I will provide my usual argument
Systemic racism definition---"Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded through laws and regulations within society or an organization. It can lead to such issues as discrimination in criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power, and education, among other issues." First off statistics indicate 61-80% of black overrepresentation in prisons can be explained by higher black crime rates, with the unexplained portion largely attributable to racial bias.
Remember - the factors which lead to disproportionate criminality amongst black Americans are also in large part a product of racial bias. Underfunded public programs, redlining, generational poverty, bad schooling, and myriad other factors which influence criminality can also be traced to racial bias.----https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-
Extensive document on racial biases in our criminal justice system---https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Black-Lives-Matter.pdf
NOW onto the topic of biases in stops searches and arrests
While White & Black Americans admit to using and selling illicit drugs at similar rates, Black Americans are VASTLY more likely to go to prison for a drug offense.
In 2002, Black Americans were incarcerated for drug offenses at TEN TIMES the rate of White Americans.
Today, Blacks are 3.7x as likely to be arrested for a marijuana offense as Whites, despite similar usage.
97% of “large-population counties” have racial biases in their drug offense incarceration.
Militarization fails to enhance police safety or reduce crime but may harm police reputation
Police militarization does not lead to a decrease in crimes committed or officer injuries, may actually increase both.
Police militarization (including the adoption of SWAT teams) decreases public trust in police, which may contribute to increases in crime.
Militarized police are disproportionately deployed in African American communities, even when accounting for crime rates.
This ACLU report reviews 5 months’ of data from DC police stops & searches by race and outcome.
The black population of DC is 25% greater than the white population, but black people were 410% more likely to be stopped by the police than white people
This disparity increases to 1465% for stops which led to no warning, ticket or arrest and 3695% for searches which led to no warning, ticket or arrest.
This data indicates the disproportionate stopping and searching of blacks in the DC area extended massively beyond any disproportionate rate of criminality.
Between 2011 and 2015, black drivers in Nashville’s Davidson County were pulled over at a rate of 1,122 stops per 1,000 drivers — so on average, more than once per black driver.
Black drivers were also searched at twice the rate of white drivers, though — as in other jurisdictions — searches of white drivers were more likely to turn up contraband.
Racial Disparity in Federal Criminal Sentences ---- Examination of federal data indicates Black Americans spend about 10% more time in prison when compared to comparable Whites who commit the same crimes.
Additionally, Black arrestees are 75% more likely to be charged with a crime carrying a mandatory minimum sentence.
Prosecutors contribute massively to this undeniable racial bias.
Government aggregate of data on plea and charge bargaining.
“Studies that assess the effects of race find that blacks are less likely to receive a reduced charge compared with whites.”
“Studies have generally found a relationship between race and whether or not a defendant receives a reduced charge.”
“The majority of research on race and sentencing outcomes shows that blacks are less likely than whites to receive reduced pleas.“
In short, collected data strongly indicates a racial bias against blacks with regards to sentencing and plea bargains.
Implicit Bias-----Photos of capital inmates shown to entry-level criminal justice students for them to evaluate the trustworthiness of the faces.
Students rated pictures of light-skinned inmates as more trustworthy when they preceded pictures of dark-skinned inmates.
Most study participants (79.9%) were white, but the study predicted that this wasn’t a major factor - “When controlling for race, no statistically significant result was found. This suggests that each race, White and non-White, were consistent in their rating outcomes. Prior research has found similar results, where Whites and light-skinned Blacks are likely to share similar attitudes towards darker-skinned Blacks”
Black Boys Viewed as Older, Less Innocent Than Whites, Research Finds
Students and police officers participated in tests to determine levels of racial bias and perception of innocence.
Black boys as young as 10 are more likely to be considered criminal or untrustworthy, and more likely to face police violence.
Police officers were tested on dehumanization of blacks by comparing people of different races to animal groups. Police who engaged in higher levels of dehumanization were more likely to use violence against black children.
