As I mentioned in class this morning, I've decided to show the documentary on the book, "Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town," which I am using in my criminology class. Michelle Alexander also refers to this incident in "The New Jim Crow." It is clearly an incident with racial overtones. So, after viewing the film next Tuesday (11/22), for 5 EXTRA CREDIT POINTS you may post a comment on this blog in which I want you to discuss (IN ONE OR TWO PARAGRAPHS) how you feel the documentary supports (or does not support) Michelle Alexander's argument in "The New Jim Crow."
If you decide to do this, make sure to post your comment on this blog NO LATER THAN TUESDAY, NOV. 29TH.
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6 comments:
After seeing the documentary "Tulia" I was shocked at what happened in this small town. That Officer Coleman was able to barge into a town and take over for an 18 month period, accusing 46 men and women of dealing cocaine. 39 were black. Many of those accused had proof that they were away at the time the alleged drug deal took place; however this evidence was ignored.
I think that this documentary proved Michelle Alexander's point that African-Americans are often targeted in the drug war. Though the Tulia scandal may seem simple upon first glance, the fact that 10% of Tulia's black population was arrested clearly shows that this was not an isolated incident, but a program targeted at the small percentage of African-Americans.
After seeing the documentary I was shocked about how a so called justice system allowed so many unlawful arrests. I thought that the documentary supported Michelle Alexander’s book. It reminded me of the case she talked about in Chapter three, McCleskey vs. Kemp, because the people of Tulia were not given that fair Due Process Clause. I thought it was kind of ridiculous how that cop was able to convict those people for dealing cocaine after such a short amount of time. I was also shocked to see how divided the towns people were about the verdict of both the blacks being arrested and Coleman’s trail. The whole documentary went through the trails and examined what Michelle Alexander’s book was all about, and how drugs being a so called “black problem” is creating malpractices in the justice system.
I feel that the documentary concerning Tulia strongly supports Michelle Alexander's argument in "The New Jim Crow." The population living on the "other side of the tracks" were blatently discriminated against by authorities because of their race. Many of the drug "offenders" were arbitrarily accused and convicted of crimes they did not commit based solely on the testimony of Officer Coleman. Furthermore, several of the victims had evidence that they did not commit the crime they were accused of an only after and extreme legal battle was the one woman aquitted of drug dealing charges.
A similar situation is seen around the country today as unproportionally high numbers of blacks or minorities are arrested for drug related crimes in what Michelle Alexander dubed "The New Jim Crow." Even though minorities are no more likely to commit drug related crimes that whites, they are targeted by authorites. Although many Americans think our society is past the point of racial prejudice, evidence of discrimination in our criminal justice system shows that our country has a long way to go before colorblindness is acheived.
After seeing the documentary about the Tulia case, I was absolutely floored. Tom Coleman single-handed annihilated the lives of several young African Americans in Tulia. He did so out of racial spite; to forcibly humiliate and destroy the minimal image of existence that was left in this "black town" of Tulia. As mentioned by Michelle Alexander in her book "The New Jim Crow," the Tulia case emboddied the general consensus of enslaving African Americans behind the face of the mass incarceration system. Not given a fair chance at trial, their individual rights were overlooked and their identity was stripped away from them. No longer did they have a name; they had a number that would foreverand undeniably consider them a felon. This was the systems way of placing them in an undercaste exempt from the functions of society forever.
This documentary really amazed me. I am astounded that Officer Coleman got away with his clear racism with nothing more than probation. He was responsible for 46 people being convicted of drug charges--39 of which were black. If that is not clear racial bias then i do not know what is classified as racist. It was very fortunate that the NAACP got involved and the old white man who kept record of all of the proceedings. Without vigilance such as their's many of these people would be rotting in prison because of the color of their skin. I think this is a prime example of what happens during the drug war when it is taken two far. Clearly reforms need to be made in order to make the system more fair to everyone. Hopefully future efforts can prevent anything such as what happened in Tulia from ever occurring again.
I was shocked about the event that the documentary "Tulia" presented. It left me in disbelief about how one man can ruin the lives of so many people. What really is appauling to me is the fact that many people of the town backed Officer Coleman even after evidence showed that the people being convicted were innocent. The sheriff especially, he made excuses for Coleman such as he wrote the wrong time down by mistake. The documentary support the Michelle Alexander's book. Blacks were being unfairly targeted by law enforcement in order to make a quota.
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