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183429 Responseshttp://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/02/inequality-class-comment/Inequality+Class%3A++Comment2010-02-20+12%3A36%3A22Sam+Richards to Inequality Class: Comment
I don’t agree with the idea that once you get in trouble and perhaps go to jail it is tough to climb out of the hole, because you have to look at the infinite number of repeat offenders who claimed the first time was a mistake and they would learn from it. I feel as if jail sentences aren’t as feared as they should be, primarily because for some criminals, living in jail is a better life than they previously had before incarceration, especially homeless criminals. Once a criminal is released from jail, it has got nothing to do with their past whether they want to change their lifestyle. They served their time in jail and should have learned from it, if they want to sob and claim they’re in a whole, then they’re quitting on themselves.
JamesParsons Reply: February 23rd, 2010 at 7:52 pm
I don’t really agree with what is said in this comment. He said people find themselves in a hole and can’t get out of it which is wrong. There are defiantly ways to clean yourself up and get out of whatever drug habit or criminal activity you get caught up in. He refers to black people being in a hole but if you look at the stats white people get in trouble for using drugs just as much as blacks. It is not an issue of having the ability of getting out of that slump it’s a matter of whether you really want to or not. Being that I have been in a slump like that I know that if you really want to change you can it’s a matter of will power. I played sports all my life and my senior year of the most important basketball season of my life I broke my hand and had to sit out the remainder of the season. When that reality set in that I was never going to play organized ball again I went off the deep end and turned to alcohol and drugs for comfort. I did that because I did not know how else to cope with that issue. I continued that kind of lifestyle for a the next year and a half or so, it got to the point where as soon as I woke up in the morning I started looking for something to give me my fix and that was the point in my life where I told myself I need to change if I wanted to make something out of my life. Now don’t get me wrong the drug life was fun as hell and I have a ton of memories from them but in the end it wasn’t worth the chance of a lifelong addiction. The chance of my family finding out and knowing what I was up to and how much I would hurt them if they found out how deep I was in that mess was too much for me to deal with and I knew I needed a change. I have friends right now who have been in and out of rehab 3 or 4 times and keep relapsing and I go home and see them and I thank god every day that I had the will power to overcome that shit. Being a drug addict is realizing you have a problem and having the power to overcome it because YOU want too. If you really don’t want to overcome it then you are never going too and you are going to live your life like that forever, life is all about the choices you make.
I couldn't agree more with what you said. If one goes to jail for a mistake they made to get in that situation then they are more likely to avoid the same mistake. But if a offender is in a situation they can't avoid then I agree with the short clip. If someone is selling drugs just to support his or her family and they get caught and go to jail. They are more then likely to repeat the same crime because it is easier money then to get a 9-5 job. But like you said in your last sentence its their lives and only they can choose how to live it.
I think it is easy for people to say they do not believe that it is difficult to get stuck in the “hole.” But it’s probably because they don’t fully understand what it is like for people who live in poverty. This downward spiral isn’t widely occurring in wealthy people, and it is easy to get stuck when you don’t have other options. The problem isn’t realizing you made a mistake, but instead having alternatives. It is not easy for people without opportunity to always avoid crime, especially when they live in areas without jobs and crime is the norm.
In response to mdonof5, Have you ever tried to get a job with a prison sentence on your resume? In our tough economy people with ten or more experience or a masters degree are losing their job. can you imagine being in jail from age 18 to 25 getting out into the workforce competing with those individual who spent those same years getting an education. The odds are against you to continue a normal life. The jobs that are available are mostly going to be minimum wage paying jobs. And its really difficult to start a life making 300 dollars a week. If you are desperate enough and need money you do what you have to do.
Now in response to the video about why when black people get out of jail do they fall back into their old lifestyle…Most individuals go back to the life that most of the time put them in jail. Most of the time its to give the ex-convict an escape from his or her life, jail is not a easy punishment. You are told what to do day in and day out, you are told when to eat and told when to sleep. And you are an adult, and on top of that you have to deal with the other inmates. You have to be fighting and proving yourself worthy to be in a gang in jail, which is most of the time your only protection during your prison term.
On top of dealing with economic problems, you have to deal with psychological problems from the physical and verbal abuse that happens in our prisons all around our country. Just imagine you are 23 years old just getting released from a state prison for selling crack in your neighborhood. You are free from incarceration, with the idea of starting a better and more successful life. But to remind you the people that are your friends and family are a part of the reason why you were in jail in the first place. Now you have to try and not hang around your old home as much as you use to. But you have no where to go and stay where you wouldn't be surrounded by drugs and crime. Chances are you weren't spending your high school years in honors classes you were on the streets selling drugs and hanging out with your friends. So now that you are out of jail you have no education and little support network; your past mistakes that you supposedly were punished for by going to jail have become your future. That is why you are stuck in a hole.
I think that it is just plain despicable that Sam makes us feel guilty about ourselves class after class. It seems like everything is white people fault, and that everything that has happened that was bad was because of white people. He doesn’t realize that society now is not what it was back in the 1960’s and that there is somewhat of a even playing field for all races. As long as you work hard you can achieve whatever you want.
First of all, you should look at your facts before you say things that you did say on Thursday. The way that you were explaining things made it look like the whole entire criminal justice system was racist, from every judge to every law enforcement official. You said when a judge has to make a decision with a conviction or a sentence for a crime, that he will ALWAYS give the black person a harder time, and then be more lenient on the white person. Where do you get these facts? Have you ever sat in court rooms across the nation? This is entirely false, and the majority of judges are not like this at all. Did you not learn in your civics class in high school that judges, with exception to the supreme courts, are ELECTED officials? I don’t think a judge that constantly let prejudice occur in their courtroom would not be elected. The most hysterical thing that I found in your lecture was the video you showed. It was a normal sting operation that contradicted your point if anything. Did you notice that the officer that made the arrest was an African American, and the criminal was also an African American? How does this illustrate you point in the matter? It does not at all, and brings an even stronger argument against it.
I don’t think you understand how people are arrested. They are not just picked off the street by police officers; in fact they put themselves in these situations. The data is completely wrong you presented in class because per capita, more blacks commit crimes than whites. Look it up, it’s a fact, and your disproportioned data is doing nothing but misleading people. I think instead of complaining about how people may be mistreated, people should be focused on cleaning up their lives. Look at poor inner city neighborhoods, they’re run down, yet people won’t clean them up. Most of these crimes that you claim don’t exist or are over prosecuted happen in these neighborhoods. All you have to do to solve these problems is make these neighborhoods better with development opportunities, not constantly complain. If the justice system was as bad as it was, it would be all over the news. Which its obviously not.
