Running head: THE CRIMINALIZATION
The Criminalization and Mass Incarceration of the Black Community
Daland V. Dixon
Cheyney University
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In the field of sociology one of the main focuses is on social stratification. Social
stratification looks at the inequalities among people groups. In the Black community
social stratification can clearly be seen in the criminalization and mass incarceration of
many of its members. Ever since slavery was made illegal both the federal and local
governments have enacted laws and policies the indirectly targeted Blacks and other
minorities as a means of keeping power in the hands of the majority.
Deborah Burris-Kitchen and Paul Burris’ work “FROM SLAVERY TO PRISONS:
A HISTORICAL DELINEATION OF THE CRIMINALIZATION OF AFRICAN
AMERICANS” traces the criminalization of Blacks through American history. It focuses
on the periods of Slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and Post Segregation and their
relationships to the political economy, denial of education for Blacks and Black
criminalization. The authors also speak on the war on drugs and how it is currently
used to oppress the Black community. The paper starts off by explaining the
criminalization of Blacks and how a caste system was set up in America between whites
and non-whites and between white indentured servants and black slaves. It then goes
on to talk about slavery and how it relates to the political economy (Burris-Kitchen &
Burris, 2011).
According to the authors, many blacks were free and had the same rights as
white servants up until the end of the 17th century. Once Blacks became slaves by law
they were held down by racial hierarchy and dehumanization in order to keep the
southern cotton based economy going strong and were thus second class citizens.
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Slavery also affected the education of Blacks. Many people wanted to educate African
Americans but this was frowned upon by those who profited by keeping slaves ignorant.
Based on this extremely limited access to education Blacks were seen as intellectually
inferior by Whites. During slavery, criminalization was used as a means to control both
enslaved and free Blacks (Burris-Kitchen & Burris, 2011).
The era of Reconstruction brought with it great advances for Black Americans but
these were swiftly brought down by the Black Codes, the efforts and intimidation of the
Ku Klux Klan, and the legalization of segregation through the ruling of Plessey vs.
Ferguson. During Reconstruction Blacks were continually denied education and kept
ignorant. Blacks who sought to learn, and those who sought to teach them, were faced
with violence and death. Criminalization of Blacks during Reconstruction came in the
form of the convict leasing system. After ratification of the 13th Amendment the
institution stated that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United
States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction” (U.S. Constitution). Thus many African
Americans were disproportionately arrested and leased. (Burris-Kitchen & Burris, 2011).
Jim Crow laws were enacted to halt economic and political progress among
Black Americans. Any access that Blacks had at this time to education was used to
instill the notion that Blacks were inferior. During this time many Black men were
arrested or killed because of white men’s fears that Black men would rape their women.
Although Blacks have more freedom today they are still severely more disadvantaged
then whites and schools and neighborhoods are still very segregated. This segregation
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keeps Blacks from achieving in the political economy. Blacks today are still denied a
quality education because most majority Black schools are underfunded. In today’s
society the criminalization of Blacks is done mostly through the War on Drugs (BurrisKitchen & Burris, 2011).
I feel that Burris-Kitchen and Burris handled this topic very well. In the essay
they clearly traced how the periods of slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and PostSegregation affected the political economy, denial of education and criminalization of
blacks at the time. Not only does it explain these individually but shows how the effects
of one period spilled over into the next period and influenced events and ideologies of
that period. By using this timeline approach it shines light on many of the influences
responsible for the criminalization and over imprisonment of Blacks today and makes it
easy to follow.
“The Incarceration Explosion” written by Congressman John Conyers, Jr. speaks
on the rise of the United States’ federal prison population in the last 40 years. The rate
of incarceration for Black men is four times that of the national average and six times
that of White men. The author argues that the war on drugs, longer range of
sentencing, abolition of parole, different penalties for similar crimes, and racial control
are the reasons for this increased rate. America’s war on drugs is by far the biggest
contributor to the country’s incarceration rate. According to the author, half of America’s
inmates were convicted on drug charges. The combination of longer sentencing and no
parol is leading to an aging population of inmates (Conyers, 2013).
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The author offers several legislative solutions to help solve these problems. The
first of these solutions is to stop assigning different penalties to similar crimes. The
author uses the harshness of the penalties against the use of crack cocaine versus
powdered cocaine as an example of these different penalties and how the laws can be
used to disproportionally affect Blacks. The second legislative solution is to offer
opportunities that will reduce the likelihood of inmates returning to prison. In relation to
this he mentions the Second Chance Act and how much good it does for past offenders.
