Representation of Minorities

Running Head : Misrepresentation of Minorities

Misrepresentation of Minorities

The Unfair Shake of the Minority Community

Name

School

Essay assignment referencing the negative connotation the justice system has on the minority population

Professor 's Name

January 2007

Abstract

All over America negative views are being shed on what type of people minorities are . Overall statistics have taken Black and Hispanic people in particular , and positioned them in a place where even their counterparts would fear walking down a dark alley with them . Due to unstable mentoring from

adults , our young people have gained the probable chance of falling into the same behavioral patterns . For those who have given minority people a bad name , the stigma of being of the same ethnicity haunts those who have been good citizens . Within the criminal justice system , far too often is that same stigma used to determine if an innocent Black person walking down the street is up to no good

Misrepresentation of Minorities 1

Deep in the heart of east Texas is a small town called Vidor . This town , which is home to about 11 ,000 people , was at one time known as Sundown Town (Zahn , 2006 ,

.1 . The unfortunate significance of this town is that of the 11 ,000 people that live there , there are absolutely no black residents . The town is notorious for 2 signs just outside of the city 's limits which read , N er , if you can read this , run . If you can 't read this , run anyway ' and N er , don 't let the sun set on you in Vidor (Oppenheim , 1999 ,

.1 . If it isn 't odd enough that an all White town still exists , a Black citizen of Beaumont , Texas , which is just 10 minutes from Vidor , told CNN reporter Keith Oppenheim that living with white racists is still safer than living with other Blacks (Oppenheim , 2006 ,

.1 . With that in mind , consider what the crime rate is in this small town . Zero murders , rapes , robberies or violent crimes for years in a row . In fact , the only time there was a violent crime was when the town offered assistance to Hurricane Katrina victims . The 2 black families , formerly New Orleans residents , were placed in the town 's government housing division . They were driven out 2 months later due to harassment (Zahn , 2006 ,

.1 . In retaliation , one of the males from these families violently assaulted a Vidor resident in the parking lot of a convenient store . As he was handcuffed and taken to jail , he shouted You 're just taking be to jail because my skin is darker than yours (Zahn , 2006 ,

.1 . Sad but true , minorities dominate just over 65 percent of the American prison population , while whites make up the remainder (Vroom , 2005 ,

.1 . Overrepresentation of the minority sector within the American population is far too common Controversial to some , the unfortunate practice of racial profiling targeting minorities may play a part . During this millennium era , the Black race...