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Do you have a contribution or idea for Race & Justice News? Send an email to The Sentencing Project's research analyst, Dr. Valerie Wright. |
The Sentencing Project |
January 5, 2011
Race & Justice News
"Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men's skins,
emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact."
--Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United
States
FEATURED STORY
RACE AFFECTS WHO IS CONSIDERED A VICTIM OF SEXUAL ABUSE
A new article, “Race, Nativism, and Anti-trafficking Efforts: A Dangerous and Divisive Game,” by Juhu Thukral of the Opportunity Agenda, discusses how race-based perceptions impact who is or is
not deemed a victim of sexual abuse. According to Thukral, the cultural concern about the chastity and safety of white women does not apply in the same way to Black women. Thukral argues
that this is evidenced by the media’s obsession and fascination with young white women who go missing, the clearest recent instance of this being the Natalee Holloway case.
Thukral also points out that historically, women of color were deemed sexually available and docile. This is in stark contrast with the historical view of white women as pure, chaste, and
virtuous. This mindset continues to impact society’s views about who is or is not considered a “legitimate” victim of sexual abuse. Read the full article in race-Talk.
Law enforcement
POLICE DEPARTMENTS RECOGNIZE REALITY OF BIAS
According to Oakland’s Citizen Police Review Board police departments are realizing that racial, ethnic, and gender biases influence their behavior. Jack Glaser, a professor of social
psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, asserts that bias is part of human behavior. He states that “Biases are pervasive and discrimination is pervasive. They operate
outside conscious awareness and control.” With regard to police officers, he goes on to say that “Stereotyping and prejudice are normal but not desirable.”
Panelists also compared what is legal with what is legitimate police behavior because according to East Palo Alto’s Police Chief Ron Davis, “Police departments and communities have to understand that
measuring police behavior by what’s legal isn’t enough. To establish a good relationship with the community, the standard has to be what’s legitimate.”
Several major city police departments are acknowledging the problem of bias in their departments and becoming more amenable to analyzing police data to root out racial disparities. Read more in
the Contra Costa Times.
SPOTLIGHT ON RESEARCH
ADDRESSING UNIQUE REENTRY CHALLENGES FOR BLACK WOMEN
A new issue brief authored by law professor Geneva Brown titled, “The Intersectionality of Race, Gender, and Reentry: Challenges for African-American Women,”
explores the unique and cumulative difficulties that African-American women face in the reentry process. The brief, published by the American Constitution Society, highlights the impact that
the war on drugs and the mass incarceration of African-Americans have had on communities, particularly women of color.
The brief focuses on specific issues that women encounter, such as difficulties finding adequate housing and prior sexual and physical abuse, which make reintegration more challenging. Because
of “tough on crime” legislation that works to socially and legally ostracize female offenders, women are often denied the resources needed to avoid returning to prison. The brief calls for a
focus on public assistance, education, and housing for released women to work toward lowering their 45 percent recidivism rate.
NO MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS IN IMMIGRATION DETENTION PRACTICES
A new study titled, “Immigration Detention and the Law: U.S. Policy and Legal Framework,” published by the Global Detention Project, shows that the federal government has not made significant
progress in reforming its heavily criticized immigration detention practices. The paper finds that there has been an upsurge in efforts to criminalize immigration violations.
The paper points out that since 2004, federal criminal prosecutions have increased more than 40 percent, with immigration prosecutions making up nearly half of all federal criminal filings.
Current law does not provide any limits to the period of time a non-citizen may be held in immigration detention. Read the full study here.
FEATURED BOOK
12 ANGRY MEN: TRUE STORIES OF BEING A BLACK MAN IN AMERICA TODAY
A new book, 12 Angry
Men: True Stories of Being a Black Man in America Today, edited by Dr. Gregory Parks and Dr. Matthew Hughey, is a compilation of a dozen authors who tell their own stories of being racially
profiled. The first-person accounts collectively speak to the sense of “living in a police state that is far from the experience of most white Americans.”
The book reminds us that for many African-American men, including Congressman Danny Davis, former baseball star Joe Morgan, and former New York Times reporter Solomon Moore, race continues
to be an element of how justice is meted out.
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The Sentencing Project is a national, nonprofit organization engaged in research and advocacy for criminal justice reform. |
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