In 1976, the Supreme Court has lifted the ban on the death penalty. Since then, 1,264 people have been executed in the U.S. However, there is a large and obvious regional disparity. 73% of those sentences (921 people) were executed in the southern states. Texas alone accounted fo 474 deaths about 38% of the country's execution. No wonder it's called the death machine.
What has made the South the home base of capital punishment?Capital punishment has deep roots into the history of slavey.
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"In contrast to capital punishment in the northern states, capital punishment in the South was not limited primarily to common law felonies. Rather, the death penalty was a powerful tool for keeping the slave population in submission. Crimes that interfered with the ownership of slaves were punished by death. In 1837, North Carolina, which lacked a penitentiary, had about 26 capital crimes including slave-stealing, concealing a slave with intent to free him, second conviction of inciting slaves to insurrection, and second conviction of circulating seditious literature among slaves." -chris kromm
In recent research done by Andrew Gelman and Kenny Shirley at Columbia University found that race was the biggest factor in explaining the difference we see in the death penalty support. Race is more than twice as influential than the next two factors: the state where you live and the year the poll was taken. The legacy of slavery and racism is still pretty alive in parts of the south. It seems clear enough to explain much of the white South's support of the death penalty.
In 2007, political scientists Mark Peffley and Jon Hurwitz found that whites and blacks have very different perspective on the issue of the death penalty. African Americans are more willingly to listen to racial arguments ("the death penalty is unfair because most of the people who are executed are black") and non-racial arguments ("too many innocent people are being executed") that were offered.
However, whites that were presented with the same arguments were "highly resistant to persuasion." Shockingly, they supported the death penalty more strongly after learning that it discriminated against African Americans.
Researches suggest that the differences are a direct result of open racial bias among whites. Puffily and Hurwits argues it has to white seeing inequities in the criminal justice system as one's personal failure rather than the corrupted systemic problems. "It is more of a racial blindspot than active bigotry."
The view of the death penalty has become deeply ingrained in the white South.
In 2007, political scientists Mark Peffley and Jon Hurwitz found that whites and blacks have very different perspective on the issue of the death penalty. African Americans are more willingly to listen to racial arguments ("the death penalty is unfair because most of the people who are executed are black") and non-racial arguments ("too many innocent people are being executed") that were offered.
However, whites that were presented with the same arguments were "highly resistant to persuasion." Shockingly, they supported the death penalty more strongly after learning that it discriminated against African Americans.
Researches suggest that the differences are a direct result of open racial bias among whites. Puffily and Hurwits argues it has to white seeing inequities in the criminal justice system as one's personal failure rather than the corrupted systemic problems. "It is more of a racial blindspot than active bigotry."
The view of the death penalty has become deeply ingrained in the white South.
Citation:
"[Deathpenalty] Death Penalty News----USA." [Deathpenalty] Death Penalty News----USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.