Death Penalty: Racism Hidden Within

DEATH PENALTY-THE WAY TOWARDS PERFECTION

How would you react if you read everywhere: Death Penalty-The way towards Perfection!! In the 1600’s to late 1700’s using the hanging method for public execution was acceptable, and actually authorized by the colonies of past America, when someone did a crime against the state, person, and property. For the past-people of America, hanging was a method for the death penalty was seen as a way towards perfection. Hanging allowed the world to slowly become pure again by diminishing the corrupt. Not only did they hang their criminals, but it was in a public setting, allowing the offender to be humiliated before dying. However, around 1800’s to the 1900’s dramatic changed took effect.

Lynching was seen as a public practice that happened consistently.
Before their deaths, the offenders would be shouted at, and maybe even attacked
physically and emotionally before dying. It was like a show; in the picture you
can see: couple holding hands, a pregnant lady, a man pointing at the hanging men
while smiling, and so much more

Our former Americans realized that public execution may not be the best for the country. Public execution started to seem ordinary, trite, common, overused, and simply fun. While the men who are hanged in the above picture had killed a white couple, the public going to see the hanging does not prove to be justice, it proves that America is corrupt in thinking. Watching a hanging was seen as watching a movie. It became something that could be seen as a daily doing that shouldn’t be taken seriously. The authorities of America decided that this practice was indeed serious so limited the public to only those who were official witnesses to be in the realm of the execution. 

Past-people of America also recognized that there were two types of murder: first and second degree. They started to sort out which crimes went into what category. As well as realising the difference in murders, they also realised that their definition of criminals to be hanged was unclear. The solution: they started to list what crimes should and should not be under capital punishment. Now, the crime to be punishable by death did not include stealing a loaf of bread. 

The three pictures in the chronological order of a inmate being strapped into an electric chair
and electrocuted. Notice that the inmate was black and those surrounding
him were white. Thus concluding that his family members most likely
were not there and could possibly have not even had the chance to say goodbye
This was during the early 1900's.

With many improvements, also came unclear thinking when the electric chair and lethal gas were methods of the death penalty during the 1900’s. Something so barbaric was thought of only a century ago and was still being used only 30 years ago and may even be used today. While the crime he committed might have been inhumane itself, giving justice does not mean inhumanely killing a man. If so, in a sense, the executor himself is corrupt: isn't that ironic. 

Most states have the lethal injection as the only option for capital punishments. Some countries
still use gas chambers and even firing squads as a practice. However, it is calming to see that
most countries adopted the lethal injection of no death penalty. However, some may think otherwise.

Now, however, the majority of states use lethal injections for a death penalty (look at above picture). However, even a lethal injection can become dangerous when used incorrectly and ignorantly. An example: Clayton Lockett, a very recent death penalty. Lockett was executed for killing a young girl and raping her friend. When given the injection, it is said his vein collapsed and 45 minutes after, he had a heart attack. While most may say he deserve every punishment he gets, whether purposely done or not, the fact that others who are on death sentence might have to go through the same pain if the injection isn't done correctly is terrifying. (This link takes you to a botched lethal injection of Clayton Lockett: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/friends-victim-zero-sympathy-clayton-lockett-inmate-botched-okla-execution-article-1.1777463)  

Picture of Lockett the year of his execution. He committed the crime
when in 1999, when he was 23, got the
execution when he was 38 in 2014. 

Why might someone care about those who are on a death sentence when it is justice: because sometimes those who are being executed shouldn't be. There are many accounts when people got off of the death sentence because the trial was reopened, and they found that the "offender" was non-guilty. However, there are more who aren't so lucky. For those who are being wrongly accused either accidentally or purposely should at least die a non-painful death. 

The history about capital crime was a roller-coaster when deciphering what was the appropriate crime committed to be executed and what was the appropriate execution method. Even today, it is still a grey area that constantly needs to be updated and conversed about in order for it stay humane.

http://www.pewforum.org/2014/03/28/executions-state-by-state/
(The link above takes you to a map that shows the numbers of death penalty for each state beginning in 1977 until 2014.)

Why is this such an important topic?? Well besides the fact that it is ending someone’s life, it is more than that. Those who have power sometimes abuse it. It is not surprising to suggest that those who were put on a death sentence during slavery and during the racism era were mainly black people, and to be even more specific, black men. Always having a negative connotation to the words: black men, makes it easy to have a hypothesis that black men were being executed the most during the 1800’s and maybe even 1900's, in order for the whites to constantly feel empowered. Losing their slaves were hard enough, losing their authority was too much for them to bare. So instead, they took to “legal” capital punishment; hanging, or as it was called during that period, lynching. 

Now that racism is more of minority thinking for the United States, it is hard for some to state their opinions about different races. Instead, they take to using the authoritative power to continue what they believe in: that their race is superior. Clicking on the link above, one can see that many of the death penalties were predominately in the south, and more specially in the south east, which is were racism was strongly occurred during the 1900's. This blog is all about how racism impacted the criminal justice, and more specifically who was put on the death sentence and why.

A one hour video, going in depth about the history

of the death penalty if one wanted to have a detailed understanding

of the death penalty globally not just in the United States.

In order to dig deeper into this topic with a great understanding certain subjects will have to be detailed in later discussions simply because it is a part of the everyday context when talking about the death penalty.  First, the subject capital punishment itself. I need to farther discuss the different kinds of methods that are still being used today. However, taking a step back is always important, so conversing about death row. Looking at how long someone is on death row and if they are spared definitely can relate to racism. Even taking a farther step and discussing the implications from the court hearings including the race of the judge, his/her age, etc that could have effected someone’s outcome. All of these factors are very important topics within the death penalty. Now that the basics are discussed, get ready to dive deeper into blood, injustice, and racism that surrounds those who are put onto death row without fair trial. 

Bibliographies
https://docs.google.com/a/wheatoncollege.edu/document/d/17CiOZ8X8QOx-YjO7L6BGX5okGoRDJ3u8VBPmx48DFlI/edit?usp=sharing