Unfortunately, according to Conyers (2013), this act “is currently past due for
reauthorization” (p. 384). His third solution is to offer alternatives to prison. These
alternatives would lower incarceration rates, reduce recidivism by 30 percent, and save
taxpayer dollars. The next solution is to “create rational sentencing policies” (p. 385).
The author’s main contention in this section is that mandatory minimum sentences
cause judges to sentence individuals without taking into consideration the details of the
actual crime. Conyers last solution is to “offer comprehensive, evidence-based
prevention and intervention programs” (Conyers, 2013, p. 386).
I liked the fact that the author of “The Incarceration Explosion” is a Congressman.
This makes the article a critique of the federal system from the inside. This is important
because the only way things in the federal government can change is if enough of its
members are willing to question the actions of the government for which they work.
What made the paper good was that the format for the article was fairly simple. Conyers
stated the problems, investigated the causes of the problems and then offered specific
solutions to them, likely drawn from his own experiences in office.
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Ian F. Haney López’s article entitled “Post Racial Racism: Racial Stratification
and Mass Incarceration in the Age of Obama” touches on what President Obama’s
election means for the concept of race in America. He also examines whether mass
incarceration based on race could be a response to the civil rights movement and looks
at mass incarceration as a symptom of racial stratification (Haney López, 2010).
Haney López (2010) examines whether the high rate of black and brown
incarceration compared to white incarceration has been caused by what he calls “racialbacklash politics” (p. 1029). Naturally one might think that mass incarceration is
obviously caused by mass crime, but the author shows that even though rates of
incarceration have increased over the last several years, crime rates have been steadily
decreasing. Haney López (2010) then offers up the option that this system of
incarceration was started with and persists because of “racial politics” (p. 1032). In the
1950s and 60s politicians were very much against civil rights and what civil rights
activists were doing. They frequently used crime as an excuse to counter civil rights
activities like sit-ins and freedom rides. The anti-Black rhetoric was hidden as anti-crime
rhetoric and this anti-crime rhetoric became anti-crime laws (Haney López, 2010).
Haney López’s article “Post Racial Racism: Racial Stratification and Mass
Incarceration in the Age of Obama” was standard. It was not bad, he had good
information. It was also a very long article, I think he could have said what he wanted to
say in a lot fewer words. Much of the same information here was found in other articles,
this is not to talk down on the author though, as articles on the same and similar topics
will inevitably have some of the same or similar content.
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Kayla Martensen’s article “The price that US minority communities pay: mass
incarceration and the ideologies that fuel them” focuses on the issues and ideologies of
incarceration and the effects it has on both the individual and the community. The
author notes that although America as a nation makes up 5 percent of the worlds
population it is home to 25 percent of the worlds inmates. During World War II Whites
made up 70 percent of American convicts whole non-Whites made up the remaining 30,
since then this demographic has been reversed. The author then goes on to assert that
around the time of the 1970s the justice system began to focus more on punishment
than rehabilitation (Martensen, 2012).
Because mass incarceration is primarily a problem for Black men the author
suggests that they are not only physically imprisoned but also mentally imprisoned. In
this day and age the word Black man are interchangeable with criminal in the minds of
the public and it is this thinking that has imprisoned them. These stereotypes also affect
minority women. Although their rates of imprisonment are not as high, they are rising.
Disadvantaged people are also labeled as “others” according to mainstream society
(Martensen, 2012, p. 214). This makes it harder for those in power to relate to them
and easier to imprison them. Politicians are unable to relate to them and thus laws are
never made to help them or ease their troubles because their problems are seen as
different from the problems of the majority. (Martensen, 2012).
These communities are also often trapped in cycles of inequality. Entrepreneurs
are less likely to open shop in high crime areas, this makes access to jobs scarce.
Because so many jobs are being taken out of these areas no goods or services are
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produced here. This means that there is less accessible wealth in these communities.
the author uses the education system as an illustration of this. Schools are funded by
property taxes, since there is little wealth in these communities the school system is
underfunded and children are not receiving the programs and education they deserve
(Martensen, 2012).
