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Jessica Smith Honors American Studies 1/26/12 Haley Barbour pardons: Why were the forgiven so disproportionately white? “Each year in Alabama, nearly 65% of all murders involve black victims, yet 80% of the people currently awaiting execution in Alabama were convicted of crimes in which the victims were white. Only 6% of all murders in Alabama involve black defendants and white victims, but over 60% of black death row prisoners have been sentenced for killing someone white.” (Racial Bias). Racial bias, specifically discrimination against African Americans is present throughout American history, and still remains today. The injustice shown towards minorities is easily present in criminal justice; so much so, that it may be interpreted as a flaw in our justice system (Racial Bias). "Misconduct by "Men in Blue"." Weebly. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. . Jonsson, Patrik. "Haley Barbour pardons: Why were the forgiven so disproportionately white? - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. . "Racial Bias | Equal Justice Initiative." Equal Justice Initiative. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. . "Racism in the United States." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. . Top of Form Bottom of Form
 * Summary **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">: Haley Barbour, governor of Mississippi, pardoned over 200 prisoners before leaving his position. Two-thirds of the pardons were given to white prisoners, while two-thirds of the state’s prison population is black. This means that the white prisoners were four times more likely to get a pardon than black prisoners. Although given this information, we cannot immediately assume racial bias, as there are other factors at play. Jack Glaser, a discrimination expert at the University of California, Berkeley, points out that it could be a result of cultural ignorance as opposed to racial bias. He says, “It’s not that it’s a reflection of racial biases, because there are also cultural attitudes. White people understand white people better. They may not understand the outlooks of minority people as well.” Another cause may have been that on the whole, fewer black prisoners requested a pardon because their access to resources such as personal lawyers was not as great as their white counterparts. Despite these factors, race remains a strong predictor of a pardon. Using a statistical test, researchers at the University of Georgia found that the probability of a random sample of the prison population having the same or greater difference in racial proportions as were chosen for pardons is significantly small. Although most do not believe that Barbour was prejudiced in his decision making, experts say that revealing his decision making process would be beneficial. A hearing was scheduled for Monday, January 23rd, looking into Barbour’s pardons, but racial bias is not in question.
 * Relevance: ** Racial bias has been present for centuries and is a hotly debated issue in history. In early American history the Native Americans were discriminated against because they were seen as inferior. A prime example of their mistreatment was the Trail of Tears (Racism in the United States). Discrimination against African Americans in American history is shown clearly through the slavery and segregation. An example of racial bias from recent American history is the story of Rodney King. Before his arrest, King was assaulted by Los Angeles police officers and the incident was caught on video. The event grabbed enormous media attention, and many attributed the attacks as racial bias. The four officers involved were charged with assault and filing false police reports, but the trial resulted in the acquittal of three officers and disagreement concerning the fourth. In response to the trial outcome there were huge riots in Los Angeles that left 55 people dead, 2,383 injured and 8,000 more arrested (Misconduct by “Men in Blue”). The Equal Justice Initiative gives statistics to show the inequality in criminal justice.
 * Evaluation: ** Haley Barbour’s pardons involve the treatment of different groups. Specifically, it discusses the possible mistreatment of certain groups based on their race, but not necessarily based on racism. We like to define modern day America as a melting pot, a collection of all types of people. We are also working towards the removal of prejudice and the celebration of diversity. But could we be discriminating without realizing that we are doing so? That is the question that this article addresses. Many people believe that Barbour did not intentionally discriminate against blacks in his selection of pardons, but the way he perceived each of the pardon requests may have been unconsciously discriminatory. The key decision makers in the pardoning process are almost entirely white. That fact alone may sway the decision in giving a pardon, even if none of them are racist. As Jack Glaser said, “White people understand white people better.” (Jonsson). Does this mean that no matter how hard we try to eliminate bias and create equal justice that we will ultimately not achieve it? Perhaps.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Questions: **
 * 1) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">If the racial bias observed was truly created by the unconscious mind, how would we go about correcting the bias?
 * 2) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Is this unconscious bias shown in other areas besides pardoning?
 * 3) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">How can we determine if the racial disparity in pardons is too much? Given that the p-value for the statistical test is so low, we can infer that such a disparity could not happen by chance. Is this problematic? Should we look further into this issue because of the statistical results?
 * 4) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Discrimination against blacks seems to be a recurring issue in the justice system. Is there a flaw in the system that is causing this, or are people just prejudiced? Are there laws that can be put into place to prevent this from happening?
 * 5) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Given the statistics on racial discrimination in our justice system, why has there not been a bigger response to the issue?
 * 6) <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">A quote from the Equal Justice Initiative, “The key decision makers in death penalty cases across the country are almost exclusively white.” (Racial Bias). Why is this so? Could incorporating diversity be the answer to solving the discrimination problem in criminal justice?
 * Works Cited:**

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