I think you’re a bit naïve about how things really work. I mean I get that times have changed and what not but it’s totally not an even playing field at all. And the whole if you work hard enough you can achieve whatever you want isn’t true either. Perhaps you don’t really know how things work. Even without talking about color there are limitations on how far women get in work positions so you can’t say it’s equal. And he's not saying that the entire criminal justice system was racist you need to try and open your eyes…yeah theyre elected officials but how long did it take for a black person to be president and how hard is it for a ton of people to still accept it? Until you live the life black people live and truly understand what it’s like then you’ll understand.
McLovin8293 Reply: February 24th, 2010 at 12:19 am
You're acting like you have all the facts when Sam's the one with the PHD that did the research. All Sam does is point out the facts and what happened in the past. He said that white people ended slavery and then, being at the top of the mountain, wanted to stay there. So they implemented laws that held black people down. This lasted for a very long time. Even to the point where all of the money given to veterans of WWII was to white people. Sure, inequality was abolished in the 60's, but it hasn't been that long since then and there is still discrimination and issues. Why are you getting so offended? About the video too..he was just showing that law enforcement, including black law enforcers, may tend to go towards black people. He even stated that "maybe black people do commit more crimes per capita, but the stats could not be that skewed. Therefore, there is some racism in law enforcement." This is just statistics. He is not trying to make white people feel guilty. It is just the fact that black people were held down for so long and now they are born into poor circumstances. He also says that it is not just determinism that determines where you will end up and that he believes through free will you can accomplish anything. So I think you are taking his lectures the wrong way here. You need to be somewhere in the middle between free will and determinism. Some people are in a hell of a lot worse situation than you can imagine. So before you judge, maybe you should imagine growing up in an inner city, then comment about how people should be cleaning up their lives. It's much harder without everything handed to you.
I totally agree, it is hard to climb out of the hole. I think in my view it can be in two probable ways. One, it is either the media has more stories about black people going to jail or black people just see the white stories and whites just see the black stories. For example, when I notice on TV about black people going to jail, i feel that I hear that all the time and say oh well there goes another person to jail. When the media has white people going to jail for crimes I feel that I pay less attention to the media so in essence I think more black people are in the hole most of the time. That is how I look at the entire picture. I am wondering if you are a black person, do you agree with what I said, or do agree that you hear and pay attention to the white people going to jail or committing crimes, but not your own color.
As far as the first response on this page, that is totally not true. Once your in jail you still have a record. So the portion of black people in jail is a lot compared to how many they are in the US. So I think that's why many have records and many are out of jobs and still committing crimes. This is kind of what when on in my race relations session. Just basically talking about how we look at the majority and the other color views their own as ok, but looks at the opposite color as "why do they do those things". Overall, I do think once your in the hole its hard to get out, but that doesn't necessarily have to mean just blacks or just whites. Everything we learn in history and up to today we hear about black this or slaves this and we associate all negative things to black people. Many people take those negative views and transfer them throughout life and to thier children. So even though our generation is not as "racist" as the last, I still feel that we still carry those views no matter what.
On another note, maybe black people get out of jail and some think that blacks get treated unfairly so they commit more crimes to prove a point. Which if that is the case the point never gets proven because they just end up back in jail. I think the majority have a different outlook on life and we all want different things. I no white people who do bad shit time after time, but the majority do not after the first. On the other hand colored people commit many more crimes and do it over and over again, or maybe it is just that their crimes are always severe and never minimal.
i do not know. I no I stated a lot of repeated things, but i am just trying to make people understand on a blog because it is hard to really say what you want. Sometimes I write things and still do not understand exactly what I wanted to say.
I agree that it is very hard for one to re-establish ones reputation after being seen as a criminal, or as a whole race, being seen as more predisposed toward criminal behavior. Additionally, if one goes to jail and is surrounded by a lot of people who are doing the same thing and getting involved in similar activities, that person and his or her associates, whether doing the same things or not, are automatically going to be looked at as someone who is involved in such activities. With that said, I can understand how you believe that African-Americans are already in a “hole,” and it is easy to see how you feel that you have a hard time getting past this.
I do agree that once you get into the whole it is hard to get out, but i also think that once you get into a whole you are more likely to give up and not try to get out. once that one bad things just so happens to happen you YOU, I feel that some will blame is on something like race, or money and just stick themselves deeper into the rut that was created by the one mistake. i think that society tells you to do this, you see the movies and TV shows and getting out just becomes this impossible feat and you just accept where you are and indulge in more bad behavior digging yourself deeper and deeper.
It’s definitely difficult to get out, once you have dug yourself deeper and deeper into a hole. Whatever you’re doing becomes second nature and is a great “escape” from the many rigors life may present. It is all a vicious cycle from there. I agree with ubuntu19 as well. Once you’re in a hole, though it may be increasingly difficult to get out, at that point, you really don’t even try to get out because you feel as though every attempt to do so well fail. It becomes almost impossible to escape and you, for better or for worse, accept where you are at.
I am going to have to agree that once you make a mistake, it is almost impossible to overcome the bounds and get back to where you were before. Our society today frowns upon convicted felons even after they have done their time, and unfortunately are much less likely to be chosen for a job than someone with a clean record. Personally, I think that many convicted felons looking for jobs are likely to work harder than others, because they need the job to get their life back on track. It is a necessity to them, and in many cases their work ethic will reflect that. Unfortunately, not everyone views the world the way I do.
I understand that people only know what they grow up around. I also understand how you can get into a cycle of bad habits and not know when or how to stop it. It's hard when a life of crime and violence is all you know. After you get out of jail, it is almost impossible to have a good job. It just becomes so much easier to start stealing again, or start selling drugs again. To come out on top after being in jail for a certain amount of time is a difficult task to overcome. However, there are some people who are capable of doing that. Some people who get out of jail and start an honest life. In the HBO original series, Entourage, the main character, Vince, had a cousin, Dom, who got out of jail and started a new life. Vince gave him a job and Dom got serious with his life. He maintained a decent job, got married, and had a baby.
I am going to agree that once you fall into a hole it is very tough to get yourself back out. I guess it just depends on how far you got yourself into the hole and if you are willing to do whatever is necessary to get yourself up and back out of it. However sometimes that might not always be possible. Let’s say you go to prison, getting a job might not be the easiest thing ever. I think it kind of stinks that one mistake can affect your life so intensely. And you may be completely reformed and on the right track, but that one mistake will stick with you forever.
