Britain has long profiled black boys as criminals, so is it any wonder they receive harsher sentences?
“If you’re black, you’re treated more harshly by the criminal justice system than if you’re white.”
Those were the words of Theresa May as she stood outside Downing Street in her first speech as prime minister. It was a somewhat surprising acknowledgement from the leader of a party which is not exactly renowned for its record on racial equality.
And yet, just as the former home secretary’s 2017 campaign mantra of a “strong and stable government” is becoming more and more comical with hindsight, her earlier promise to “build a better Britain” for everyone, regardless of their background, is also proving to be little more than lip service. Any ounce of blind faith in the Conservative party’s dedication to helping black Britons was quickly dissolved by the Windrush scandals.
While the black British population has long been aware of its subordinate status in the eyes of institutions – the justice system in particular – the statistics released today are no less harrowing.
According to an investigation conducted by The Independent, which analysed figures from 2009-2017, one in four black teenage boys convicted of homicide were handed maximum jail sentences. Not one white teenager was sentenced to more than 10 years. And that’s because the majority of black teenagers found guilty of homicide are convicted of murder (for which the result is often life in prison), while their white peers are more likely to be convicted of the lesser crime of manslaughter.
As Labour MP David Lammy, who last year released his government review of racism in the criminal justice system, outlined, the disparity in sentencing partly boils down to a deeply entrenched mistrust of the system among young black men. A sense of scepticism that, understandably, makes them less likely to believe that pleading guilty will actually result in a shorter sentence.
We have so many issues we are faced with as humans but this particular issue has been long eating us, even til this day. We are in a world where you rate people according to their skin colors. If you are black you risk being discriminated by the white folks, their see you as ape, no upgraded ape. It doesn’t say much of you human if you have this thing called racist mentality.
Let’s talk about the airport. I was on a trip with my my friend to UK some couple of months ago, he’s a white guy, on our entering the security checkpoint, I was personally asked to step aside for some check like I was on some kinda interview, was hit with several questions as if I was the only one at the airport. While my bud (white guy) yelled at on of the security over the lot of questions I was been asked he said “we came here together, why does he got to be ask all of this many questions” “we came here together but am left out with no question” why does he got to answer all the questions” believe me I was so angry that I nearly canceled the trip UK that day. I wondered to myself why am I the only one to be search. I wasn’t in possession of any prohibited item or whatsoever but in seems like I was the Osama of 2017! We’ve do something about this act, cause it already eating. If you’re a judge make sure you see the both sides are coming, and do well to make enquiry rather then favoritism and skin color! We are all humans despite the ethnicity
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