Symbols

1
Spring Term 2007 PS 428The Politics of Law and
Order
T/Th 1400-1550 NH 241 Instructor
Robert Swan
2
Agenda May 8, 2007

• In the news
• Paper discussion handout
• BJS website
• Race Crime the Law Wrap-up
• Racial Tax
• Race and the War on Drugs Crack vs. Cocaine

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Black Victimization

• Blacks suffer disproportionately from violent and
  other crimes.
• Especially homicide.
• The number of Black on Black homicides is nearly
  equal to White on White homicide.
• The number of Black prison inmates is
  disproportionate to the number of Black
  Americans.

4
Kennedy Black victimization

• Black victimization 2 concerns
• 1. Racism Over-enforcement/ racism-oppression-gen
  ocide?
• 2. Crime Under-enforcement/lack of protection
• Loss of governing Legitimacy w/
  African-Americans
• 1. No cooperation with CJ system
• 2. No participation/engagement with political
  system
• 3. No incentive to adhere to the law

5
Randall Kennedy

• 4 Ideological Camps surrounding Criminal Justice
  Policy
• 1. Law and Order Camp (Republicans and Bill
  Clinton) A bi-partisan camp
• Fear of crime and Racists Both in this camp
• The racists cant be helped but law and order
  people who want to reduce crime should ensure
  that CJ actors are not acting in a racist manner
  and discipline those who do accordingly.
• 2.Libertarian conservatives and liberals
• Lib conservatives must expand their distrust of
  governmental powers to include law enforcement
  and Crim justice.
• 3. Color Blind Constitution
• Disavow all types of racial discrimination
• We are all equal, fight affirmative action.
• However, they do not oppose race-based risk
  assessments or other tools which determine
  suspiciousness.
• 4. Advocates for the rights of African-Americans
• Must be more careful in using the term racism too
  broadly. It is damaging because it reduces the
  conceptual symbolic power of the term Racism.
• These tactics, because they are so stigmatizing,
  stiffen the resolve of the accused.
• The notion of the War on Drugs as racist
  stifles discussion on coherent drug policy.
• Blacks may be left unprotected if significant
  issues affecting their communities are not
  addressed.

6
Randall Kennedy

• Linking Crime w/Blackness
• Various racial and ethnic groups have
  traditionally been associated with particular
  types of criminality E.g., Italian Mafia
  Irish violent drunks
• Blacks have been uniquely besieged throughout
  American History
• Reasons for slavery Blacks are prone to commit
  crime
• Blacks prone to commit rape (and most other
  violent crimes) and should not be
  constitutionally protected (see Have American
  Negros Too Much Liberty? Charles Henry Smith,
  1893)
• The stigma, unlike in other cases, never
  diminishes.
• The image of black crime is used to push CJ
  policy (e.g., Willie Horton).
• Due to our popular fixation with and fear of
  crime
• Perception by whites that they are likely to be
  victimized by black men.
• Are blacks a criminal race? Noconcentrated
  disadvantage.

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Concentrated Disadvantage Morenoff (2001)

• A super variable used to understand and predict
  crime in neighborhoods.
• Percent Black
• Percent Female Headed Household
• Percent below poverty
• Percent unemployment
• Percent receiving public assistance
• Prison admission and release rates (Coercive
  Mobility)
• Residential mobility

8
Randall Kennedy

• The black community Distinguishing between the
  good negro the bad negro (Kennedy, p.17).
• An attempt to make necessary distinctions for the
  middle-class white community.
• The politics of respectability (i.e., Uncle
  Tomism?) Blacks can meet the moral standards of
  middle-class white America. Upholding racial
  respectability through good actions and deeds
  (e.g., education, high-level employment)
• Fear of antagonizing whitese.g. Jubilation after
  the O.J. Verdict through support of CJ policy
  reforms of policy which whites prefer civil
  rights movement etc.
• Ignoring real social problems and conditions
  which influence crime in black neighborhoods.
  Individualistic explanations for crime.
• Shunning the bad negro
• Dark skin, political activism, cultural artifacts
  (e.g., rap)
• The politics of respectability undermine
  explanations for forces which push blacks into
  crime. (e.g., poverty and the reduction of
  choiceblocked opportunitiesAlso see Crime and
  the American Dream.
• politics of respectability make the draconian
  punishment of blacks acceptable.

9
Randall Kennedy

• Kennedy advocates a politics of respectability
  though not its excesses.
• In American political culture, the reputation of
  groups matters greatly. (i.e., how else can you
  influence the agenda, define problems, gain media
  access, etc.)
• A lack of respectability facilitates indifference
  to a groups plight.
• Society faces both real racism and real
  criminality. Both of which need to be dealt with.

10
Kennedy Color as Proxy for Dangerousness

• An ever-present tension in America
• Race levels of equality
• Should race be utilized as an indicator of
  criminality?
• Proxies (symbols/traits/simplifications/correlatio
  ns) are essential to risk assessments.
• Are there enemy or criminal races?
• What are the implications for crime control and,
  specifically, terrorism? Is racial
  discrimination reasonable in some cases?
• What about individualized justice? Overexposure
  to CJ apparatus?
• Are we attentive enough in preventing abuses of
  reasonable discrimination?
• Is the pursuit of a racial tax in the pursuit
  of a more efficient CJ system and more secure
  society the best way to go?
• Why is affirmative action (a racial tax on
  whites) under constant attack and racial
  profiling is not?

11
Constructing Deviance Race and the Police

• Anderson Police and the Black Male
• A Qualitative studynot necessarily
  generalizablehowever, we can get a glimpse into
  a particular situation.
• Perceptions by black youth that they are treated
  unfairlyIn this study, they are.
• So What?
• Color-coding of crime Variation in policing
  (e.g., whites and blacks policed differently)
• riding herd on young black men in order to
  prevent crime.
• Perceptions of legitimacy?
• The utility of constructing an image of
  respectability?

12
War on Drugs Race

• Crack vs. Cocaine disparity
• Crack 100-1 differential
• Kennedys argument?

13
John Irwin Rabble Management

• What is the purpose of police and jails?