Race, Social Vices, & US Crime: A Philosophical Analysis Essay

Introduction

The author is arguing on the correlations between race and the social vices within the community (Bernstein, 2020). For instance, he highly disregards some of the arguments by commentators such as Otto T. Goat who instead of linking high crime rates in the US to availability of guns, the commentator continues to insist that the crimes witnessed in the US are closely linked with the blacks (Lemeire, 2016). As such, the arguments of many philosophers and biologists concerning the metaphysics of the human race has to do with the questioning whether race exists.

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The author also describes the role of racial discrimination in undermining the administration of justice across the world (Bernstein, 2020). For instance, in the United States, black men are perceived to have enhanced tendencies to commit crimes as compared to other biological sexes. This perception significantly influences the administration of justice, not only in the United States but across the world (Lemeire, 2016).

In work, the author, who is an anti-realist claims that race does not exist and that the topic of race is more of an illusion than reality (Bernstein, 2020). Therefore, the illusion has become so widespread that it goes along in explaining the compelling nature of cognitive architecture and social construction, as highlighted by the author. In work, the author has also expertly chosen realists, whose belief is that race exists (Lemeire, 2016). Such realists include most biologists who believe that the human population has been successfully used in the reinvigoration of the biological race realism.

The Presentation of the Author's Arguments

The author endeavours to convince the reader that his/her argument is correct by presenting the opposing views of race realists as well as those of the anti-realists to strike a balance and demonstrate the fundamental concepts of biological sex and race. For instance, he underpins the fact that the human race realists believe that the human race is indeed socially constructed, and such social constructions come along with social reality (Lemeire, 2016). The argument by the race realists is that race is real, socially constructed for real humankind. From the reasoning, it is clear to superimpose the fact that human race has got several normative implications with the central question arising on whether such racial distinctions should be used in scientific research as well as public policy (Bernstein, 2020).

Evaluation of the Author's Argument

My evaluation of the author's argument is that the author has extensively underscored the implications of racial disparities and the various beliefs for both the racial realists and the non-realists (Bernstein, 2020). However, in my view, the question of whether or not race exists should not be an argument between biologists and other philosophers (Lemeire, 2016).

I would instead encourage the argument that delves in understanding the epistemic-metaphysical questions such as; in what ways and to what extent does race influence the basic tenets of the society, do racial disparities offer a metaphysical basis for epistemic practices of the many scientific disciplines among others. However, the debate about racial reality should never be solely left unto the hands of scientists/biologists because numerous philosophical issues are intrinsically correlated to the question of race reality (Lemeire, 2016).

The debate on racial reality has often been an extreme one where racial realists, as well as the anti-realists, have always agreed on most of the empirical facts amidst some few philosophical belief divergences (Lemeire, 2016). As such, the realism debate concerning race has often been a broad philosophical issue rather than particular race metaphysics. For example, disputes relating to semantics often emanate when discussing the real race. As such, in the discussion revolving around the question of the existence of race, there must be an in-depth understanding of black and white and the role they play in underscoring racial reality (Bernstein, 2020).

The Relevance of Additional Materials to the Author's Argument

The adoption of materials such as 'Explaining the Gaps in White, Black and Hispanic Violence since 1990,' is indeed essential in understanding the plight of various members of the society that emanate from their racial backgrounds (Lemeire, 2016). For instance, the source highlights the basic understanding of the role of racial discrimination in worsening social domains and fabrics. The article also states that the correlation between the Hispanics, blacks and crimes is more pronounced than crime and other racial groupings. This explains the role of race in crime perception, as believed by other race realists (Bernstein, 2020).

However, crime could not be solely linked to race since some other factors such as socioeconomic are also linked with crime across society (Lemeire, 2016). There is also eminent ethnic and racial profiling in the administration of justice. Racial discrimination emanated from the United States and the United Kingdoms and has since spread across various jurisdictions over the world (Bernstein, 2020).

Course Objective(S) Best Related To the Article

Some of the fundamental course objective related to the article is exploring the role of metaphysics of racial distinctions in understanding and juxtaposing the racial beliefs by both race realists as well as anti-realists (Lemeire, 2016). The questions that often emanate from metaphysics of race include; in what ways, and to what extent do racial disparities influence the epistemic practices of various patient scientific principles.

The course objective of understanding the influence of racial discrimination in the administration of justice is also related to the article (Bernstein, 2020). For instance, the article superimposes the idea that racial and ethnic profiling has always hindered fair administration of justice with the black men being more affected both in the United States and beyond.

Understanding of the Administration of Justice

From the contents of the courses, it is eminent that the administration of justice is often thwarted by factors such as racial discrimination and discrimination based on socioeconomic status. Racial discrimination has often been one of the significant challenges influencing the administration of justice and generally subverting the rule of law (Lemeire, 2016).

Such discrimination emanates from deliberate victimization of certain groups based on their racial backgrounds (Bernstein, 2020). In my opinion, racial discrimination in the administration of justice is always observed in the form of racial profiling when it comes to the investigation of crimes as well as the imposition of heavier punishments and sentences on one ethnic group over the other.

I believe that the obstacles in addressing racial discrimination in tea ministration of justice have often emanated from the assumption regarding criminal proclivity of ethnic and racial minorities (Hochman, 2016). It is essential to gather ethnic and racial data when it comes to criminal justice to prove and combat discrimination.

Again, socioeconomic discriminations in the administration of justice have also been portrayed to the extent that the people with money tend to have a higher chance of winning as compared to those from low-income families (Hochman, 2016).

References

Bernstein, S. (2020). The metaphysics of intersectionality. Philosophical Studies, 177(2), 321-335.

Hochman, A. (2016). Race: Deflate or pop?. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 57, 60-68.

Lemeire, O. (2016). Beyond the realism debate: the metaphysics of 'racial'distinctions. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 59, 47-56.

Saini, A. (2019). Superior: the return of race science. Beacon Press.