The Discrepant Treatment of Black Men in Society and The Legal System

LaShonda Alexander, Language Arts, Wilson Stem Academy

Curriculum Unit (PDF)

Synopsis

The racial bias in our police system, judicial system, and in our society is overwhelming. African American boys/men continue to be targets of social injustices, seen as invisible, and the progress made by those before us is slowing retreating backwards. This Unit will examine the unethical and racial bias treatment of African American Boys/Men (past and present) as it relates to the judicial system, treatment by society, and the inequality present within our own race. These issues in our judicial system range from high suspension rates among our school aged African American boys (school to prison pipeline), policing and profiling, higher arrest rate, harsher sentencing, striker drug laws, and the Death Penalty. When we examine the “Black Man” in the Eyes of White America, our African American Boys and Men have been categorized as “THUGS” and deemed as a “Threat to Society”. African American Men continue to receive lower pay compared to their white counterparts and continue to experience more significant challenges to them as well.