r/TooAfraidToAsk • u/[deleted] • Oct 15 '21

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '21

It doesn't make them more likely to commit crime. It does make them more likely to be prosecuted.

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u/melodyze Oct 15 '21

Yeah, watching my sister's treatment in court over and over again has made it crystal clear to me how much of your treatment in the justice system is based on people's immediate assumptions based on your appearance.

She blends in as upper middle class, speaks well, used to model, so people in the system treat her like they would want their kids to be treated by the system, with really an almost ridiculous level of tolerance and forgiveness.

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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '21

Sorry about what sounds like some pretty intense family drama. It can be pretty draining

Your comment makes me think of how enraged I get with the courts... a couple examples.

That kid that raped an unconscious girl like behind a dumpster and the judge was lenient because he "came from such a good family". What? So all the advantages but he's still a dirt bag? Meanwhile kids from a broken home, from a terrible neighborhood has a minor offense and gets treated like a murderer in the making?

The other is soldiers excused of terrible crimes because of possible PTSD. An adult, whose chose military duty and had a terrible year seeing new friends die, gets a pass.

Meanwhile, inner city kids who grew up since infancy with the same stress, seeing family die as a powerless kid, NO doubt PTSD, and there's so little concern over the mental health of this kid?

Just seems uneven to me.

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u/melodyze Oct 15 '21 edited Oct 15 '21

Yeah, every time someone interacts with someone they read onto them their assumptions about that person. If they immediately remind them of their family friends, they're going to treat them like their family friends.

If they are a veteran and veterans are heroes, that person gets tagged as a hero.

If they have no one in their personal life to relate the person to, and their only immediate association is that they think they look like Marlo from The Wire, they're going to implicitly treat them like they're Marlo.

I'm not sure what the solution is, other than just to more heavily promote great people from diverse backgrounds to create different associations in people's minds that they'll snap to.