Diversity and Race
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Diversity and Race
Race
Over the years, the concept of race has experienced immense distortion across different eras and cultures. There have been several groups of theorists who have posited racial groups on the grounds of differences in skin color, ethnic backgrounds, and geographical regions. Despite these hypothetical speculations, a perfect concept about race is that it is perceived as a group of people who are contemporarily believed to be sharing various physical and social characteristics such as the complexity of the skin color.
Minority
The concept of minority resonates from racially distinct individuals but is subordinate to more dominant groups of people or races. Minority groups usually co-exist and correlate together either on cultural or ethnic backgrounds. As explained through various sociological sciences, the defining feature of the minority groups is its subordinacy to the dominant individuals. However, a few cases, such as a lack of defining characteristics between certain groups of individuals, maintain the notion that deems them as minorities. Although several minority groups have forcefully risen to occupy the most influential economic niches of the society, a group of individuals who are primarily united by economic incentives like trade societies is barely considered as a minority.
Inclusion
The subject of race and inclusion has always occupied the best part of the social practices of human beings for decades. However, today, the concept of race is only perceived from a stereotypical point of view. Even though the racial factor has always been known to play a pivotal role in determining how several functionalities are carried out, the concept of inclusion has progressively affected social integrations among the Americans and proved to be a better way to conform to the American society. Inclusion means that all people have a right to be respected and appreciated regardless of their disabilities and health care needs. It maintains the idea that people have unrivalled rights to participate in recreational activities across all settings and work at jobs with practical wages.
Differentiate between prejudice, discrimination, and implicit bias and provide examples
The terms of prejudice, discrimination, and implicit bias occur interchangeably based on the interaction. However, there is a thin line that separates the three concepts. For instance, prejudice refers to specific ideas, feelings, thoughts, and beliefs that individuals hold concerning one particular group or race. It is a prejudgment based on attitude rather than experience. For example, sexists are known to hold unjustified opinions towards specific genders.
While prejudice is solely aligned to bias thinking, discrimination refers to visible or noticeable actions towards a particular section of people. Discrimination refers to the segregation of people based on aspects such as age, religion, and health, among other social indicators. For example, a particular race can be denied to participate in public events such as voting. While the concepts of prejudice and discrimination overlap, implicit bias refers to stereotypical attitudes that affect our unconscious mannerisms. These biases include all involuntary assessments that get triggered without the intentions of a person. The association of these feelings in the subconscious mind causes us to develop opinions on contemporary issues of race, appearance, age, and ethnicity. For example, individuals with a biased perception of their religion usually believe that their practices and beliefs are superior to those of their colleagues.
Summary of an event related to criminal justice
The whites have been the most dominant and influence people in the United States for a very long time (Beck, & Blumstein, (2018). recently, the United States demographic status has experienced a variation in races. The variation is much prevalent in the criminal justice system. Compared to whites, the incarceration rate of blacks in the United States is much higher. A significant disparity can be seen during sentencing where blacks receive longer and harsh sentences compared to the whites and Latinos where have options of having their sentence adjusted down. The case of Marcus Robinson in 1994 is a perfect example of racial discrimination in criminal justice. Marcus was convicted of murder and robbery and sentenced to death in the state of North Carolina. The issues pointing to racial discrimination in the case arose many years after the conviction with defendants justifying that indeed Marcus suffered prosecutorial neglect.
Importance of Diversity in Criminal Justice
The criminal justice system of the United States ensures that the rights of every individual are protected (Clair & Winter, (2016). They have the responsibility of ensuring that the convicted felons are segregated from other people. Diversity in the criminal system is a valuable asset in dealing with occasional problems such as racism. A diverse perspective in approaching various cases in court provides ideas to solve specific problems. Today, the United States is metaphorically referred to as a steaming pot as the embrace of diversity in criminal justice has contributed positively to the prosperity of the nation.
References
Beck, A. J., & Blumstein, A. (2018). Racial disproportionality in US state prisons: Accounting for the effects of racial and ethnic differences in criminal involvement, arrests, sentencing, and time served. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 34(3), 853-883.
Clair, M., & Winter, A. S. (2016). How judges think about racial disparities: Situational decision‐making in the criminal justice system. Criminology, 54(2), 332-359.