Race vs. Justice: Is There a Connection?

Madhavi Rampersaud

In my opinion, justice is served when someone is treated fairly and reasonably after being subjected to an act of unfair treatment whether it is due to their race, social status, or any other personal qualities. When I think of race and justice, I wouldn’t group the two together. I think that race is more related to injustice. There are always issues concerning race and injustice in our everyday lives. You don’t normally hear about people being served justice regarding their racial background. For example, if there is a conflict at a company regarding someone’s race, the odds are that there might be some type of unfair action committed against the individual. Matters like these are taken up to the court, where it it hoped that justice will be served. If someone discriminates someone because of their race then they have acted unjustly. Every individual should be allowed to experience all the great opportunities we have in this world without being judged.

While reading Leonard Peltier’s “Prison Writings”, I was able to sympathize with Peltier. Him and his people were treated unfairly because they were born as Native Americans or Indians as he refer to himself in his novel. They were shot and killed by government officials, which is why they were not served justice when they asked for it. The government itself was against them. This novel is very insightful. Though Peltier is kind of repetitive at times I think his point is depicted clearly. He wants people to know about the Indian way and culture that he treasures so much in his life.  There were government treaties created with the Indians and government but unfortunately those treaties were not held up. You would think that the Native Americans who lived on the reservations would be left alone since they didn’t cause any trouble. However, they were harassed. Justice wasn’t useful to them in their situation. This is why I believe that injustice is more closely related to race. It is usually the effect of racial differences. Personally, I think society can avoid issues like these though. We have come a long way from the period of discrimination and racsim (though that doesn’t mean it isn’t still being practiced today) such that we should give people fair treatment. It allows society to function without chaos. Why should people have to endure such criticism?