I agree with this statement completely. I feel that we as people have the choice to change the apparent patterns of others who may look like us or have some commonalities that cause assumptions to be made of a larger group. I can relate to this position because I have been in many situations both in my home and in my community. My father did not go to college and has an alcohol problem. To many, it would have been expected or understood if I followed the same route. Thankfully I learned that just because I am similar to my father through blood, it does not mean I have to follow suit with his negative tendencies that others frown upon. This topic relates to many other categories whether it is race or religion or anything negative like a drug/alcohol problem. This is a form of negative stereotyping that is unjust and unproven. I feel bad that others are being accused of things just because of previous people who may resemble them in one way or another. This is not fair, as everyone should have a chance to prove that they are not like everyone else and that they are indeed their own purpose who at least has some control of their actions. An example of this that I learned a few years back involves the preconceptions of Jewish Americans. In middle school I had not known a person that wasn’t a Christian or Catholic and was very interested in learning about some newly made Jewish friends in High school. It was commonly understood that Jewish people were cheap and cared about their money (that’s what the negative stereotype was growing up in my area). After meeting a few Jewish kids, I realized that assumption was 100% false. Their families were generous, caring and had no signs of the typical stereotype. I feel that in these situations, some who may not know a Jewish person, or an African American or an Asian etc. would be quick to make assumptions. I realized that just because some people may act a certain way that it does not hold true for all or even a majority of a type of people. Inequalities of this sort are unfortunate because it underestimates many people because of others’ pasts that cannot be controlled. Thankfully my father taught me not to judge anyone by how others do. He had the mindset to get to know a person on an individual basis, and learn more about them before assuming anything. You should never question someone’s character, especially if you do not know enough about that person. As for getting out of the “hole,” I do agree that it may be harder for some to accomplish that because of prejudices, biases and other preconceptions. This is not fair, and I feel that everyone deserves a second chance to add to society regardless of the past of people in a similar category.
If you ever study the sociology of deviance this question was answered a very long time ago by a man named Goffman. He observed different types of stigma and the way societies handle these different categories. The most important when talking about race and criminal records is master status and labeling; a master status is a characteristic that is known evokes automatic assumptions about a person. When being considered for a job or trying to reach into a different social group, you pass can either help you or harm you. When an employer sees that an applicant has a criminal record, he makes other character assumptions about this person (untrustworthy, thief, lazy, unintelligent) these labels will influence everyone this person comes into contact with. Ever wonder why the statistics for returning criminals are so high? Part of the problem is that our judicial system is more concerned with punishing, rather than rehabilitating. And the other part is because of the labels and road blocks we place on people getting out of prison, forcing them back into the subcultures that got them into prison in the first place.
So I agree with him when he says that once you make a mistake it is hard to get out of the hole. And I think this is especially true for Blacks when the media releases crime statistics based on race, and not preparing that audience on how to interpret and analyze the numbers.
In some ways, I do agree with you. There are certain crimes that will follow you around for the rest of your life. That’s what a permanent record is. We shouldn’t take those lightly. I am in COMM403 and have read of cases where an 18 year old boy has a 16 year old girlfriend. He takes a nude picture of himself and sends it to her. The police can intercept these pictures and if you are caught, since the guy is over 18 he gets sent to jail. For the rest of his life he will be a registered sex offender. He doesn’t get hired because nobody wants to hire a sex offender. He doesn’t have the option of buying a house or apartment because for one, he doesn’t have money, and two nobody wants a registered sex offender living in their neighborhood. Sometimes sending nude photographs may not seem like such a big deal, but when both parties are not legal adults, child pornography become serious issues. This is an example how one small mistake can follow you around for the rest of your life. This would be difficult to “get out of a hole.”
Then I believe there are instances where mistakes are not just mistakes. Murder for instance is not a mistake. Murder is a choice you make and I do not think it should be forgiven. Taking someone’s life should affect you for the rest of your life. I don’t imagine that anyone should feel they deserve equal treatment after purposefully killing another human being. The death penalty doesn’t exist to end a person’s life that simply “made a mistake.” I don’t think someone who commits murder should ever be allowed to regain their life back.
And finally, there are instances where you can make yourself better. For example, drug and alcohol addiction often put people in jail for drug dealing, drinking and driving, and possession of substance. I would consider these mistakes. That is why there is a rehab. We see celebrities in and out of jail all the time, but do they not eventually gain their respect back? Any substance related crime is completely forgivable when you the abuser decides to get help. There are facilities out there such as AA meetings, rehab, and hospitals which are there to help you regain control of your life.
I also do not think this is just about race. There are plenty of white drug users and dealers. It’s unfortunate that blacks tend to get caught more often. I think that has more to do with the wrong place at the wrong time then it does with a statistic revealing blacks make up more of the crime rate. So in conclusion, I partly agree with your response, but there are often ways to get out of the hole, it is just up to the “criminal” (for a lack of a better word) to do so.
i like this post because before this class i would have said you make a mistake then you make a mistake its your own dam fault, but now seeing the difference of people being treated if you do one bad thing then it could affect you and your family forever, and especially for black and brown people, and im not really sure what the question was but i totally agree with this statement now, and yeah you might make a mistake but it sometimes falls on other people for not giving you an equal opportunity to come back from that mistake.
I agree with the comment above, I probably would have said the same thing. If you make a mistake, you dug the hole, it's your fault. But what i didn't understand was that if I made a mistake, being white, I would go to jail, just as any other person, but then I probably would have an easier time getting back on track after I got out of jail. It just goes to show that there really is a large amount of inequality in our society and it is ridiculous. It takes me back to the class today when we saw how that woman was treated in the gas station for being muslim. Even though it was staged, the way people thought that it was "american" of that guy to say those things, is CRAZY.
I agree with Brandon that one: it is difficult to get out of the hole once you are in, and two: there certainly is a personal responsibility that must be taken into account for one’s actions. I understand completely what he is saying about getting back on your feet after making poor decisions. I want to make it clear that I don’t think he is saying this is any excuse, but it definitely is a hindrance towards virtually anything else that black people want to accomplish afterwards. Jobs, programs, friends, even a place to volunteer can become hard to come by (most of those go for all colors, not just black people, though we have all seen the statistics regarding what seems like a more complex system for blacks to navigate).
Another thing that I wanted to bring up was that generation after generation, black people see this happening—this “getting stuck in the hole” thing. In addition to that, they see other black people that have stayed as far away from the hole as possible (like the people Sam said have done everything they needed to do to succeed, i.e. go to school, get good grades, go to college, etc.) and they STILL fail to get ahead or even on the same “level” as a white person. When black, or other children of color, see this happening, most of them think “Well if that doesn’t even work then why the hell would I go through all of that to conform?” which I think is a logical argument on their part.
In order to continue this scenario I will need to make some generalizations that I understand are not always true. But for the sake of my point, bear with me: The problem with black people conforming to the “white society” is that they don’t see any benefits in the end. To conform to be separated from what your environment is calling you to be usually means that there will be criticism from the people in an individuals’ culture. So not only does life suck because you’re trying to fit in with people that seem to be unlike you and come from a very different background, it sucks because now you have no support. A lot of times black people (especially males) find pride in the resistance of conforming to what the white man wants them to be. What they fail to realize is by not conforming, they are STILL what the white man wanted them to be: ignorant to his or her potential.
