As we all witnessed during the lockdown of 2020, George Floyd’s murder sparked movements across the country. In the aftermath, there were deeper questions left to be answered. Does sending someone to prison always bring a benefit to the community? With many of the prisoners in the United States of America being Black, it is a result of the use of race in enforcing laws and determining sentences, not because of any greater rates of committing crimes. I believe that when considering the goals, involvement, and outcomes of the interactions of Black Americans and the criminal justice system, the nature of it is unconstructive and is opposed with the idea of justice. To have more understanding between police and communities, there needs to be more respect between those with badges and the people they are meant to serve. In the nation’s history, the amendment to the Constitution that revokes the ability of someone to own a slave still leaves an exception to those imprisoned, and they can, and are, used for labor. Social media is a modern way to organize and set up a network that leads to protests and discussion. If we bring together those affected by crime, we can use approaches like reformative justice to sidestep the jail. Ultimately, ending disenfranchisement by restoring voting rights to those out of prison is a necessary step to achieving more equality.
The definition of respect from Merraim-Webster is, “to consider worthy of high regard.” When we interact with those that have power over us, we hope that they give us respect. The way that police officers treat members of the Black community, is poor, as researched Kahn and Martin in their assessment of how different communities are affected by bias in policing, and they claim that, “Biased policing disproportionately subjects racial and ethnic minorities to suspicion, surveillance, and intrusion. The core concern is that it tends to harm historically disadvantaged groups (e.g., African Americans and Hispanics) who have already been the target of long-standing discrimination” (85). For there to be more respect between people historically oppressed by the police, there should be many efforts given to reach out and build trust. In some places, there are barbecues and block parties that involve everyone to make connections happen, which can reduce tensions. When there is a personal connection, even across race, it can make there to be mutual respect between everyone.
It is a tragic part of America’s history that there was the institution of slavery, that dominated much of the society of before the Civil War. However, when slavery was abolished in the 13th amendment, there was still an exception that left it valid for people convicted of a crime and in prison. The text states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction,” (2) as referenced by Nicholas Bogel-Burroghs who is a reporter for the New York Times and was featuring how some states are removing that part of the amendment for themselves in state law. It would be a benefit for the Black community if instead of having their labor be used without pay, or adequate pay, they could utilize the benefits of their labor. The author also states, “…prisoners produced more than $2 billion in goods annually and provided more than $9 billion worth of services while being paid an average of 13 to 52 cents per hour” (1). Since there is so much economic power behind prison labor, it is only fair for this to be given to the community that does the lion’s share of the work. This could also be reinvested into the lives of people in the system to help them get back on track when released.
When in the right hands, social media can be used in a critical way to spread information, help organize marches and rallies, and create movements that promote equality and accountability for police. The #BlackLivesMatter movement is instrumental in bringing awareness to issues facing the Black community with regards to injustice. Due to the breadth of how it has spread and reached many community organizers in the nation, the researchers Mundt, Ross, and Burnett discovered that, “Several group administrators talked about the immense value of having other BLM group leaders online to talk with about personal highs and lows as movement organizers, share ideas, and informally coordinate efforts locally and nationally. For them, social media served as a tool for mobilizing resources in the form of support networks” (6). This means another, greater, level of activism can happen that could not with media like television. On our phones we have the choice of seeing what we want, and some of the videos on social media like YouTube and Instagram can have a harmful effect on the mental health of the watcher. In a study following young adult Black males in a prison, the researchers Motley Jr., Chen, Johnson, and Joe found that when viewing community based violence that, “However, seeing a video on social media that involved police violence was the only type of CBV significantly associated with an increase in the odds of feeling sad, angry, or fearful” (93). As members of the public, we all expect that police officers do their job properly, and if we see them doing harm it is bound to get attention by other people and spread on social media, so we must be aware of the effects it has on us too, if we seek it.
Typical forms of justice rely on punishing the offender of the crime and leaving the victim to heal on their own, while restorative justice has the objective of bringing together both of them to find a way to move forward. In a study that explains and compares forms of this system, Van Ness determines that, “Research shows that restorative programmes meet a number of important criteria, such as victim and offender satisfaction, fear reduction for victims, development of empathy in offenders, increased completion of agreements, and lowered recidivisim” (13). A major development is that the basis of the structure of the legal system can include navigating away from directing individuals to jail cells and instead offer them replacement into their community with better skills to avoid making the same mistake. In order to help the victim, this can close the chapter after the offense happened. While to address the offender, this diverts them from being in overcrowded jails. For society, this reduces the burden to taxpayers. As an overall win for everybody involved, restorative justice is placed to reform a much needed area of society that has been stayed the same way for far too long.
