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Ailsa Schmidt, 2nd Place <br />Grade 8, Lee Thad <br />Roseville Area Middle School <br />Beyond the Law <br />In our society there are great divides, bath of socio -econo i <br />m c class and race. Both inequalities <br />and tensions between different groups of people spring from an - <br />p p p g and reinforced by our own stereotypes <br />and prejudices. By making stereotypes and forming e • udices <br />g p .� towards groups of people, we create <br />and perpetuate cycles of violence and poverty, well as revers <br />�, prevent ourselves from developing <br />p g <br />nondiscriminatory and effective attitudes to . <br />�.x these problems in our community. <br />We see one example of this when looking 'in Americans our legal <br />system.. It has now been 150 years since .Abraham Lincoln issued the E • <br />n�anc�pation proclamation and <br />48 since Jim Crow was abolished, but discrimination against African Americans lives .on. According to <br />the Bureau of Justice Statistics, one in three black men can expect to � • <br />p go to prison �n their lifetime. <br />Because I I states have laws saying that people with past felony convictions are not allowed to vats, <br />13% of African American men can't vote in America, Through discrimination rn.ination era the justice system., the <br />USA violates articles six, seven and twenty -one of the Universal Declaration . <br />_ oration of Human fights. 'These <br />articles state that everyone should be treated equally before the law everywhere, and everyone should <br />have the right to engage in politics by voting or running for office. when we di <br />spraportzonately lock up <br />African - American men and prevent them from being involved in local, statewide and national <br />government, we cripple black communities, and without stable role <br />e models we can trap youth xn the <br />cycle of poverty. <br />This prejudice against people of color arises from discomfort. I�' 0 <br />_ xfference is scary to people; <br />humans don't like for their beliefs about society be challenged. F <br />� t o � . g r many people �t is easier to think <br />that all African American young men wear their ants down and . <br />p their sweatshirt hoods up. This <br />