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Sexual Assault

Introduction

Many Black males feel that whites in general have cheated them out of the American Dream. For example, the majority of rap music especially gangsta rap fuels a high percentage of hatred against white rap artist such as 50 cent who tenaciously raps about how whites do not give blacks a chance to succeed in today’s society. Many African Americans listen to this type of music so they think it is okay to be angry and to take that anger out on others. Negative music videos that show women very sexually degrading teach African Americans and Hispanics that it is okay to sexually assault a woman.
In today’s society the majority of sexual abuse comes from African Americans and Hispanic males who commit crimes. African Americans are given higher sentencing for sexual abuse crimes against white women. The reasoning for this is due to society placing a higher value on white women than women from other races. Lopez (1996) states, “the fact of high incarceration rates for Blacks partially stem from, and subsequently is used to confirm, the mythology of Black criminality and, by implication, White innocence. The long sentences accorded those who victimize Whites in part result from, and in turn reinforce, notions of White social worth and, by implication, Black worthlessness. Law makes these notions self-fulfilling prophecies that further entrench racial differences” (p. 99).
History
According to Race and Sentencing, “there is compelling historical evidence that interracial and intraracial crimes were treated differently. Gunnar Myrdal’s examination of the southern court system in the 1930’s, for example, revealed that African Americans who victimized whites received the harshest punishment, whereas African Americans who victimized other African Americans were often acquitted or given a ridiculously mild sentence…” Myrdal also noted “it is quite common for a white criminal to be set free if his crime was against a Negro.”...