Race, Ethnicity, Week 6 (EXAM 2)

According to R&L (Textbook # 2), what is the actual goal of the criminal justice system?

It’s goal is to project to the public a credible image of the threat of crime as coming primarily from the poor (and minority). Wealthy people and whites commit crime too but CJ system doesn't care

In order to prove this goal, society must have a large population of what while also failing to do what so that the false image doesn't disappear

poor and minority criminals, failing to reduce the amount of crime committed by the poor (and minority)

When crime goes down, Textbook says it is NOT due to 

the Criminal Justice System, but as a byproduct of broader societal changes

Define Pyrrhic defeat theory

a defeat that yields so many benefits that it amounts to a victory (crime doesn't get reduced but it leads to wins for rich and powerful who make money off it)

What are Benefits of crime to the powerful and wealthy

Increased privatization of CJ system, attorneys, private prisons, it helps deflect the attention of average Americans from the trouble that the upper class and rich often get into (maintain status quo, focus on poor people crime)

What is a Conspiracy Theory?

It is a theory that argues that some outcome is the INTENDED result of a person/group of people because that outcome serves their interests

The ___ and ____ are not intentionally sabotaging the CJS in order to reap the benefits

Rich and Powerful, they are all just trying to keep their wealth and if that means that people may suffer and go to prison, then they don't really care.

The failures of the CJ system are understood to be what?

They are remnants of institutionalized/biased laws, policies, and practices from earlier eras

Textbook argues that what is the primary source of most “crime” as we currently define it?

Inequality

Textbook argues why, ____, ____, and ____, are not considered as bad as “real crime”

White collar crime, workplace harms, environmental hazards/climate change

____ is the source of most of the disproportionate CJS outcomes, ____ of poor (minorities, ______ of the wealthy (and whites)

Inequality, over-representation, under-representation

Inequality is a state of affairs in which assets, wealth, income, etc. are ___

distributed unequally amongst different groups within a society

Three primary patterns of inequality

1. Economic Inequality

2. Racial Inequality

3. Poverty

Define Equality

it means sameness/equal treatment, it promotes fairness and justice giving everyone the same thing, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place

Define Equity

It is about making sure people get access to the same opportunities, sometimes our differences/history can create barriers to participate, so we must first ensure equity before we can have equality

Define Justice

Removing the barriers in society so that people can achieve success without supports or accomodations (cause of the inequality is addressed) 

What are the forms of Inequality in society?

Income Inequality, Wealth Inequality, Poverty, Lending, Employment, Insurance Coverage, Social Mobility, Privilege

Define Income inequality in the U.S.

Standard measure of income inequality is based on median household income, not mean (or it would be skewed by people like musk, bezos). Whites, Hispanics, Blacks in that order 

Define what wealth looks like

Assets (stuff, house, car, tvs), Bank accounts, Portfolios (stocks), Education, Employment, Insurance, Health, Neighborhood, School district

How is wealth different in the U.S. for blacks

White wealth greatly exceeds minority wealth, every 100 dollars of white wealth, blacks only have 13 dollars. large disparities in inheritances

Define Poverty

The minimum amount of income for an adequate standard of living (3x cost of minimum food diet)

Poverty in the U.S. for minorities

minorities more likely to live in poverty, cant make enough to live comfortably

Lending in the U.S. with minorities

Before 1968, Federal Housing Administration refused to back loans to blacks, other minorities (couldn’t easily buy cars, houses, credit cards, start businesses)

What did Redlining mean for Black people and other minorities?

White real estate developers were forced to build walls between white and black neighborhoods, creating separate zones for Black residents (red lining). defined where they could get loans for houses.

How did the GI bill affect minorities?

Most GI bills, which helped with college and home loans, were restricted to white veterans only

Did the 1968 Fair housing act fix housing discrimination for minorities?

Not entirely, recent studies show that minorities are still being denied loans are are often steered by realtors to buy in neighborhoods of their own race.

Response to argument of “Get over it, you’ve had equality for 50-60 years already”

Blacks and minorities have only have 55+ years since FHA 1968 and civil rights acts, They had to deal with slavery, segregation (JIm crow), lynchings, racism/discrimination for more than 349 years before that law was passed. They still need time to recover.

What are the two best ways to obtain wealth?

1. own your own home

2. Get a higher level education

3. These two things were denied to racial/ethnic minorities and women for centuries

Does where you live matter?

Yes, it does, people living in better neighborhoods have higher IQ’s not because they are smarter but because they learn to take tests better

Montgomery County (MD) Experiment

Tested math/reading scores for students in public housing, showed that living in poor neighborhoods is significantly related to lower levels of happiness, quality of life, health problems, inadequate nutrition, mental illness, obesity, increased chance of being a victim of a crime

Employment of blacks vs whites

Black unemployment rate has been consistently twice that of whites,

research shows that equally qualified minorities are less likely to get hired (race, skin color, ethnic name vs. white name)

Getting a good job is the single best predictor of what

Not going back to prison

Insurance Coverage and minorities

Poor minorities often don’t have access to high quality medical/car insurance coverage. if you get sick, hurt, robbed, you can’t easily deal with these events.

What percent of personal bankruptcies are due to medical expenses?

approximately 67%, this includes 3/4 of people who actually HAD healthy insurance but it wasn’t enough to pay for expenses

Prior to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) statistics

12% White, 17% Black, 26% Hispanic

Post ACA statistics

8% White, 12% Black, 17% Hispanic

2025 Government Shutdown democrat belief

Democrats don’t support continuing resolution bill because it cuts popular ACA tax credits (more than 4 million + Americans lose insurance, popular with both MAGA and democrat voters)

Republican view of government shutdown bill

Republicans claim that Democrats oppose it because they want to give Medicaid to 1.4 million illegal immigrants (truth is that democrats only want to get back coverage for certain legal immigrants who lost coverage because of Trump's big beautiful bill)

Social Mobility

It is the intergenerational movement (up or down) of people from one social class to another

Social mobility was nearly non-existant for who for most of American history (and still isn't great today)

Black families

Far fewer people regardless of race become rich

Few percentage of high school athletes even make it to NFL, NBA

Much of the lack of upward mobility is related to what?

where kid live (neighborhoods)

Define Privilege

Any special right, advantage, or immunity granted or only available to a particular person or group (any benefits of having a certain social class, based on gender/sex, race/ethnicity, age, social class, poor or rich)

Throughout history and still today, ____ Americans benefit from some privileges that minorities do not

White Americans

Privilege can include immunity from what?

many negatively defined experiences (microagressions, being followed in stores, driving while black, police brutality, parents giving the talk of racism to their black kids)

Having any/some privilege does not mean

that you cannot also experience some disadvantages too (poor white people, wealthy minority people), some disadvantaged people can also have some privilege

What should we do about privilege in America?

we should all “check our privilege”, recognize the benefits we have that others don’t or can’t have