someone who is of the white race.  If all black men who have criminal tendencies will be locked up it will make race mixing less available in the community.  White nationalists wanted someone to blame for the introduction of race mixing.  They took control of the issue by using the criminal justice system in efforts save their race.  

Bethany Storro Acid Attack

This was another case that was mentioned on Stormfront that is from the state of Washington.  Bethany Storro threw acid on her face and blamed it on a black woman,when in actuality she did this to herself.  Her community was quick to support her story and made efforts to find the person who had done this to her.  She was even invited to appear as a guest on Oprah. This story shows how the United States population jumps to conclusions and is willing to back a mentally unstable white woman and label the imaginary black woman as a criminal.

Stormfront

I went to stormfront.org and started exploring the blog posts and discussion on this white nationalist website.  I couldn’t really find anything related to the topic that I was working on that was located on the main page.  So, I went to the search bar and typed in “blacks” hoping something would come up.  I found a post labeled “Blacks Falsely Accused.”  Since I am focusing on the criminal justice system I thought I would look into this.  The blog consisted of occurrences of wrongly accused black people taking punishment or abuse for crimes that they did not commit.  The African Americans were the ones at the end of the pointed fingers of white people covering up their own mistakes.  Below is just one example:

1923: Fannie Taylor – covered up a violent love affair with a white man by saying that it was a black man who had beat her up. As the story spread, rape and robbery were soon added. Whites burned down the nearby black town of Rosewood, Florida. At least six blacks and two whites were killed.

People within the criminal justice system profile blacks as criminal, violent, rapists.  In this case the “fake” crime began as domestic abuse and then escalated because of the rumors. White people profile others and it then becomes the norm and thus more believable to any other possible story.  Though, it was a white person who was more violent than someone of the black race.  This white man was abusive when white nationalists believe that it is the black man who has animalistic tendencies.  White groups took it upon themselves to bring terrorism to a black town.  This caused harm to multiple people where as the original suspected crime was nowhere near that level in comparison. This group wanted justification for what they did.  They wanted to protect this white woman from the "savage-like" black man and send a message to anyone like him to stay away.  This main point can relate back to any white nationalist regarding white women and a black man situation. I think, the rape and robbery were added to the story to make it more realistic to the public.  This could be seen as a scare tactic for the white population and fuel the white nationalist groups to attack the town.

When I first went to Stormfront.org I was not expecting to find any posts or information that was against the white race. Though I didn’t try and look around too much, I would think that a site whose slogan is “White pride, worldwide” would not have any negative comments about their own race.  Also, the post that I found was from someone with the user name blackwoman22222.  I wouldn’t think that Stormfront, being a white nationalist web page, site would accept a black woman to post on it. No one has responded to it however.  I just thought it was interesting for how much hate these members have that they would allow pretty much anyone to comment and on it.