Democracy is the foundation of America, and we exercise this by voting for our elected representatives. In many states, when someone is in prison they are unable to vote, and this can extend to when they are released from prison and are ultimately free, and this is called disenfranchisement. For Black Americans, this is a concerning issue since this unfairly targets them to remove them from the wider political system. In a review of the history and modern examples of the ways this is done, the law and social science researchers Aviram, Bragg, and Lewis suggest that, “Although felon disenfranchisement is rooted in policy existing hundreds of years ago, it cannot be argued that it affects all Americans equally. Post–Civil War disenfranchisement policies have their beginnings in a racially discriminatory environment, and the War on Drugs punished African Americans and Latinos more harshly, resulting in hundreds, if not thousands, of felony convictions” (306). As we remember that the right to vote was a struggle many fought for, it is so important that there is more done to increase the rights of people who want to participate in democracy and change their communities with the ballot, if they are given the opportunity. Since there is a difference in how each state is responsible for these rights, and there are legal factors that affect its scope, later they indicate that, “If the process of political elections and voting is considered a fundamental right of a democratic society, losing the right to vote tells ex-offenders that they are no longer members of society on a basic level” (307). It is said that the sum can be greater than its parts, and I would hope that we could bring in everyone to make a difference in our country through reforming voting rights.
Unlike the era of the 1960’s where there were pivotal figures that were memorable in their character, message, and resolve, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcom X, and Rosa Parks, or the fiery instigators of the 70’s such as Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichael, and Huey P. Newton, there have been almost no significant torchbearers in this social media era so to speak of. In their considerations of how social media is utilized in activist movements, Zeynep Tufekci describes that, “Another important aspect of many recent protests is that they are self-described as “leaderless,” and even when they allow participation by institutional groups, decision making tends to be informal, and key tasks are performed by ad hoc committees of volunteers that are largely horizontalist in structure, without explicit hierarchies” (13). Evidenced by marches where people wear solid black-bloc to remain indistinguishable, and usernames online that bear no relation to the individual’s genuine name, this movement has been symbolized by the desire to move in unison without anyone standing out. In this way, it can lose credibility to those who look to the behaviors of the leaders of previous eras where their lifestyle validated their message.
We have seen that these significant areas should improve to restore the concept of justice in the relationship between Black Americans and the legal system. Respectful interactions with police would save lives, and stop unnecessary arrests from happening. While ending prison labor is not likely, it can instead become paid. Talking about rallies and marches on social media is a great way to spread information. All the while, setting up a structure for victims and offenders to find redress can be meaningful. Let us not exclude those in society who have paid their debt after finishing their sentences in prison, by giving them the right to vote. We all believe that equal rights mean that nobody is discriminated against. The best way to reflect this is taking these concepts and reforming the way we always have, with action, persistence, and faith.
Works Cited
Robert O Motley, Jr., Yu-Chih Chen, Carnayla Johnson, Sean Joe, Exposure to Community-Based Violence on Social Media among Black Male Emerging Adults Involved with the Criminal Justice System, Social Work Research, Volume 44, Issue 2, June 2020, Pages 87–97, https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/svaa002
Bogel-burroughs, Nicholas. “Why a Question about Slavery Is Now on the Ballot in 5 States.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Oct. 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/22/us/prison-labor-slavery-ballot-measures.html?smid=url-share.
Kahn, Kimberly Barsamian, and Karin D. Martin. “Policing and Race: Disparate Treatment, Perceptions, and Policy Responses.” Social Issues and Policy Review, vol. 10, no. 1, 5 Jan. 2016, pp. 82–121., https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12019.
Hadar Aviram, Allyson Bragg, and Chelsea Lewis, Felon Disenfranchisement, 13 Ann. Rev. L. Soc. Sci. 295 (2017). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship/1572
Mundt, Marcia, et al. “Scaling Social Movements through Social Media: The Case of Black Lives Matter.” Social Media + Society, vol. 4, no. 4, 2018, p. 205630511880791., https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305118807911.
Van Ness, Daniel W. “AN OVERVIEW OF RESTORATIVE JUSTICE AROUND THE WORLD .” Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice , 22 Apr. 2005, https://biblioteca.cejamericas.org/handle/2015/4767.
Tufekci, Zeynep. “SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND GOVERNMENTS IN THE DIGITAL AGE: EVALUATING A COMPLEX LANDSCAPE.” Journal of International Affairs, Fall/Winter 2014, Vol. 68, No. 1, 2014, p. 13., https://blogs.cuit.columbia.edu/jia/files/2014/12/xvii-18_Tufekci_Article.pdf.
