Racial Disparities in the Criminal Justice System in America

Racial inequalities in the US criminal justice system are long-standing. In this essay, it is argued that the historical racial regimes, especially in the South, established long-term disparities in policing, prosecution, and sentencing, and this left Blacks systematically disadvantaged against whites. It will build on Regina Baker's discussion to analyze how the racial structures we were accustomed to in the past have shaped the current disparities and conclude by offering suggestions on the way forward for reforming the justice system.

According to Baker (2022), the racial regime that was created by slavery, segregation, and white supremacy in the South made a permanent racial disparity. Police, prosecution, and sentencing are racialized institutions that disproportionately target the black population. Structural racism has a greater impact in the sense that the poor neighborhoods, which are founded on the historic marginalization, are exposed to greater surveillance, arrest, and harsher punishments. This factor substantiates the relationship between racial political economy and the persistence of inequality in the US justice system, as discussed by Baker.

Empirical literature beyond Baker substantiates the discussed issue with structural racism being portrayed via discretion, implicit bias, and unequal access to legal opportunities (e.g., more severe punishment upon being caught with similar crimes). The outcome is that, even with the rate of crime taken into account, Black Americans are overrepresented in all of the levels of use of force, arrest, pre-trial detention, conviction, and imprisonment. The economic and social inequality created by the criminal records then contributes to the spread of stigma and obstacles, which leads to a vicious cycle of disfavor.

To wrap up, for many years in America, racial disparities between the citizens have always been a matter of discussion, with one group advocating for equality in the country. The criminal justice system in America is not supposed to be viewed as racially biased, but an institution that is supposed to create order and serve the citizens with equality.