And for spf5027, I really need you to open up your eyes, ears, and brain. For crying out loud, do you think Sam’s just making shit up as he goes along? That very well could be the case but it’s not. I’m just going to take a wild guess and say that you’re not black because if you were it would make a little….ok A LOT more sense to you. Sam isn’t saying that all judges are racists. I’m pretty sure he’s been trying to stress to us that he sometimes uses generalizations. However, how can you say that there’s not enough racism to make it a big deal? Sure every judge might not be racist, but what about the jury? Sure they’re sworn to oath too, but who really knows what their thinking? Anyway, I think you should let your guard down. You seem to take offense to everything Sam says when really he’s just making his point. He’s talking to the people like you who refuse to see the reality in the matter. I mean, believe what you want but don’t walk away from this class the same way you came into it.
I believe that people have the right and choice always to make their decisions, but when people are put in certain situations to survive there aren’t many options available to them. Just as we saw the stats for black people compared to white people getting jobs regardless of their criminal background white people always get the benefit and are the hands down favorite to get the job over the black person. If black people are not getting equal opportunities to get jobs and prove themselves then how can we expect them to live to certain standards when the standards are different for every race? Black people many times are not given jobs and are expected to survive, which leads them with no other alternative but, to at times sell illegal drugs and when they do this they are criticized in many ways. I am not sitting here telling you that selling drugs is something that is okay to do, but if a person is left with no option what else is he or she expected to do. And even after they are caught and come out of prison they still are not given opportunities that a white person for example would get. If they are not going to be treated at the same scale as the rest of the people, how can anyone expect them to be at same level as us, or even attempt to, because to attempt something there has to be a door to try which is in many cases closed for blacks.
I took a soc class last semester on deviance, and one of the things we discussed was the affect prison has people and their ability to get and hold jobs, and it really does have a negative affect. In fact, America is one of the only nations in the world to inflict such harsh restrictions after being released from prison. Rules like not allowing felons to vote, even after they have payed their debt to society, is really sending a mixed message. Furthermore, studies show that people who feel like adults are less likely to commit crimes, and when you take away aspects of adulthood like the ability to vote or hold down a job, then the people are less likely to feel like adults, and become more likely to commit further crime. So while people do make their own decisions, aspects of labeling, stigma, and even statutory law help to push people right back into crime.
Of all the things in the world that we place a color on, I never thought that crime would be one of them. I always thought that crime was something that had or bared no color. If someone commits a crime, then that person should pay their debt to society. However, I have realized that paying one’s debt to society goes the actual prison building itself. Race has now taken over just how long someone will serve his or her prison sentence.
It is amazing to me that for the most part while people are in jail it is almost as if race does not matter. Nobody cares what color you are or what crime you committed for that matter. In fact all that matters when a person is in jail is serving the amount of time that he or she has been given. But once a person steps out of prison, it becomes a completely different ball game. The regular life that they once had is no longer valid. No longer are you looked at as just a criminal, you now have a “pretty” little shadow to go along with it—your race.
Someone in my Soc 119 class stated that it is harder for Black people to come out of the hole once released from prison. I agree completely. This terrible treatment occurs for any person of color. Some people would disagree and say “This is not true at all!” “Once a criminal, always a criminal no matter what color you are.” Ha! What they really mean to say is “Once a person of color, always a person of color.” Society dictates that people of color are more likely to commit crimes than white people. They would like to look at people of color as if they are complete savages with no sense of compassion or love for others. When we as people of color go to prison, it seems that white people automatically assume that we are merely fulfilling the destiny that we had planned for us. We are basically doing our job. Wow! Now I see why people of color cannot get ahead, we have been in prison in our minds for too long. When a person of color is released from prison, they get a complete beating from society. It becomes extremely hard for them to find jobs, meet new people, and build a sense of security. On the other hand, people white people are released from prison, they receive jobs, have places where they can move into and will not be judged, still have people who will trust them with everything they have. That is a simple slap on the wrist.
OMG! I am so sick and tired of White people getting all of the praise for changing their lives around. What about the people of color who have changed their lives around for the better? What about the people of color who are not back in the system? What about those people of color who are just trying to take it day by day? Do they not deserve credit? Are they not the same as those white criminals? Hmmm…I used to think the glass was half full, now I am wondering if it is really half empty.
I completely agree with what he is saying. Once you make a mistake I feel that people judge you. They may not even know what you did or how it happened, if you were really guilty but they hear that you were arrested or that you went to jail and they just assume that you are a bad egg. For example, at a penn state tailgatea couple of years ago my friend who was under the age of twenty-one at the time was completely sober. She asked to hold another friends beer while he did something real quick. At that exact moment an undercover police man came up and asked for her id and ended up giving her an underage. This past year she tried out for teach for america and was told that she was not accepted due to that underage. She did nothing wrong but was looked upon as an alcoholic and not fit to teach children, thus yes I agree that it is hard to get out of the hole once you fall into one.
I totally agree with what he said. Its a lot tougher for a former African American felon to get a job when he gets out than that of a white person. The statistic we saw in class really made me uncomfortable. It showed that companies rather hire a white person that has a felony on their record than hiring an African American with absolutely nothing on his. Now just imagine if he actually had a crime on his record. Its the horrible reality of this discrimination happening in the workforce that makes people angry. I hope that soon change will be implemented and regulations will be put into place to stop this.
I think that all of the racial groups have members of their “team” whom have dug huge holes for themselves. It is not the racial group itself that are in the hole, it’s the individual members. They do not represent your race as a whole. White “team” members have dug holes for themselves as well. My uncle spent many years in federal prison for drug trafficking. It seems to me that you and your family are climbing out of a hole of your own. (You said you have family members that have been in and out of jail.) You are digging yourselves out … you are here. You are here getting an education that will take you much farther in life and put yourself (and your family) in a better situation. So it is not impossible to dig out; it may be hard, but not impossible, because you are doing it!
The struggle still lives on. Although it was more of a struggle for black people then and now than white people, this is a prevalent issue is found among a variety of races and classes. Of course one person may struggle more than the other, but life is usually never easy for the average person when it comes to picking ones self back up after a hard fall. As a result major changes are mad in ones standard of living pertaining to finances, education, food supply, economical stipend, and etc. Its said to be good when day one just works according to plan. Applying that approach to the decisions they should come across . The real question is what is the hole and is there another opening in this hole, but people are just afraid or award of this imaginary secondary path.
Yes it is hard to get out of the hole, but also anything is possible. I believe and have witnessed first hand that through hard work and determinism anything is possible. Yeah the journey to getting to the top may be easier than others and one will have more obstacles than the other. Thats just how the world operates, life is not a box of chocolates. I am not saying that it is ok that its always the under privileges or minorities get faced with these problems because thats how life is, what I am saying is that the obstacles will be different for everyone but inly through natural unexpected interruptions.