Mass Incarceration not only affects those who are imprisoned but also puts a
burden on the family. These burdens are both financial and social. The families of those
who are incarcerated must pay to stay in contact. It is also expensive for many of these
families to travel from the inner city to rural areas, where most prisons are located. If a
family wants an inmate to be more comfortable they must also pay for that. Finances
are not the only price to pay in these situations. A stigma is often applied to the inmate
and those who are close to the inmate (Martensen, 2012).
I like how Martensen put focus on the mental effect of mass incarceration and
criminalization and the effect these have on the community as a whole. She also goes
into detail about how the conditions of the community as a whole lead to these
outcomes. She then goes on to talk about the impact on family. I liked this part
because often the struggles of family are only mentioned in passing.
Kimberlé W. Crenshaw’s article “From Private Violence to Mass Incarceration:
Thinking Intersectionally About Women, Race, and Social Control” talks about the affect
that mass incarceration has on women. It highlights the fact that much of what is written
about mass incarceration focus on men. The conversation frequently says little about
the affect that mass imprisonment has on women. The Crenshaw uses incarceration
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rates in the state of California to highlight the disparities of African American women. In
California Black women make up 7.1 percent of the female population but 70 percent of
held in detention centers and 28 percent of female inmates, women on parole, and
parole violators (Crenshaw, 2012, p. 1435). The continued focus on the system of mass
incarcerations affect on men distorts the problems women face in this same system.
(Crenshaw, 2012).
This was pretty eye opening for me to the affect that criminalization directly plays
on women. I like this article because it brings something new to the table. Not many
articles focus on the direct effect criminalization and incarceration play on women. Most
other articles like Martensen’s “The price that US minority communities pay: mass
incarceration and the ideologies that fuel them” focus on the indirect affects on women
like financial and social burdens.
Thomas’ work, “MASS INCARCERATION OF MINORITY MALES: A CRITICAL
LOOK AT ITS HISTORICAL ROOTS AND HOW EDUCATIONAL POLICIES
ENCOURAGE ITS EXISTENCE” (2013), claims that Black men are marginalized by
“hostility, political rhetoric, criminal racism, and educational racism” (p. 188) According
to Thomas the school to prison pipeline starts young for African American boys. Within
this pipeline school policies are sending more kids to prison than to college. Thomas
(2013) claims education is one of the “societal ills” that African American men must go
through and that ultimately contributes to mass incarceration (p. 178). She offers up
several examples of educational racism. Wealthier communities have more to spend on
students, thus students in poorer communities do not get the same access to education.
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Wealthy parents are also very unwilling to allocate resources away from their own
children and toward minority children. These children are regulated to old schools in
need of repair, teachers that do not believe in them, and less effective teaching
techniques. (Thomas, 2013)
I liked how Thomas’ article focuses on the school to prison pipeline and how it
steers children towards a life of criminalization. It really puts into focus the importance
of education and the school system and the opportunities it can give to and take away
from students. The authors for the most part agree on many of the aspects of
criminalization and mass incarceration. The numbers they gave were all congruent and
they all agree that criminalization and mass incarceration are symptoms of the attempts
to control Blacks after slavery and that the current war on drugs is used to continue
criminalization and mass incarceration. All of the authors used secondary analysis in
their articles. All of the authors cite Michelle Alexander and her book “The New Jim
Crow” but other than that the sources varied.
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References
Burris-Kitchen, D., & Burris, P. (2011). FROM SLAVERY TO PRISONS: A HISTORICAL
DELINEATION OF THE CRIMINALIZATION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS. Journal
Of Global Intelligence & Policy, 4(5), 1-16.
Conyers Jr., J. (2013). The Incarceration Explosion. Yale Law & Policy Review, 31(2),
377-387.
Crenshaw, K. W. (2012). From Private Violence to Mass Incarceration: Thinking
Intersectionally About Women, Race, and Social Control. UCLA Law Review,
59(6), 1418-1472.
Haney López, I. F. (2010). Post-Racial Racism: Racial Stratification and Mass
Incarceration in the Age of Obama. California Law Review, 98(3), 1023-1073.
Martensen, K. (2012). The price that US minority communities pay: mass incarceration
and the ideologies that fuel them. Contemporary Justice Review, 15(2), 211-222.
doi:10.1080/10282580.2012.681165
Thomas, J. M. (2013). MASS INCARCERATION OF MINORITY MALES: A CRITICAL
LOOK AT ITS HISTORICAL ROOTS AND HOW EDUCATIONAL POLICIES
ENCOURAGE ITS EXISTENCE. Race, Gender & Class, 20(1/2), 177-190.