Unfair racist convictions against blacks. Can you think of any?

Question

I am writing a paper on American Racism. I want to write about some of the most unfair convictions against blacks and how they would not have been convicted or given a lighter sentence if they were white. I'd prefer the cases to come from the 1950's or so era.

One of the cases I want to use: 17 year old Jeremiah Reeves who was caught having consensual sex with a married white woman in Montgomery Alabama and sentenced to electrocution on his 21st birthday.

Answer 1

You could take it from dfferent points of view such as
Health care (Access)

Higher disease rates for blacks (or African Americans) compared to whites are pervasive and persistent over time, with the racial gap in mortality widening in recent years for multiple causes of death. Other racial/ethnic minority populations also have elevated disease risk for some health conditions. This paper considers the complex ways in which race and socioeconomic status (SES) combine to affect health.

SES accounts for much of the observed racial disparities in health. Nonetheless, racial differences often persist even at "equivalent" levels of SES. Racism is an added burden for nondominant populations. Individual and institutional discrimination, along with the stigma of inferiority, can adversely affect health by restricting socioeconomic opportunities and mobility. Racism can also directly affect health in multiple ways. Residence in poor neighborhoods, racial bias in medical care, the stress of experiences of discrimination and the acceptance of the societal stigma of inferiority can have deleterious consequences for health.


Criminal Justice
There is also an overrepresentation of blacks in the penal system


Education

Answer 2

There was the famous Larry Hicks case. All the evidence used against him proved he was innocent but he was convicted and put on death row. The "errors" in the trial were so egregious that it made people wonder if the only reason he was convicted was because of his race. That happened in the early 80s.

An attorney who had nothing to do with the case watched the process from the outside and was conviced that Hicks' innocence would be established and released. When it appeared that Hicks would be executed he took the case on himself and all the "cockroaches" fell out so quickly it made Indiana a laughing stock for awhile.

Answer 3

I know an interesting case that was on the news recently because the guy was up for parole, but I do not know the outcome. In Smithfield, NC (Johnston County) a black guy in the 60's stole a TV from a woman's house and got 25 to life for that. Speculation has always been that since he was in such a well-known area for racism @ that time that he received extra time. Check it out.

Answer 4

This is not from the 1950's era, but I think it would be good to contrast a modern case in your paper...perhaps near the end. This case here will boggle your mind with it's obvious injustice and bias.

An exerpt:

First came the poor man, barely 17 years old – too young to buy beer or vote, but an adult under the Texas penal code. He took part in a $2 stickup in which no one got hurt. He pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and was put on 10 years of probation. (Black guy)

He broke the rules once, by smoking marijuana. A Dallas judge responded in the harshest possible way: He replaced the original sentence with a life term in prison.

There Tyrone Brown sits today, 16 years later, tattooed and angry and pondering self-destruction. "I've tried suicide a few times," he writes. "What am I to make of a life filled with failure, including failing to end my life?"

Now the flip side of the coin, also from Judge Keith Dean's court: A well-connected man pleaded guilty to murder – for shooting an unarmed prostitute in the back – and also got 10 years of probation. (White guy)

The killer proceeded to break the rules by, among other things, smoking crack cocaine. He repeatedly failed drug tests. He was arrested for cocaine possession in Waco while driving a congressman's car, but prosecutors there didn't press charges.

Judge Dean has let this man stay free and, last year, exempted him from most of the usual conditions of probation. John Alexander "Alex" Wood no longer must submit to drug tests or refrain from owning a gun or even meet with a probation officer. He's simply supposed to obey the law and mail the court a postcard once a year that gives his current address.



http://www.dallasnews.com/s/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/042306dnmettwomen.2e5ca5a.html

Answer 5

Try the Jim Crow laws. I know just recently there were some old cases reopened where criminals were finally sentenced for very old crimes. At that time they were not prosecuted because of racism.

Here some other links:

Answer 6

Sure there were unfair practices and discrimination in the 1950s. The "whites only" bathrooms and drinking fountains were not right.

However, that was a totally different time and place from today.

Answer 7

You should write how unfair life is to the whites becuase of the blacks accussing us of racism left and right. Get over the fact that the black were slaves, yes its very sad they had to go through it, but its over now. Now they get treated better than whites! Write about how whites get the bad end of this agrument!

Answer 8

How about unfair racist acquittals? Take OJ for example.

Answer 9

OJ Simpson.

Oh, wait.

Answer 10

Nope cant think of any.