I don’t agree with the idea that once you get in trouble and perhaps go to jail it is tough to climb out of the hole, because you have to look at the infinite number of repeat offenders who claimed the first time was a mistake and they would learn from it. I feel as if jail sentences aren’t as feared as they should be, primarily because for some criminals, living in jail is a better life than they previously had before incarceration, especially homeless criminals. Once a criminal is released from jail, it has got nothing to do with their past whether they want to change their lifestyle. They served their time in jail and should have learned from it, if they want to sob and claim they’re in a whole, then they’re quitting on themselves.
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JamesParsons Reply:
February 23rd, 2010 at 7:52 pm
I don’t really agree with what is said in this comment. He said people find themselves in a hole and can’t get out of it which is wrong. There are defiantly ways to clean yourself up and get out of whatever drug habit or criminal activity you get caught up in. He refers to black people being in a hole but if you look at the stats white people get in trouble for using drugs just as much as blacks. It is not an issue of having the ability of getting out of that slump it’s a matter of whether you really want to or not. Being that I have been in a slump like that I know that if you really want to change you can it’s a matter of will power. I played sports all my life and my senior year of the most important basketball season of my life I broke my hand and had to sit out the remainder of the season. When that reality set in that I was never going to play organized ball again I went off the deep end and turned to alcohol and drugs for comfort. I did that because I did not know how else to cope with that issue. I continued that kind of lifestyle for a the next year and a half or so, it got to the point where as soon as I woke up in the morning I started looking for something to give me my fix and that was the point in my life where I told myself I need to change if I wanted to make something out of my life. Now don’t get me wrong the drug life was fun as hell and I have a ton of memories from them but in the end it wasn’t worth the chance of a lifelong addiction. The chance of my family finding out and knowing what I was up to and how much I would hurt them if they found out how deep I was in that mess was too much for me to deal with and I knew I needed a change. I have friends right now who have been in and out of rehab 3 or 4 times and keep relapsing and I go home and see them and I thank god every day that I had the will power to overcome that shit. Being a drug addict is realizing you have a problem and having the power to overcome it because YOU want too. If you really don’t want to overcome it then you are never going too and you are going to live your life like that forever, life is all about the choices you make.
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debateordie Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
I couldn't agree more with what you said. If one goes to jail for a mistake they made to get in that situation then they are more likely to avoid the same mistake. But if a offender is in a situation they can't avoid then I agree with the short clip. If someone is selling drugs just to support his or her family and they get caught and go to jail. They are more then likely to repeat the same crime because it is easier money then to get a 9-5 job. But like you said in your last sentence its their lives and only they can choose how to live it.
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ezf5009 Reply:
February 27th, 2010 at 12:57 am
I think it is easy for people to say they do not believe that it is difficult to get stuck in the “hole.” But it’s probably because they don’t fully understand what it is like for people who live in poverty. This downward spiral isn’t widely occurring in wealthy people, and it is easy to get stuck when you don’t have other options. The problem isn’t realizing you made a mistake, but instead having alternatives. It is not easy for people without opportunity to always avoid crime, especially when they live in areas without jobs and crime is the norm.
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In response to mdonof5, Have you ever tried to get a job with a prison sentence on your resume? In our tough economy people with ten or more experience or a masters degree are losing their job. can you imagine being in jail from age 18 to 25 getting out into the workforce competing with those individual who spent those same years getting an education. The odds are against you to continue a normal life. The jobs that are available are mostly going to be minimum wage paying jobs. And its really difficult to start a life making 300 dollars a week. If you are desperate enough and need money you do what you have to do.
Now in response to the video about why when black people get out of jail do they fall back into their old lifestyle…Most individuals go back to the life that most of the time put them in jail. Most of the time its to give the ex-convict an escape from his or her life, jail is not a easy punishment. You are told what to do day in and day out, you are told when to eat and told when to sleep. And you are an adult, and on top of that you have to deal with the other inmates. You have to be fighting and proving yourself worthy to be in a gang in jail, which is most of the time your only protection during your prison term.
On top of dealing with economic problems, you have to deal with psychological problems from the physical and verbal abuse that happens in our prisons all around our country. Just imagine you are 23 years old just getting released from a state prison for selling crack in your neighborhood. You are free from incarceration, with the idea of starting a better and more successful life. But to remind you the people that are your friends and family are a part of the reason why you were in jail in the first place. Now you have to try and not hang around your old home as much as you use to. But you have no where to go and stay where you wouldn't be surrounded by drugs and crime. Chances are you weren't spending your high school years in honors classes you were on the streets selling drugs and hanging out with your friends. So now that you are out of jail you have no education and little support network; your past mistakes that you supposedly were punished for by going to jail have become your future. That is why you are stuck in a hole.
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I think that it is just plain despicable that Sam makes us feel guilty about ourselves class after class. It seems like everything is white people fault, and that everything that has happened that was bad was because of white people. He doesn’t realize that society now is not what it was back in the 1960’s and that there is somewhat of a even playing field for all races. As long as you work hard you can achieve whatever you want.
First of all, you should look at your facts before you say things that you did say on Thursday. The way that you were explaining things made it look like the whole entire criminal justice system was racist, from every judge to every law enforcement official. You said when a judge has to make a decision with a conviction or a sentence for a crime, that he will ALWAYS give the black person a harder time, and then be more lenient on the white person. Where do you get these facts? Have you ever sat in court rooms across the nation? This is entirely false, and the majority of judges are not like this at all. Did you not learn in your civics class in high school that judges, with exception to the supreme courts, are ELECTED officials? I don’t think a judge that constantly let prejudice occur in their courtroom would not be elected. The most hysterical thing that I found in your lecture was the video you showed. It was a normal sting operation that contradicted your point if anything. Did you notice that the officer that made the arrest was an African American, and the criminal was also an African American? How does this illustrate you point in the matter? It does not at all, and brings an even stronger argument against it.
I don’t think you understand how people are arrested. They are not just picked off the street by police officers; in fact they put themselves in these situations. The data is completely wrong you presented in class because per capita, more blacks commit crimes than whites. Look it up, it’s a fact, and your disproportioned data is doing nothing but misleading people. I think instead of complaining about how people may be mistreated, people should be focused on cleaning up their lives. Look at poor inner city neighborhoods, they’re run down, yet people won’t clean them up. Most of these crimes that you claim don’t exist or are over prosecuted happen in these neighborhoods. All you have to do to solve these problems is make these neighborhoods better with development opportunities, not constantly complain. If the justice system was as bad as it was, it would be all over the news. Which its obviously not.
