s and mete out unjust, harsher punishments to them more regularly and routinely than their white counterparts. In the following content analyses, we will explore the theme of racial inequality in the American Justice system as demonstrated in seven motion pictures: The Green Mile, To Kill A Mockingbird, The Hurricane, Malcolm X, Mississippi Burning, A Time To Kill, and The Negotiator. We will look at the criminals, the crimes, the weapons, the victims, the criminal justice system, and other aspects involved in racial inequality as portrayed in these films.
By 1979, African Americans comprised 46% of all prisoners, and in several states they greatly exceeded the national average – 60% in Delaware, 74% in Louisiana, 77% in Maryland, and 97% in Washington, D.C. (Platt 46). From racial profiling to a majority of the 3,000 inmates waiting on death row, African Americans are targeted by the criminal justice system in this nation. Some say this is because statistically African Americans commit the most crimes, so law enforcement is just making wise use of its resources by targeting groups that commit the most numbers of crimes. Other says it is the fault of the flawed socio-economic system in this country which spends billions of dollars on building prisons and incarcerating prisoners at the expense of building up infrastructure that would enable young blacks to educate themselves and find decent work opportunities. As one critic notes, “racial profiles necessarily sweep in a large number of innocents” (Cole 12). Yet, African Americans bear the brunt of the law and order crackdown over the past three decades – one in every three arrests now involves and African American (Platt 44).
In all of the films we are analyzing herein, we see these phenomena at work in various ways with various characters. For instance, almost every one of the African Americans who is victimized by the criminal justice system is uneducated and p...