Justice in UK legal System | Adin Miller | TEDxWellington College HZ Youth

Key Concepts:

• Justice, Equality, Discrimination, Systemic Bias, Criminal Justice System, Representation, Socioeconomic Status, Stereotypes, Microaggressions, Rehabilitation, Disproportionate Sentencing, Stop and Search, Legal Aid.

1. Personal Journey and Introduction to Justice:

• The speaker, Aiden Osilla, a history teacher, shares his personal journey of developing an interest in history due to his experiences with inequality.
• He felt a connection to the civil rights struggle in the USA because of his own experiences with inequality as a young black person in the UK.
• He questioned the attainability of justice, especially after witnessing cases like Stephen Lawrence and Rodney King where justice seemed elusive.
• He emphasizes the importance of re-evaluating one's understanding of justice to avoid disappointment.

2. Causes of Involvement in the Justice System:

• The speaker highlights that misunderstandings about crime can lead to misunderstandings about the results of crimes.
• He emphasizes the importance of critically examining the perpetrators of crime, acknowledging the nuanced and non-straightforward nature of the topic.
• Socioeconomic Status and Location: Where you live and your socioeconomic status play a significant role in your exposure to crime.
• Gender Disparity: Men are 74% more likely to commit crime than women, especially between 18 and 24.
• Stop and Search: Black people are more likely to be stopped and searched by white people, increasing the likelihood of them being caught with illegal weapons or substances.
• Socioeconomic Deprivation: Crime rates are higher in areas with greater socioeconomic deprivation, leading to more incidents of burglary or violent crimes.
• Social Factors: Poverty, discrimination (in society and the workplace), and historical inequality contribute to higher crime rates in deprived areas.
• Black people are proportionally more likely to live in poverty-stricken areas, making them more likely to be both victims and perpetrators of crime.

3. Negative Stereotypes and Biases:

• The speaker addresses why people are more likely to hold negative stereotypes of black and ethnic minorities (BAME).
• Historical Context: When many black and ethnic minority immigrants moved to the UK, the UK did not do enough to encourage British people to embrace the new immigrants, especially those with darker skin tones.
• Media Representation: The speaker questions the frequency of positive images of black people and Africa in the media, suggesting that the image of black people is often distorted and negative, unless related to sport or music.
• Government Promotion: The British government actively promoted a positive reception of white non-British immigrants during the same time period, handing out leaflets saying "what the Polish did for us."
• Media and Political Rhetoric: Over the past 100 years, negative perceptions of black people have dripped into the minds of people across the world, specifically in British society.
• Human Nature: Humans are likely to hold biases and prejudice, but when these biases influence actions in the criminal justice system, fairness is compromised.
• Media and Education: Media and education play a crucial role in shaping biases, not just in the UK but across the world.
• Whiteness vs. Blackness: Whiteness is often viewed more favorably than blackness, and blackness is often associated with crime, poverty, and violence.
• Subtle Discrimination: Subtle and nuanced ways of discrimination, such as advertisements asking for skin color or white-only applicants, impact the way black and ethnic minorities are treated.
• Film and TV Representation: Popular films, books, and TV programs often portray black people in a negative light.
• Music Genres: Music genres such as rap, drill, and hip-hop, although sometimes referencing illegal activities, often show black people as perpetrators or victims of crimes.
• Medical Field Example: Studies show that doctors use words like "troubled" when describing white patients but "aggressive" when describing black patients with the same issues.

4. Statistical Disparities in the UK Justice System:

• Prison Population: Black people make up 3% of the UK population but constitute 12% of the prison population.
• Arrest Rates: Black individuals are more likely to be arrested compared to white individuals, partly due to living in areas where the odds are against them.
• Sentencing Disparity: Black people are more than 50% more likely to be sentenced to prison for the exact same offense as their white counterparts.
• Stop and Search: Black people are almost 10 times as likely to be stopped and searched as their white counterparts.
• Youth Justice System: Black and ethnic minority children are overrepresented at every area of the youth justice system, making up 18% of the youth population but 45% of the people in custody.
• Legal Aid Access: Minority groups often face significant barriers in accessing legal aid, affecting their legal representation and leading to harsher punishments.
• Sentence Length: In 2020, the average sentence for a white defendant was about 19 months, while a black defendant for the exact same crime was more likely to receive a sentence of 27 months (7 months longer), and 28 months for other Asian offenders.

5. Systemic Biases and Lack of Representation:

• Judiciary: 92% of judges are white, and only 7% are from black backgrounds.
• Police Force: 92% of police officers are white, and only 7% are from black and ethnic minority groups.
• Racial Bias Among Legal Professionals: A study of 370 legal professionals found that over 50% had witnessed at least one judge acting in a racially biased way, with 52% witnessing discrimination against black people and Asian people more frequently.
• Treatment in Prison: Black prisoners are more than seven times more likely to be pepper-sprayed than their white counterparts.

6. Solutions and Recommendations:

• Acknowledgement of the Problem: The first step is to acknowledge the problem and look at the facts.
• Public Dialogue: The UK government can encourage the public to talk about this and work together to bridge the gap to create a more fair and inclusive society.
• Self-Reflection: People need to take a deep look at their own minds and be aware of their own biases.
• Education and Empathy: People from non-black and ethnic minority groups need to be more neutral when understanding black and ethnic minority groups and actively educate themselves on specific empathy.
• Judicial and Police Sympathy: Judges or police perhaps need to show more sympathy.
• Representation: Judges who work more directly in the criminal justice system need to be more diverse.
• Encouraging Future Generations: We need to include and encourage our children, the children of the future, to be police, judges, lawyers, and prison guards.
• Diverse Youth Workers: Having more diverse youth workers in these areas to bridge the gap to prevent crime but also to help rehabilitate those in crime.

7. Final Thoughts and Conclusion:

• The speaker emphasizes that the color of one's skin or racial background should not impact the length of their sentence or how fairly they are treated in the justice system.
• He attributes the harsher punishments to two main factors: lack of representation and lack of understanding within the legal system.
• He highlights the importance of remembering the structural and overt racism faced by black and ethnic minority groups in Britain during the 1950s to 80s.
• He shares his personal experiences with subtle discrimination and microaggressions.
• He concludes by encouraging people from ethnic minorities to push themselves to make change and expresses hope for more fairness within the British criminal justice system in the next decade.

8. Synthesis/Conclusion:

Aiden Osilla's speech provides a comprehensive overview of the disparities within the UK criminal justice system, particularly concerning the treatment of black individuals. He combines personal anecdotes with statistical data to illustrate the systemic biases that lead to disproportionate sentencing and unequal treatment. His recommendations focus on increasing representation, promoting self-reflection, and fostering empathy to create a more fair and inclusive justice system. The core message is a call to action for individuals and institutions to acknowledge the problem, address their biases, and work towards a more equitable future.