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jor5107 Reply:
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:18 am
I think you’re a bit naïve about how things really work. I mean I get that times have changed and what not but it’s totally not an even playing field at all. And the whole if you work hard enough you can achieve whatever you want isn’t true either. Perhaps you don’t really know how things work. Even without talking about color there are limitations on how far women get in work positions so you can’t say it’s equal. And he's not saying that the entire criminal justice system was racist you need to try and open your eyes…yeah theyre elected officials but how long did it take for a black person to be president and how hard is it for a ton of people to still accept it? Until you live the life black people live and truly understand what it’s like then you’ll understand.
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McLovin8293 Reply:
February 24th, 2010 at 12:19 am
You're acting like you have all the facts when Sam's the one with the PHD that did the research. All Sam does is point out the facts and what happened in the past. He said that white people ended slavery and then, being at the top of the mountain, wanted to stay there. So they implemented laws that held black people down. This lasted for a very long time. Even to the point where all of the money given to veterans of WWII was to white people. Sure, inequality was abolished in the 60's, but it hasn't been that long since then and there is still discrimination and issues. Why are you getting so offended? About the video too..he was just showing that law enforcement, including black law enforcers, may tend to go towards black people. He even stated that "maybe black people do commit more crimes per capita, but the stats could not be that skewed. Therefore, there is some racism in law enforcement." This is just statistics. He is not trying to make white people feel guilty. It is just the fact that black people were held down for so long and now they are born into poor circumstances. He also says that it is not just determinism that determines where you will end up and that he believes through free will you can accomplish anything. So I think you are taking his lectures the wrong way here. You need to be somewhere in the middle between free will and determinism. Some people are in a hell of a lot worse situation than you can imagine. So before you judge, maybe you should imagine growing up in an inner city, then comment about how people should be cleaning up their lives. It's much harder without everything handed to you.
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I totally agree, it is hard to climb out of the hole. I think in my view it can be in two probable ways. One, it is either the media has more stories about black people going to jail or black people just see the white stories and whites just see the black stories. For example, when I notice on TV about black people going to jail, i feel that I hear that all the time and say oh well there goes another person to jail. When the media has white people going to jail for crimes I feel that I pay less attention to the media so in essence I think more black people are in the hole most of the time. That is how I look at the entire picture. I am wondering if you are a black person, do you agree with what I said, or do agree that you hear and pay attention to the white people going to jail or committing crimes, but not your own color.
As far as the first response on this page, that is totally not true. Once your in jail you still have a record. So the portion of black people in jail is a lot compared to how many they are in the US. So I think that's why many have records and many are out of jobs and still committing crimes. This is kind of what when on in my race relations session. Just basically talking about how we look at the majority and the other color views their own as ok, but looks at the opposite color as "why do they do those things". Overall, I do think once your in the hole its hard to get out, but that doesn't necessarily have to mean just blacks or just whites. Everything we learn in history and up to today we hear about black this or slaves this and we associate all negative things to black people. Many people take those negative views and transfer them throughout life and to thier children. So even though our generation is not as "racist" as the last, I still feel that we still carry those views no matter what.
On another note, maybe black people get out of jail and some think that blacks get treated unfairly so they commit more crimes to prove a point. Which if that is the case the point never gets proven because they just end up back in jail. I think the majority have a different outlook on life and we all want different things. I no white people who do bad shit time after time, but the majority do not after the first. On the other hand colored people commit many more crimes and do it over and over again, or maybe it is just that their crimes are always severe and never minimal.
i do not know. I no I stated a lot of repeated things, but i am just trying to make people understand on a blog because it is hard to really say what you want. Sometimes I write things and still do not understand exactly what I wanted to say.
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I agree that it is very hard for one to re-establish ones reputation after being seen as a criminal, or as a whole race, being seen as more predisposed toward criminal behavior. Additionally, if one goes to jail and is surrounded by a lot of people who are doing the same thing and getting involved in similar activities, that person and his or her associates, whether doing the same things or not, are automatically going to be looked at as someone who is involved in such activities. With that said, I can understand how you believe that African-Americans are already in a “hole,” and it is easy to see how you feel that you have a hard time getting past this.
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I do agree that once you get into the whole it is hard to get out, but i also think that once you get into a whole you are more likely to give up and not try to get out. once that one bad things just so happens to happen you YOU, I feel that some will blame is on something like race, or money and just stick themselves deeper into the rut that was created by the one mistake. i think that society tells you to do this, you see the movies and TV shows and getting out just becomes this impossible feat and you just accept where you are and indulge in more bad behavior digging yourself deeper and deeper.
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It’s definitely difficult to get out, once you have dug yourself deeper and deeper into a hole. Whatever you’re doing becomes second nature and is a great “escape” from the many rigors life may present. It is all a vicious cycle from there. I agree with ubuntu19 as well. Once you’re in a hole, though it may be increasingly difficult to get out, at that point, you really don’t even try to get out because you feel as though every attempt to do so well fail. It becomes almost impossible to escape and you, for better or for worse, accept where you are at.
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I am going to have to agree that once you make a mistake, it is almost impossible to overcome the bounds and get back to where you were before. Our society today frowns upon convicted felons even after they have done their time, and unfortunately are much less likely to be chosen for a job than someone with a clean record. Personally, I think that many convicted felons looking for jobs are likely to work harder than others, because they need the job to get their life back on track. It is a necessity to them, and in many cases their work ethic will reflect that. Unfortunately, not everyone views the world the way I do.
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I understand that people only know what they grow up around. I also understand how you can get into a cycle of bad habits and not know when or how to stop it. It's hard when a life of crime and violence is all you know. After you get out of jail, it is almost impossible to have a good job. It just becomes so much easier to start stealing again, or start selling drugs again. To come out on top after being in jail for a certain amount of time is a difficult task to overcome. However, there are some people who are capable of doing that. Some people who get out of jail and start an honest life. In the HBO original series, Entourage, the main character, Vince, had a cousin, Dom, who got out of jail and started a new life. Vince gave him a job and Dom got serious with his life. He maintained a decent job, got married, and had a baby.
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I am going to agree that once you fall into a hole it is very tough to get yourself back out. I guess it just depends on how far you got yourself into the hole and if you are willing to do whatever is necessary to get yourself up and back out of it. However sometimes that might not always be possible. Let’s say you go to prison, getting a job might not be the easiest thing ever. I think it kind of stinks that one mistake can affect your life so intensely. And you may be completely reformed and on the right track, but that one mistake will stick with you forever.
