Description
MODULE B ( CRIME AND MASS INCARCERATION )
In Chapter 4 of Racial Formation in the United States, Michael Omi and Howard Winant argue that we can say that something is racist if a racial project “creates or reproduces structures of domination based on essentialist categories of race.” Choose one of the racial projects (“Educational Inequality” or “Crime and Mass Incarceration”) in Module 4 and construct an argument that demonstrates why and how it can be considered racist according to their definition of the term.
You must:
Briefly summarize what the readings tell you about this racial project. Outline the most important features and provide historical context. Remember, when you explain something you should presume your audience hasn’t done the reading and doesn’t know much about the subject.
Support your argument by using the features of the racial worldview and racial formation theory. You should discuss how aspects of the racial worldview are being communicated in the racial project. You don’t have to discuss everything but your argument should clearly demonstrate the relationship between race as a belief and racism as a practice.
You should:
Clearly define the terms. You can refer back to your previous work.
Provide citations for any direct quotation.
DO NOT use any sources not assigned for this course. You may, however, use any of the resources from the Race: The Power of an Illusion website so long as they are properly cited.
Use a variety of sources.
SOURCES 4B: Crime and Mass Incarceration
Lawrence D. Bobo and Victory Thompson, “Racialized Mass Incarceration.” In (Un)Making Race and Ethnicity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations.” The Atlantic June 2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
“The Crime Machine, Part 1.” Reply All. Audio podcast Episode 127, August 15, 2019. https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/76h967/127-the-crime-machine-part-i
“The Crime Machine, Part 2.” Reply All. Audio podcast Episode 128, August 15, 2019. https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/2oh5o6/128-the-crime-machine-part-ii
Equal Justice Initiative, “The Death Penalty.” https://eji.org/issues/death-penalty/
Albert Guiterrez, “Prison Industrial Complex.” Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, 2nd ed., edited by Patrick L. Mason. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2013
“Mass Incarceration.” Throughline Audio podcast. August 15, 2019. https://www.npr.org/2019/08/14/751126384/mass-incarceration
Bryan Stevenson, “A Presumption of Guilt.” New York Review of Books July 13, 2017.
Jeffry Toobin, “The Legacy of Lynching, On Death Row.” New Yorker August 22, 2016.
Unformatted Attachment Preview
LSP 200
Winter 2024
Module 4 Essay
Racial Projects and Racism
Due: Sunday March 17, 11:30 PM
End: Monday March 18, 11:30 PM
In Chapter 4 of Racial Formation in the United States, Michael Omi and Howard Winant argue
that we can say that something is racist if a racial project “creates or reproduces structures of
domination based on essentialist categories of race.” Choose one of the racial projects
(“Educational Inequality” or “Crime and Mass Incarceration”) in Module 4 and construct an
argument that demonstrates why and how it can be considered racist according to their definition
of the term.
You must:
•
•
Briefly summarize what the readings tell you about this racial project. Outline the most
important features and provide historical context. Remember, when you explain something
you should presume your audience hasn’t done the reading and doesn’t know much about the
subject.
Support your argument by using the features of the racial worldview and racial formation
theory. You should discuss how aspects of the racial worldview are being communicated in
the racial project. You don’t have to discuss everything but your argument should clearly
demonstrate the relationship between race as a belief and racism as a practice.
You should:
• Clearly define the terms. You can refer back to your previous work.
• Provide citations for any direct quotation.
• DO NOT use any sources not assigned for this course. You may, however, use any of the
resources from the Race: The Power of an Illusion website so long as they are properly
cited.
• Use a variety of sources.
Sources:
Michael Omi and Howard Winant,” Racial Formation in the United States From the 1960s to the
1990s. Second Edition. New York: Routledge, 1994.
4A: Educational Inequality
Dennis Condron, Daniel Tope, Christina Steidl and Kendralin Freeman, “Racial Segregation and
the Black/White Achievement Gap, 1992 – 2009.” In (Un)Making Race and Ethnicity. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, “Dividing Lines.” New York Times Magazine. September 10, 2017.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, “Worlds Apart.” New York Times Magazine. June 16, 2016.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, “The Problem We All Live With: Episode 1.” This American
Life. Episode 562, July 31, 2015.https://www.thisamericanlife.org/562/the-problem-we-all-livewith-part-one
Nikole Hannah-Jones, “The Problem We All Live With: Episode 1.” This American
Life. Episode 563, August 7, 2015. https://www.thisamericanlife.org/563/the-problem-we-alllive-with-part-two
Chana Joffe-Walt, “Three Miles.” This American Life. Episode 550, March 13, 2015.
