THE VERDICT OF STATISTICS IS RACIAL INJUSTICE IN JUDICIAL SYSTEM

Kweisi Mfume , past president of the NAACP, said in a statement, "In an era
when communities of color have become harvest for the prison industry
rather than pools of future college students, we must challenge any
deprivation of civil and constitutional rights that leads to the
incarceration of racial minorities."

Today in our country, the system where racial discrimination is the most
prevalent is in our judicial system. Although African- Americans make up
only 13 percent of the U.S. population, more than 40 percent of the prison
population is African-American. A black male has a one in three chance of
being imprisoned during his lifetime.

The worst discrimination occurs with drug offenses. African Americans make
up 63 percent of drug offenders in state prisons across our country even
though research shows that there are five times more white drug offenders
than black. Black men are 13 times more likely to be sent to prison than
white men on drug charges. North Carolina is in the top 10 states with the
greatest racial disparities. In these top 10 states, black men are
imprisoned on drug charges 27 to 57 times the rate of white men, according
to a recent Human Rights Watch Report.

African-American youth in the juvenile justice system also face similar
disparities. African-American youth were 48 times more likely to be
sentenced to state juvenile facilities for drug offenses than white youth.
White youth represented 71 percent of kids arrested for crimes in the U.S.,
but only 37 percent of those incarcerated. Youth of color were also very
overrepresented among juveniles who were transferred from juvenile to adult
court.

If you are white or rich in this country you have access to a different
judicial system than if you are black or poor. Over 40 years ago, the
Supreme Court guaranteed the right of council to every person facing the
possibility of incarceration, regardless of their ability to pay. This
sounds great on paper but is far from a reality. In too many areas, legal
representation is inadequate. Public defenders, on the whole, have the
least amount of experience and are the lowest paid and severely overworked.

There are serious ramifications of the disproportionate number of
African-Americans in the criminal justice system. The most significant
include disenfranchisement, disqualification from public housing and
welfare benefits and the break-up of families. Family members lose the
financial support from a mother or father or other family member that is
incarcerated.

How can America, the so-called champion of human rights, find fault with
other countries around the world holding them accountable when we ourselves
have such a dismal record. We must recognize that discretionary decisions
are made at various stages of the criminal process and racial profiling
exists at many levels.

We must demand better. We must demand solutions to eliminate racial
discrimination and unjustified racial disparities in our justice system.
Our justice system is a failure unless it is color blind.

Emma Mieden lives in High Point with her husband and two daughters. She
encourages anyone who does not like the direction the country is headed
under this administration to speak out and join in the fight for change.