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I agree with this statement completely. I feel that we as people have the choice to change the apparent patterns of others who may look like us or have some commonalities that cause assumptions to be made of a larger group. I can relate to this position because I have been in many situations both in my home and in my community. My father did not go to college and has an alcohol problem. To many, it would have been expected or understood if I followed the same route. Thankfully I learned that just because I am similar to my father through blood, it does not mean I have to follow suit with his negative tendencies that others frown upon. This topic relates to many other categories whether it is race or religion or anything negative like a drug/alcohol problem. This is a form of negative stereotyping that is unjust and unproven. I feel bad that others are being accused of things just because of previous people who may resemble them in one way or another. This is not fair, as everyone should have a chance to prove that they are not like everyone else and that they are indeed their own purpose who at least has some control of their actions. An example of this that I learned a few years back involves the preconceptions of Jewish Americans. In middle school I had not known a person that wasn’t a Christian or Catholic and was very interested in learning about some newly made Jewish friends in High school. It was commonly understood that Jewish people were cheap and cared about their money (that’s what the negative stereotype was growing up in my area). After meeting a few Jewish kids, I realized that assumption was 100% false. Their families were generous, caring and had no signs of the typical stereotype. I feel that in these situations, some who may not know a Jewish person, or an African American or an Asian etc. would be quick to make assumptions. I realized that just because some people may act a certain way that it does not hold true for all or even a majority of a type of people. Inequalities of this sort are unfortunate because it underestimates many people because of others’ pasts that cannot be controlled. Thankfully my father taught me not to judge anyone by how others do. He had the mindset to get to know a person on an individual basis, and learn more about them before assuming anything. You should never question someone’s character, especially if you do not know enough about that person. As for getting out of the “hole,” I do agree that it may be harder for some to accomplish that because of prejudices, biases and other preconceptions. This is not fair, and I feel that everyone deserves a second chance to add to society regardless of the past of people in a similar category.
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If you ever study the sociology of deviance this question was answered a very long time ago by a man named Goffman. He observed different types of stigma and the way societies handle these different categories. The most important when talking about race and criminal records is master status and labeling; a master status is a characteristic that is known evokes automatic assumptions about a person. When being considered for a job or trying to reach into a different social group, you pass can either help you or harm you. When an employer sees that an applicant has a criminal record, he makes other character assumptions about this person (untrustworthy, thief, lazy, unintelligent) these labels will influence everyone this person comes into contact with. Ever wonder why the statistics for returning criminals are so high? Part of the problem is that our judicial system is more concerned with punishing, rather than rehabilitating. And the other part is because of the labels and road blocks we place on people getting out of prison, forcing them back into the subcultures that got them into prison in the first place.
So I agree with him when he says that once you make a mistake it is hard to get out of the hole. And I think this is especially true for Blacks when the media releases crime statistics based on race, and not preparing that audience on how to interpret and analyze the numbers.
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In some ways, I do agree with you. There are certain crimes that will follow you around for the rest of your life. That’s what a permanent record is. We shouldn’t take those lightly. I am in COMM403 and have read of cases where an 18 year old boy has a 16 year old girlfriend. He takes a nude picture of himself and sends it to her. The police can intercept these pictures and if you are caught, since the guy is over 18 he gets sent to jail. For the rest of his life he will be a registered sex offender. He doesn’t get hired because nobody wants to hire a sex offender. He doesn’t have the option of buying a house or apartment because for one, he doesn’t have money, and two nobody wants a registered sex offender living in their neighborhood. Sometimes sending nude photographs may not seem like such a big deal, but when both parties are not legal adults, child pornography become serious issues. This is an example how one small mistake can follow you around for the rest of your life. This would be difficult to “get out of a hole.”
Then I believe there are instances where mistakes are not just mistakes. Murder for instance is not a mistake. Murder is a choice you make and I do not think it should be forgiven. Taking someone’s life should affect you for the rest of your life. I don’t imagine that anyone should feel they deserve equal treatment after purposefully killing another human being. The death penalty doesn’t exist to end a person’s life that simply “made a mistake.” I don’t think someone who commits murder should ever be allowed to regain their life back.
And finally, there are instances where you can make yourself better. For example, drug and alcohol addiction often put people in jail for drug dealing, drinking and driving, and possession of substance. I would consider these mistakes. That is why there is a rehab. We see celebrities in and out of jail all the time, but do they not eventually gain their respect back? Any substance related crime is completely forgivable when you the abuser decides to get help. There are facilities out there such as AA meetings, rehab, and hospitals which are there to help you regain control of your life.
I also do not think this is just about race. There are plenty of white drug users and dealers. It’s unfortunate that blacks tend to get caught more often. I think that has more to do with the wrong place at the wrong time then it does with a statistic revealing blacks make up more of the crime rate. So in conclusion, I partly agree with your response, but there are often ways to get out of the hole, it is just up to the “criminal” (for a lack of a better word) to do so.
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i like this post because before this class i would have said you make a mistake then you make a mistake its your own dam fault, but now seeing the difference of people being treated if you do one bad thing then it could affect you and your family forever, and especially for black and brown people, and im not really sure what the question was but i totally agree with this statement now, and yeah you might make a mistake but it sometimes falls on other people for not giving you an equal opportunity to come back from that mistake.
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I agree with the comment above, I probably would have said the same thing. If you make a mistake, you dug the hole, it's your fault. But what i didn't understand was that if I made a mistake, being white, I would go to jail, just as any other person, but then I probably would have an easier time getting back on track after I got out of jail. It just goes to show that there really is a large amount of inequality in our society and it is ridiculous. It takes me back to the class today when we saw how that woman was treated in the gas station for being muslim. Even though it was staged, the way people thought that it was "american" of that guy to say those things, is CRAZY.
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I agree with Brandon that one: it is difficult to get out of the hole once you are in, and two: there certainly is a personal responsibility that must be taken into account for one’s actions. I understand completely what he is saying about getting back on your feet after making poor decisions. I want to make it clear that I don’t think he is saying this is any excuse, but it definitely is a hindrance towards virtually anything else that black people want to accomplish afterwards. Jobs, programs, friends, even a place to volunteer can become hard to come by (most of those go for all colors, not just black people, though we have all seen the statistics regarding what seems like a more complex system for blacks to navigate).
Another thing that I wanted to bring up was that generation after generation, black people see this happening—this “getting stuck in the hole” thing. In addition to that, they see other black people that have stayed as far away from the hole as possible (like the people Sam said have done everything they needed to do to succeed, i.e. go to school, get good grades, go to college, etc.) and they STILL fail to get ahead or even on the same “level” as a white person. When black, or other children of color, see this happening, most of them think “Well if that doesn’t even work then why the hell would I go through all of that to conform?” which I think is a logical argument on their part.
In order to continue this scenario I will need to make some generalizations that I understand are not always true. But for the sake of my point, bear with me: The problem with black people conforming to the “white society” is that they don’t see any benefits in the end. To conform to be separated from what your environment is calling you to be usually means that there will be criticism from the people in an individuals’ culture. So not only does life suck because you’re trying to fit in with people that seem to be unlike you and come from a very different background, it sucks because now you have no support. A lot of times black people (especially males) find pride in the resistance of conforming to what the white man wants them to be. What they fail to realize is by not conforming, they are STILL what the white man wanted them to be: ignorant to his or her potential.