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/550/three-miles
4B: Crime and Mass Incarceration
Lawrence D. Bobo and Victory Thompson, “Racialized Mass Incarceration.” In (Un)Making
Race and Ethnicity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
Ta-Nehisi Coates, “The Case for Reparations.” The Atlantic June
2014. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations/361631/
“The Crime Machine, Part 1.” Reply All. Audio podcast Episode 127, August 15, 2019.
https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/76h967/127-the-crime-machine-part-i
“The Crime Machine, Part 2.” Reply All. Audio podcast Episode 128, August 15, 2019.
https://gimletmedia.com/shows/reply-all/2oh5o6/128-the-crime-machine-part-ii
Equal Justice Initiative, “The Death Penalty.” https://eji.org/issues/death-penalty/
Albert Guiterrez, “Prison Industrial Complex.” Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, 2nd ed.,
edited by Patrick L. Mason. Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA, 2013
“Mass Incarceration.” Throughline Audio podcast. August 15, 2019.
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/14/751126384/mass-incarceration
Bryan Stevenson, “A Presumption of Guilt.” New York Review of Books July 13, 2017.
Jeffry Toobin, “The Legacy of Lynching, On Death Row.” New Yorker August 22, 2016.
RACIA LIZED MASS INCARCERATION
•
33 • Lawrence D. Bobo and Victor Thompson
RACIALIZED MASS INCARCERATION
Poverty, Prejudice, and Punishment
Alrhough a small cown wich a popular ion of less chan
5,000, Tulia, Texas, is now a cru ly nocorious place. In
rhe su mmer of 1999, undercover police operative
Tom Coleman, Iacer named Texas Lawman of rhe
Year, led a sring operation char resulted in farcy-six
arresrs. Coleman cescil’ied in numerous trials in connection with these arrests t hough there were usually
no corroborating wicnesses, no rape- recorded or videotaped drug sales, no weapons confiscated, no piles
of money seized, nor g rear supplies of d r ugs ever
found. Indeed, rhe scary ends badly for Coleman, once
considered a symbol of a vircuous and aggressively
pursued War on Drugs (so named by rhe federal governmenr). He was recenrly convicted of perjury and
placed on ten years’ probation by rhe courrs.1
Why such nororiery? Tulia and Officer Coleman
are now rhe penulrimare symbols of a drug war run
amok and of deep-seared racial bias in rhe crimi nal
justice system. Forry of rhe arrested townspeople
were black and rhe remaining six were eirher Larinos
or ocherwise close co rhe black community (i.e.,
whites married ro blacks). Mosr significanrly, all of
chose incarcerated-more chan rwenry people spenr
rime in jail , whereas many ochers were inrimidared
inro raking plea deals-were ulrimarely pardoned by
rhe chen Republican governor, received significanr
cash serrlemenrs from rhe local govern ment, and
ulcimacely won $5 million in damages against rhe
now d isbanded Federal Drug Task force fo r which
Coleman worked. 2
O f course, from one vanrage paine, Tulia is a g reat
aberration accribucable co che overzealousness of one
rogue cop. We reject chis inrerpreracion. T his would
be a more credible posicion if one or cwo rather chan
more chan rwem y people had nor been wrongly imprisoned. Or, perhaps, if lower-level officials had intervened co prevenr a cravescy of just ice rather rhan
creating a conrexr wherei n che scare legislature and
governor were finall y compelled co ace as a resu lt of
legal and political pressu re. From rhe very oucsec,
indeed, aspeccs of the case itself case doubt on such
a generous inrerpreracion (i.e., rhe lack of evidence
Colem an p rovided , several early instances of dismissed charges when his allegations were eas.ily p roven
co be complete fabrications, and rhe routine way in
which all-whice Tulia juries repeatedly convicted
cheir arguably well-known black neighbors and sene
chem off co prison despice dub ious cha rges). From
another and more credible vanrage paine, however,
Tulia is another example of che ways char profound
racial bias is rominely mobilized inca t he operacion
of rhe modern crim inal juscice system.
