What a nice AI generated title this is!
Imagine you're driving in this town, inebriated, speeding with a BAC of .17. You wreck your car and only make it out alive because you passed out behind the wheel due to your intoxication. You awaken to stumble to the closest persons yard and knock on their door for help. They freak because you're covered in blood, slurring words, and appear deranged. They open the door, tell you to get on your knees while they hold you at gun point and call the cops. You're pleading for your life because you could've die once already, explain you just wrecked your car and just need help, over and over again. The cops arrive and the gun is still at your temple, you're saying over and over you've wrecked and need help and the man says you were breaking and entering. They have no guns drawn, you explain no one who's breaking and entering knocks on the door pleading for help, ever. They tell him to lower his weapon and run the fire arm he has - only to ensure it's registered to him and it's his, your story checks out - your car is overturned in a ditch and you're in obvious distress and bleeding.
An ambulance is dispatched and you're taken to the hospital to be evaluated, arrested with your blood alcohol content level, and taken to the jail. You don't return home to your kids that night. You're put in the 'drunk tank' to sober up for release on bail. It's nothing new since this is your third DUI. This time, however, you're looking at a felony charge, not a misdemeanor, reckless driving, and an obvious suspension of your drivers license. All of this happens at the beginning of the year. You don't have the funds to afford an attorney, so you're given a court appointed one. They're notorious for operating in favor of the state, not their client. You're given arraignment after arraignment, your court date is continuously pushed out and in September, you're given a trial date.
I say all this to set a precedence for what follows:
The town over is known for not being as kind to people of a certain color, shit so is the one I reside in, but we can dive into that on another day.
This town is small and every time I've driven through main street the word "Jim Crow" comes to mind because it doesn't look like much has changed since 1829. The court house still looks like this - the only thing missing is a "White's Only" sign posted out front, but I digress. This is the kind of town where one too many unpleasant interactions will have you minding your P's and Q's and clenching your asshole when a cop is within proximity.
You're given 95 days in jail - the minimum amount in your state, only having to serve 60 since you're given trustee status in the jail. This is good for your children's mental health due to your 'extended vacation' and you attest all of this to a great lawyer!
A lawyer that didn't call, gave you cryptic updates on what was going on, and the only interaction that you had was briefs for a few minutes before each arraignment.
Not that you're white.
Not that white privilege exists.
You had an amazing lawyer, who did what you wanted because of your kids.
When I've told this story to several people and I've always gotten different variations of "it's because he's white, that just doesn't happen" and a flabbergasted "that's it?"
I asked,. 'If you were black or of color, do you think you would have gotten the same sentencing?" The reply was 'No, but you think the lawyer was just looking out for you." That very well may be, but you would've gotten a year or more if your skin were darker.
All of this had me going down this rabbit hole, thinking about the few chapters I've read so far in The New Jim Crow, and reading into articles regarding white privilege in the court system. So many inequalities and prejudices against black and brown people, colorism; it's a tale as old as time. My heart is so heavy for the things we collectively have to endure and SO damn proud to be black at the same time. I'm grateful that your sentencing is low and it's not impactful to your life and job, because struggling isn't fun, but in the same thought - I'm thinking the justice system failed you, repeatedly. What have you really learned when you continuously get a slap on the wrist for the alcoholism you struggle so badly with? I watched this tear you down the last time and I hoped it would ripple through your core that you need help. This is your third go around and the worst of them all - what if you murdered someone when you got behind the wheel, taken your own life? The severity of it all hasn't settled in, the ramifications haven't even scared you enough to put the alcohol down. It's painful to see.
This article here, really goes into the statistical analysis on cases in San Francisco, specifically. The bottom line being that the initial bookings are one determining factor in what drives the racial disparities; I find that this really correlates with how the prison system is the new racial caste system. The article mentions that criminal history, and prior arrests plays a part in booking, but mostly the geographical areas of where the person is arrested causing an influx of bookings with black and brown individuals. It even states that Black people are more commonly booked for higher offenses - felonies vs misdemeanors - even with the same backgrounds, area, etc. of a person that's white. Is this implicit white favoritism?
I'll leave you with questions.
Are you aware of your implicit biases? Do you know how to overcome them?
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