Civil Rights and the Rise of Crime in the 1970s - Sociological Perspectives

1. How have American incarceration rates changed over time, and consider how it has played out along racial lines? The United States is known to have the highest incarceration rates in the world. Before, the incarceration system was an economic system and many African Americans were imprisoned. They were suspected easily and sent to jail for minor crimes. U.S. prison population in the 1970s was around 357,000 and went up to 513,000 in 1980. In 1985, it increased to 759,000. In 1990, the prison population started to increase rapidly and the number went up to 1,179,000. As of today, 40.2% of black men make up the prison population. Blacks and minorities were the only targets of the police and hundreds of young black males and some females were arrested every day. 2. What was the loophole in the 13th amendment? What was the effect on AfricanAmericans? In the thirteenth amendment, it prohibits the use of slavery or cruel punishment, but there is an exception which is that is allows punishment for crimes that an individual has done. African Americans were easily targeted and punished during the era of slavery. They were also forbidden to do a lot of things and were easily suspected of crimes after this amendment was passed. African Americans were known as evil and portrayed that way in media as well. 3. How and why did stereotypes of African-Americans evolve? Include the film Birth of a Nation to explain this. The Birth of a Nation became a huge hit in the U.S. and many Americans were excited to see this film. President Woodrow Wilson got a private screening in the White House at that time. In this film, African Americans especially black males were portrayed in the worst way possible. They were seen as cannibalistic and animal like with no manners. The black men were portrayed as criminals and rapists. Black people were also seen as a threat to others. The film became almost an accurate portrayal of the treatment of African Americans in the United States. 4. How do the speakers explain the cause of the "The Great Migration" of AfricanAmericans to northern cities? Because of the harsh segregation laws and racial prejudice, millions of African Americans were forced to migrate to northern cities. They felt safer in these areas, but they were still treated harshly and were given cruel punishments if they were incarcerated. 5. How did Civil Rights get attached to high crime rates? How do sociologists in the film explain the rise in crime in 1970s? People who went against the civil rights laws were seen as criminals. Young African Americans such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. were portrayed as fighters against the law and thus being seen as criminals in society. They were also known as threat to society. They used this movement as a noble or honorable thing and volunteered to be part of this kind of chaos and movement in order to get arrested which later increased the crime rates. It was easy for politicians and the media to say that the civil rights movement was causing an increase in crime rates which further questioned African Americans’ ability to gain freedom in the U.S. 6. Why was "Law and Order" effective as a political idea? What were the effects of the "Law and Order" politics? President Nixon wanted to control the chaos in America and said that all had to respect the law in this country. Spending on law enforcement and policing doubled because they wanted to control all of the rising crimes in the cities. Strict policing lead to the “War on Drugs” which was also seen as a crime. 7. What is the "War on Drugs"? How does it play out along racial lines? Explain the example of crack vs. powder cocaine to explain. This movement was seen as a criminal issue rather than a health issue. Many people were sent to jail for the possession of marijuana and most agreed that a lot of Americans abused drugs and this was becoming a problem. This became a backlash to the civil rights movement. Mostly African Americans were blamed and accused of crimes and possession of drugs which further increased crime rates in urban cities. It allowed police to terrorize whoever they wanted especially African Americans. Crack became inexpensive and popular among young blacks in inner cities. Cocaine was more common in suburban areas. Crack was smokeable cocaine and there were mandatory sentences on crack that were harsher than those who were caught with powder cocaine. Latinos, Hispanics and African Americans received longer sentences on using crack than the average white American. 8. What was the "Southern Strategy"? What were the effects? Use John Erlichman's explanation as evidence for your explanation. “Southern Strategy” was used by Nixon to gain votes from the South. Reagan promised that he would decrease taxes on the rich and to make sure the crack abusers were put in jail. According to Leewater, blacks got hurt more than whites. Black people were wrongfully represented as criminals and dangerous “super predators” in the media. They were left homeless, fatherless and orphans without any kind of support. Erlichman explains the two sides, antiwar left and black people. He explains how publicizing the obsession with drugs, war and crime, the media and politics could somehow disrupt those communities. He states “We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes… Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” This shows that they needed a reason to blame the African Americans and give them harsh punishments. 9. What is the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and what’s its role in American politics? Corporations make laws and pass bills that benefit the Republicans. Conservative legislators make laws that benefit privatization in many factors of American life. This forced jails to be filled with prisoners even if no one was committing crimes. Many politicians were also part of ALEC and were taking full advantage of it. Their objective was to privatize almost every aspect of American life including probation and parole. This financially benefited large corporations and businesses and created multi-billion dollar companies. 10. What are your reactions to this film? This film really opened my eyes to the truth behind many systems and movements in American history that has greatly affected people of color. There are racial tensions especially among minorities that has created the prison system. The law enforcement and police system have thrived through arresting young black men in urban cities. Incarceration rates have increased to a 1,000,000 and continue to increase and that is astounding because it shows that the American economy can go to great lengths in order to benefit itself. Many laws and policies have been created to benefit the wealthy, white class instead of the black, poor class. African Americans have struggled throughout American history and laws have only made this difficult. Blacks were degraded and put down in every aspect of society. Even though, they were freed according to the thirteenth amendment, they were not exactly entitled to the same rights as their white counterparts. Racial tensions have only increased since the 1900s and the incarceration rates continue to increase. This is not surprising because the U.S. makes sure that not one person is removed from the prison system because that will bring loss to the economy. Throughout history, African Americans have been controlled through the use of new laws and movements which has led to the mass increase of crime and incarceration rates.