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Taylor Coleman

Professor Debra Jizi

UWRITE 1104

23 October 2017

Research Proposal

1. Is the criminal justice system colorblind?

2. Im hoping to gain a deeper understanding of why certain groups of people seem to be

failed by the system more than others do. I want to learn about specific statistics

throughout history that will prove that certain outcomes with specific groups of people

continue to repeat themselves, regardless of the circumstances. Im searching to find

clear patterns that the system purposefully works in the favor of certain races over others.

I picked this question because I have witnessed what seems to have been many injustices

throughout the system, not only in the African-American community but in other

minority races as well. I will be comparing the outcomes between groups of people in

situations like police brutality and the sentencing results in court cases. By researching

this topic, I hope to gain a greater understanding of the realities of systemic oppression.

This inquiry question reflects my strength of a desire for justice because I want to see that

cases within the system are done in a fair and justly manor, no matter a person's race or

color. Stemming off of my past research and a desire to learn more throughout my

college experience, I strive to go beyond this research and one day join the system myself

and try to influence it to be better.

3. I am coming into this research with a certain bias, as an African-American, and its been

proven in the past through movements such as the civil-rights movement, that the system
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does not always work in our favor. Right now I do feel that the system is not colorblind,

and it seems to be harsher on minorities more so than the majority, consisting of straight,

white males. It may be due to the demand for negativity bias from the media, but It

seems there is always a new story about an unarmed African-American who has just been

shot down by the police. Doing this research will not only help me become more

informed but it will also give me the knowledge to help properly inform others of what

real problems are going on within the criminal justice system because in order to fix

problems, we must first address them. These instances seem to occur over and over again,

and its not fair. Although I have this bias, I will set it aside because my primary goal for

the end of this project is to search for the truth.