Peter Edelman

Abstract

Instructor’s Name “Not a Crime to be Poor” by Peter Edelman is an interesting book that examines the intersection between poverty, race and the criminal justice system. There are various atrocities in American society that occur, but they are not documented. The minority are suffering in silence; nobody is entitled to the poor, neither the government nor the society. Poverty is not a personal choice; it is more than one’s state of mind. There has to be some reason behind poverty. Edelman discusses the most interesting aspect that affects my day-to-day life is racism in American society. Racism is at its epitome, and the battle for justice is intriguing. The most salient feature emanated in the American society document by Edelman is racism in the criminal justice system. Structural racism creates a chasm between the wealthy and the poor in society. Through personal interaction in school, I have witnessed teachers reject students due to their afro textured hair, alluding that it is not professional and neat. According to (Hinton et al., 2018), people of colour are victims of the rot in the criminal justice system in which racially biased policies are enacted on them. African Americans are considered poor in American Society, facing the problems of housing, addiction, string school policies, and retributive systems that promote cycles of poverty. Sadly, minor crimes that the poor most likely succumb to are deliberately exaggerated. Fines and fees are very high such that thousands of the poor, mostly the African American population, succumb to jail sentences. Peter Edelman terms it as “Where the race meets class.” Justice is bought, and the courts lack equity for the vulnerable; they are frustrated and delayed to access justice. Justice delayed is justice denied. Another subject of interest is the mass incarceration of the poor. Faulty drug tests and junk science have contributed to the mass incarceration of minority groups. ProPublica investigation ascertained wrongful convictions of the minority due to faulty drug tests. According to (Morrison& Segal 2017), a Massachusetts lab technician was found to falsify samples of drug tests leading to wrongful executions. Lab technicians falsify drug test results for the poor who cannot afford to pay bribes resulting in wrongful imprisonment. Mass incarceration of the poor worsens poverty in their lives. The traumas of wrongful imprisonment after exoneration or discharge remain in them. They feel the pain of being biracial. They experience the pain of getting employment since the criminal records are tied to them. Their lives do not remain the same again. The cycles of poverty repeat itself generation after generation due to the menace of discriminatory institutions. Poverty and racism in American society...