Amanda's Post on the failures of the Criminal Justice System

Last class we got a taste of the reality of the New York criminal justice system. Since we focused on particular incidents, I feel that I should focus this blog on the two readings and incorporate with Thomas Giovanni’s visit.

I would like to first start with Glenn Loury’s article, “Obama, Gates and American Black Man.” He begins his Op-Ed story with a quote by General Eric Holder, which truly encompassed racial problems within America.

“Though this nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot,” Mr. Holder said, “in things racial we have always been and I believe continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation of cowards.”

I agree with General Eric Holder’s quote, we tend to just accept racial barriers and problems as being another hurdle in life. Of course there are those, like the NAACP, that focus all of their energy on ending these problems, but the point is when is it going to end? Loury compared the incident of Gates as an everyday issue that occurs to a black man in America, but because of his connection with Obama the incident was publicized. I fully agree with Loury’s article, we all in some way just live with these racial problems, and instead of taking them head on as a nation we sit on the sidelines like cowards.

Another point I found interesting was when Loury states, “However, such behavioral problems reflect failures elsewhere in our society — racial and class segregation in our cities; inadequate education for the poor; and the collapse of the family as an institution in some communities. Because of these failures, we have large numbers of under-socialized, undereducated and virtually unemployable young men in our cities and towns. (They are not all black, to be sure, but they are disproportionately so.) Domestic violence is a serious problem in many of our communities; drug trafficking and gang activity are important parts of the social economy of the inner city.” In other words, crime and violence in inner city neighborhoods is a representation of the systems failure to meet their needs. I have learned of a cycle called, Myrdals cycle, which entails that when a child from an inner city neighborhood drops out of school (the school happens to be the foundation of where that child will end up in life) they join gangs or contribute in violent actions, then this leads to a life in and out of the criminal justice system, and most likely drug consumption becomes a factor (most of these areas do not have good support systems.) It’s like a vicious circle that continues to occur, and its not a representation that a specific group isn’t “picking themselves up by their boot-straps,” but rather no one is giving them a chance to succeed.

This leads me to Paul Butlers book “Let Get Free.”

The use of rap and hip-hop has become an outlet, or more like an amplified voice, describing how these young individuals have faced the failures of the system. Paul Butler writes that the “Punishment should be the point of criminal justice, but it should be limited by the impact it has on the entire community.” (124) In other words, when someone is in and out of the system they bring back the burden and the attitude into their community. And the criminal justice system fails to see that they are not protecting New York, but breeding a dysfunctional mental state. Some say that there are vicious and murderous crimes that only people who act like animals commit, but you wonder if the criminal justice dehumanizes people, then what do they expect people to act like. So these artists take what they have seen and felt, and then they turn it into music so that others facing the same situation could understand that they are not alone. Rap can be seen as a minority’s political platform, their political outreach is in a different form, but the message is still there.

A famous activist and writer named Eric Dyson said that rap is a “subversive cultural didacticism aimed at addressing racism, classism, social neglect, and urban pain: the rap concert, where rappers are allowed to engage in ritualistic refusals of censored speech. The rap concert also creates space for cultural resistance and personal agency, loosing the strictures of tyrannizing surveillance and demoralizing condemnation of mainstream society and encouraging relatively autonomous, often enabling, forms of self-expression and cultural creativity.”(Michael Eric Dyson, Reader, pg. 403)

Many say that rap can lead to violent crimes. In my opinion, they are not imploring people to commit crimes but rather telling a story of how they started off in the criminal justice system and have risen up through the struggle and pain into someone successful. I think that rap shows that despite the evidence that the system wants us to fail, there is a way of fighting it and becoming something better.

Katiria's Post: Bornstein and more

Hi All: Katiria is having trouble posting, so I'm posting her entry:

There is no question about how impacting and interesting David Bornstein’s reading How to Change the World was. The reading brought forth a lot of questions and comments in our class discussion this past Thursday. For instance, did these normal everyday people discussed in How to Change the World significantly impact the world? Or is it truly necessary for someone to be a Brad Pitt or an Angelina Jolie to actually be able to make a difference? In my eyes it is unnecessary for someone to be famous to be able to make a positive impact in the lives of others. No matter how small the task as long as it makes a difference in one life this will have meant that this has significantly changed the world. I say this because I see aiding one person and making a difference in that one person’s life as something that will trickle down and have a ripple effect on others. With this I definitely believe these people mentioned in How to Change the World have already made a significant change in the world. Their actions have led to the acknowledgment of failures in the system that have caused in some systematic changes.

In relation to our discussion that quickly evolved, Professor Stein shared a quote from Slavoj Zizek, Violence in the seminar that left the class somewhat divided on whether to lean towards agreeing or disagreeing with its words. This quote was “Charity is the humanitarian mask hiding the face of economic exploitation”. This argument can clearly go either way, for charity or against it. Personally, I whole heartedly believe that charity can be a positive thing, especially when donating to the right organizations that truly help others. There are some people out there that are unfortunately in situations they cannot easily get themselves out off and it is a blessing for them to get any help they can possibly get. On the other hand, I can see myself agreeing with what Zizek expressed, from my perspective I feel that in reality there are many wealthy individuals that are using charities now in days, as a system of tax exemptions not truly not caring about who they donate to, what the cause is or if in reality their money is being put to good use and these people are being helped. They are simply caring about their tax returns. The discussions in the seminar regarding this quote simply blew me away. It was just so much back to back and I felt that there was so much more that could have been discussed regarding this topic and so much more that so many of us wanted to say that I felt this would be the perfect topic for our blog. So that we may have the opportunity to further discuss it and possibly respond to one another comments and give our thorough opinions because I feel that this is an opportunity to further or great learning experience.

Early Days at the Agency

This week's post is just a simple invitation to discuss your first experiences with your agency and any concerns, questions or surprises that came up. What do you anticipate some of the challenges will be?

You may also continue our seminar discussion on the Roberts book. Danielle mentioned that she found several inspiring "words to live by" in the text. What inspired you? What did you wish we had spoken about in class?

I am also aware that I'm writing this on 9/11 as CNN covers the reading of the names at Ground Zero. As you enter the world of your agency, working for justice in some corner of New York City, what might be the connections (if any) between the problems (and solutions) you see locally and issues of national security, international relations and social justice around the world.

You don't have to respond to all of these points, just the one(s) that speak to you. The most important thing is to jump into the blog, so comment away!

Return of the Vera Fellowship Seminar

Welcome 2009-10 Vera Fellows (otherwise known as Verons). Hopefully you are reading this having successfully followed the prompts. We will have a sign-up in class on Thursday. Each Fellow will choose a week to write the "post" -- usually within 24 hours of Thursday's class. Every week, all other Fellows (and Professors) will comment on the post. In order to get a sense of how that works, read the posts/comments from last year's seminar. You can also "check out" some of the links to things mentioned in students' posts (articles, songs, video clips). If you want something put here, just send the address to me (creitz@jjay.cuny.edu) and I'll make sure it gets up there. There are also links to the websites of the participating agencies.