RACIALIZED MASS
INCARCERAT ION: ROUNDING
U P THE USUAL SUSPECT S
An enormous social change has scead ily occurred in
the arena of criminal juscice. The Uniced Scares is
generally a f.’lr more punicive society coday chan it
From Lawrence D. 13obo and Viccor Thompson, “Racialized Mass l nc~ucerarion: Povercy, Prcjudu.:c.
and Punishment,” in Doing Racr: 21 EJJti )J for tht 11Jt Cmtlll), edired by Hazel Rose M.rkus &
Pau lo M. L Moya. (New York: VI. VI. Norron & Compan)’, 2010): 322-355. Copyrig hr () 2010 by
VI. VI. Nonon & Company, Inc. Used by permission of VI. VI. Norron & Company, Inc.
37 l
…
372
•
UNIT Ill
• TODAY: ltEMAKJN(t RACE AND ET H NICI T Y
8 ,000,000
7,000,000
6,000,000
5,000,000
4,000,000
FIGURE 33. 1 Adult Correctional
Popu lation , 1980-2007.
There were 7,328,200 adults under correct ional supervision in 2007.
Source: U.S. Bureau ofJusrice Srarisrics
Correcrional Surveys; totals for 1998- 2007
exclude probationers in jail or prison.
3 ,000,000
2,000,000 …,…,………..
1,000,000
$~~:::;~~~2:====~=~=:==j~~
1980
was just three decades ago. This change has been
marked or designated with several different labels.
These desig nations include rhe emergence of a “prison
industrial complex,” of a “carceral state,” or rhe “mass
incarceration society.” All of these terms refer ro a
large-scale shift coward formal incarceration as our
collective social response ro crime.
The fu ll reach of chis change was captured in
headlines from the Neu’ York Times in February 2008
rhac declared, “l in 100 U.S. Adu lts behind Ba rs,
New Scudy Says.” The meaning of such a declaration
is hard ro judge wichouc some more complete conrexc
for interpretat ion. As Figure 33.1 shows, since 198 l
there has been a steady rise in the number of people
in jail or prison, on parole, or on probation, with the
numbers on p robation or acrually in prison undergoing the sharpest increase. I n 1980, for instance, fewer
chan 300,000 people were in p rison. By 2000, however, rhac number had risen co over 1 million. And
by 2007 char number had reached above l.5 million.
If you include the number of people in jails, the roral
population behind bars in rhe Unired Srares was
more chan 2.3 million. All cold, as the figure shows,
by 2007 there were more chan 7.3 million people
under some form of “scare supervision,” a figure more
than three rimes the rare observed in l980. Recent
reports by rhe Bureau of Justice Sraciscics suggest
chat trend for growth continues, though ar a slig hrly
slower race of increase.
The trend in Fig ure 33.1 is striking bur ic also
understates the mag nirude of rhe change. Nor
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
evident in chis figure is the fact char a prison population below 300,000 characterized most of the twentieth century in the United Scares. Scarring as ir d oes
in 1980, chis figure does nor fully caprure rhe exrreme and abrupt characrer of rhe underlying social
change, which can be traced mainly ro posr-l980
policy reforms. The sharp rise in reliance upon incarcerat ion is more readily visualized in Figure 33.2,
which rraces jusr rhe number of male prison inmates
in rhe Unired Stares from 1925 ro 2006. A more
chan fifry-year period of relative stability in the rare
of male incarceration in rhe United States is followed
by a sharp and largely unabated climb in the post1980 period.
T he headline from the New York Times noted
above(” ! in LOO U.S. Ad ults behind Bars”) signa ls,
fi rst, rhe h igh absolute number of people now swept
up by rhe crim inal justice system and second, the
dramatic break wirh a very long screech of prior practice char the recent period represents … . Nor capcured by rhese numbers is also a lengthen ing of the
average amount of rime served. Mandacory minimum sentencing g uidelines, three-srrikes laws, various special enhancements (i.e., selling d rugs near a
school), and rrurh in sentencing provisions ensure
char people convicted of crimes are nor on ly more
likely ro end up in prison bur are there for much
longer periods of rime. Likewise, t he number of prisoners incarcerated under extremely harsh conditions,
such as isolation and severely lim iced hours of physical
mobility, has also risen while access to rehabi litative
RIICIIILIZ J 0 MASS JI
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