And for spf5027, I really need you to open up your eyes, ears, and brain. For crying out loud, do you think Sam’s just making shit up as he goes along? That very well could be the case but it’s not. I’m just going to take a wild guess and say that you’re not black because if you were it would make a little….ok A LOT more sense to you. Sam isn’t saying that all judges are racists. I’m pretty sure he’s been trying to stress to us that he sometimes uses generalizations. However, how can you say that there’s not enough racism to make it a big deal? Sure every judge might not be racist, but what about the jury? Sure they’re sworn to oath too, but who really knows what their thinking? Anyway, I think you should let your guard down. You seem to take offense to everything Sam says when really he’s just making his point. He’s talking to the people like you who refuse to see the reality in the matter. I mean, believe what you want but don’t walk away from this class the same way you came into it.
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I believe that people have the right and choice always to make their decisions, but when people are put in certain situations to survive there aren’t many options available to them. Just as we saw the stats for black people compared to white people getting jobs regardless of their criminal background white people always get the benefit and are the hands down favorite to get the job over the black person. If black people are not getting equal opportunities to get jobs and prove themselves then how can we expect them to live to certain standards when the standards are different for every race? Black people many times are not given jobs and are expected to survive, which leads them with no other alternative but, to at times sell illegal drugs and when they do this they are criticized in many ways. I am not sitting here telling you that selling drugs is something that is okay to do, but if a person is left with no option what else is he or she expected to do. And even after they are caught and come out of prison they still are not given opportunities that a white person for example would get. If they are not going to be treated at the same scale as the rest of the people, how can anyone expect them to be at same level as us, or even attempt to, because to attempt something there has to be a door to try which is in many cases closed for blacks.
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I took a soc class last semester on deviance, and one of the things we discussed was the affect prison has people and their ability to get and hold jobs, and it really does have a negative affect. In fact, America is one of the only nations in the world to inflict such harsh restrictions after being released from prison. Rules like not allowing felons to vote, even after they have payed their debt to society, is really sending a mixed message. Furthermore, studies show that people who feel like adults are less likely to commit crimes, and when you take away aspects of adulthood like the ability to vote or hold down a job, then the people are less likely to feel like adults, and become more likely to commit further crime. So while people do make their own decisions, aspects of labeling, stigma, and even statutory law help to push people right back into crime.
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Of all the things in the world that we place a color on, I never thought that crime would be one of them. I always thought that crime was something that had or bared no color. If someone commits a crime, then that person should pay their debt to society. However, I have realized that paying one’s debt to society goes the actual prison building itself. Race has now taken over just how long someone will serve his or her prison sentence.
It is amazing to me that for the most part while people are in jail it is almost as if race does not matter. Nobody cares what color you are or what crime you committed for that matter. In fact all that matters when a person is in jail is serving the amount of time that he or she has been given. But once a person steps out of prison, it becomes a completely different ball game. The regular life that they once had is no longer valid. No longer are you looked at as just a criminal, you now have a “pretty” little shadow to go along with it—your race.
Someone in my Soc 119 class stated that it is harder for Black people to come out of the hole once released from prison. I agree completely. This terrible treatment occurs for any person of color. Some people would disagree and say “This is not true at all!” “Once a criminal, always a criminal no matter what color you are.” Ha! What they really mean to say is “Once a person of color, always a person of color.” Society dictates that people of color are more likely to commit crimes than white people. They would like to look at people of color as if they are complete savages with no sense of compassion or love for others. When we as people of color go to prison, it seems that white people automatically assume that we are merely fulfilling the destiny that we had planned for us. We are basically doing our job. Wow! Now I see why people of color cannot get ahead, we have been in prison in our minds for too long. When a person of color is released from prison, they get a complete beating from society. It becomes extremely hard for them to find jobs, meet new people, and build a sense of security. On the other hand, people white people are released from prison, they receive jobs, have places where they can move into and will not be judged, still have people who will trust them with everything they have. That is a simple slap on the wrist.
OMG! I am so sick and tired of White people getting all of the praise for changing their lives around. What about the people of color who have changed their lives around for the better? What about the people of color who are not back in the system? What about those people of color who are just trying to take it day by day? Do they not deserve credit? Are they not the same as those white criminals? Hmmm…I used to think the glass was half full, now I am wondering if it is really half empty.
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I completely agree with what he is saying. Once you make a mistake I feel that people judge you. They may not even know what you did or how it happened, if you were really guilty but they hear that you were arrested or that you went to jail and they just assume that you are a bad egg. For example, at a penn state tailgatea couple of years ago my friend who was under the age of twenty-one at the time was completely sober. She asked to hold another friends beer while he did something real quick. At that exact moment an undercover police man came up and asked for her id and ended up giving her an underage. This past year she tried out for teach for america and was told that she was not accepted due to that underage. She did nothing wrong but was looked upon as an alcoholic and not fit to teach children, thus yes I agree that it is hard to get out of the hole once you fall into one.
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I totally agree with what he said. Its a lot tougher for a former African American felon to get a job when he gets out than that of a white person. The statistic we saw in class really made me uncomfortable. It showed that companies rather hire a white person that has a felony on their record than hiring an African American with absolutely nothing on his. Now just imagine if he actually had a crime on his record. Its the horrible reality of this discrimination happening in the workforce that makes people angry. I hope that soon change will be implemented and regulations will be put into place to stop this.
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I think that all of the racial groups have members of their “team” whom have dug huge holes for themselves. It is not the racial group itself that are in the hole, it’s the individual members. They do not represent your race as a whole. White “team” members have dug holes for themselves as well. My uncle spent many years in federal prison for drug trafficking. It seems to me that you and your family are climbing out of a hole of your own. (You said you have family members that have been in and out of jail.) You are digging yourselves out … you are here. You are here getting an education that will take you much farther in life and put yourself (and your family) in a better situation. So it is not impossible to dig out; it may be hard, but not impossible, because you are doing it!
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The struggle still lives on. Although it was more of a struggle for black people then and now than white people, this is a prevalent issue is found among a variety of races and classes. Of course one person may struggle more than the other, but life is usually never easy for the average person when it comes to picking ones self back up after a hard fall. As a result major changes are mad in ones standard of living pertaining to finances, education, food supply, economical stipend, and etc. Its said to be good when day one just works according to plan. Applying that approach to the decisions they should come across . The real question is what is the hole and is there another opening in this hole, but people are just afraid or award of this imaginary secondary path.
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Yes it is hard to get out of the hole, but also anything is possible. I believe and have witnessed first hand that through hard work and determinism anything is possible. Yeah the journey to getting to the top may be easier than others and one will have more obstacles than the other. Thats just how the world operates, life is not a box of chocolates. I am not saying that it is ok that its always the under privileges or minorities get faced with these problems because thats how life is, what I am saying is that the obstacles will be different for everyone but inly through natural unexpected interruptions.
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