Racism in the census: Effects on the Judicial System

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

14 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

03/25/2009

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Social sciences

Oboulo.com selection criteria

$ 19.95 Add to cart

Summary :

Introduction
Thomas C. Holt's questions on racism
Nixon and his agenda
The current Census Bureau policy
1. Counting distortion due to prisons
2. Determining where federal and state funds are targeted
3. Incarceration: Social consequences on a community
The criminal justice system's targeting urban minority communities for incarcereation
1. Creating a support base for prisons
Looking at the growth of the prison industry in the context of a racist agenda
1. Racist attitudes embedded in the criminal justice system: Effect on census
2. Census rule working in conjunction with the racist policies in the criminal justice system
3. Lack of affect on states that do not have large prison populations
Census: A history of being involved in controversy
Conclusion.

Abstract

What does it mean to be racist? For a person, it would mean having various prejudiced sentiments and a belief that one race is superior to another race. But what does it mean for an institution to be racist? While an institution does not have a personality and is made up of a group of people, institutional racism goes beyond the characteristics of the people who work in the institution. Institutional racism means that the institution itself is based on an ideology that is racist; this ideology comes from years and years of entrenched racist beliefs and attitudes among those who empower the institution. The racism becomes so ingrained that it becomes part of the institution's identity.

Some would argue that institutional racism is in fact the more common and embedded form of racism in the United States. It is forever ingrained in the Constitution of the United States of America that many white Americans used to own black Americans. Despite this ugly reminder of white supremacy in this country, very few people think of themselves as racist. However, various institutions have been around longer than people who are alive today; these institutions have racist ideologies entrenched in them. One of these institutions is the United States census; since 1790, the U.S. census has counted all people in America for the purpose of determining political representation on a federal, state and local level. The census used to be an outwardly racist institution; it counted African Americans as three-fifths of a person and in doing so embraced a white supremacist ideology.