In “A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice,” Paul Butler gives an insight to some of the positive aspects of hip-hop music and how they can be used to better our justice system. It is an approach that I personally have never seen, and I do not think many people have taken a similar approach to reforming the justice system. Because Paul Butler is careful in distinguishing how much of an impact hip-hop can potentially have and how much it currently has as a political force, I feel that many of his points are strong.
One of Butler’s points is that the members of the hip-hop community are mainly black and Hispanic. These two ethnic groups also make up most of the members of penetentiaries. Butler suggests that because blacks and Hispanics are most likely to be subject to crimes and most likely to be arrested and incarcerated for them, they come closest to John Rawls ideal law makers. Rawls was a philosopher who suggested that law is most just when made by people who don’t know how they will fare under it. This makes perfect sense because if this were the case, the law makers would do their best to make the laws fair. Butler also does a good job of humanizing inmates and showing that they are not just statistics, nor are they disgusting people that need to be locked up without any consideration for them.
I feel that if Paul Butler’s ideas were taken seriously in a political sense, some improvements in the justice system could take place. Although I do not agree that “Immanuel Kant and Jay-Z would get along well,” I do agree that all generations have something positive to offer. I feel that if prominent, not notorious, members of the hip-hop community were included in certain decisions, they could give positive opinions on imroving the justice system because they have had to live through the peril of seeing loved ones labeled as worthless criminals for minimal reasons.
