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Avnee Patel
One of the most valuable concepts I have learned during this course has been the sociological imagination. My understanding is that thinking sociologically means looking outside of our individual experiences and analyzing how they contribute to and effect larger social issues. We do this by seeing how the micros impact out macro view.
With this project I wanted to provide microsociological examples ("personal troubles") to address macrosociological issues ("public issues") which in turn will help shine a light on systemic racism by using the sociological imagination. To do this I will be analyzing specific examples of discrimination in the criminal system, healthcare, and housing sector.
There have been many moments during this course and many topics that have clearly outlined how discrimination occurs when it comes to the criminal justice system. Issues such as mass incarceration to wrongful imprisonment has contributed to creating a system which has continued to oppress people of color, and in particular, the black community.
Criminal System
This individual case if just one of the many instances where a person of color, in particular a black man, has been wrongfully convicted. While it is important to note the trial itself was flawed (since Alice Sebold did not initially identify Mr. Broadwater) it is equally important to note that in the end, the word of a white woman was taken over the insufficent evidence provided during trial. I understand that this can be a tricky stance to take, especially considering this was a trial for rape, but this has been a recurring issue for decades. For example, in May of 1976 Ronnie Long, who is a Black man, "was accused of breaking into a home in Concord, NC and raping a 54 year old white woman, Sarah Bost." (CBS News, 2020). During his trial there was no physical evidence and Mr. Long was convicted by a jury which consisted of only white individuals. He was finally released from this wrongful conviction in August of 2020. There are countless more examples of a situation where a black man has been convicted without solid evidence and just by the words of a white woman. Awknowledging this trend is important since it allows us to look at the bigger issue (the macro view) at hand which is how unjust the criminal system is when it comes to prosecuting black men and how society projects bias onto these individuals due correlating deviance and the idea of pariah groups with people of color.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/anthony-broadwater-exonerated-alice-sebold/2021/12/02/959045e4-52ec-11ec-9267-17ae3bde2f26_story.html
During week 8 we discussed themes regarding deviance, crime, punishment, police and prisons. In our chapter 6 readings we learned about the concept of deviance which is defined as actions that do not correlate with the actions/values/norms that the majority of society follow. (page 400). There is a histoy of black individuals being racially profiled and discriminated against because society has consistently correlated people of color (black people in particular) with negative circumstances and situations. I believe this idea that black people are often seen as deviant individuals by society has contribited to the longstanding history of wrongful convictions and unfair trials of black people.
When learning about the themes of chapter 7 (statification, class and inequality) we learned about the topic of pariah groups. Pariah groups are "groups that suffer from negative status discrimination" (page 527) and are typically looked down on by society. I believe that since the time of slavery, and even prior to this time, people who identified as upper class or people who exert privilege have considered people of color and black communities/individuals as members of pariah groups.
One of the topics the Stanford Open Policing Project investigated was the stop rates of black drivers versus white drivers. This chart clearly illustrates the disproportionality. For example, in San Francisco, CA there were 32 stops per 100 black drivers and 9 stops per 100 white drivers. We can clearlty utilize this information to understantd that the system is set up to discriminate against black individuals. Thinking in more broad terms we can relate this data to consider the rate of black individuals killed during traffic stops due to the inability of police being able to de-escalate any subsequent situations which may arise during the stops.
Carlette Duffy was in the process of having her home appraised in order to refinance her mortgage. With her first appraisal the estimate provided was lower than the independent market value of her home. Her second appraisal came back about $15,000 lower than the estimate of her first appraisal. Duffy wanted to see if there was something suspicious occurring behind the scenes. To test her suspicion, she omitted her race and gender from her application and instead had a white male friend participate during the appraisal process. The outcome was as follows - her home was valued at "more than double the original appraisal." (Sheridan 2021). This is just another example of how racial bias and discrimination exists and fuels systemic racism. This example particularly shine a light on injustice within the housing sector.
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/21/998536881/a-black-woman-says-she-had-to-hide-her-race-to-get-a-fair-home-appraisal
In this particular example a beachfront property was returned to a Black Family after 100 years. This example demonstrated how the government utilized power and law (eminent domain) to deem private property as public property and essentially took away black owned land from a black family. Today, black communities continue to face similar situations. For example, gentrification and increases in rent contribute to continued displacement of black communities.