Enforcing the Politics of Race and Identity in Migration and Crime Control Policies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolanda Vázquez
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Ideology ◽  
Attitudes And Beliefs ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Politics Of Race ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Way

This chapter examines how migration and crime policies in the United States have shaped and been shaped by race and racism. Specifically, it discusses the racialization of the ‘criminal alien’ as Latino and the way in which this category has shaped contemporary notions of race and racial identity. It argues that the historical construction of Latinos as inferior and temporary labourers continues to influence the way in which migration and crime policies are created in a post-racial society. At the same time, these policies reinforce the nation state’s understanding of race and racism, racial ideology, and the position that Latinos hold within American society. Through the category of the ‘criminal alien’, societal attitudes and beliefs are formed that view Latinos as dangerous to the nation and its community, legitimizing increasingly harsh migration and criminal laws, policies, and practices that disproportionately impact Latinos and reinforce their racial inequality.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Valls
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Color Blind ◽  
American Society ◽  
Liberal Political Theory

The persistence of racial inequality in the United States raises deep and complex questions of racial justice. Some observers argue that public policy must be “color-blind,” while others argue that policies that take race into account should be defended on grounds of diversity or integration. This chapter begins to sketch an alternative to both of these, one that supports strong efforts to address racial inequality but that focuses on the conditions necessary for the liberty and equality of all. It argues that while race is a social construction, it remains deeply embedded in American society. A conception of racial justice is needed, one that is grounded on the premises provided by liberal political theory.

Rethinking Racial Justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Valls
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Equality ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Black Institutions ◽  
American Society ◽  
Racial Lines

American society continues to be characterized by deep racial inequality that is a legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. What does justice demand in response? In this book, Andrew Valls argues that justice demands quite a lot—the United States has yet to fully reckon with its racial past, or to confront its ongoing legacies. Valls argues that liberal values and principles have far-reaching implications in the context of the deep injustices along racial lines in American society. In successive chapters, the book takes on such controversial issues as reparations, memorialization, the fate of black institutions and communities, affirmative action, residential segregation, the relation between racial inequality and the criminal justice system, and the intersection of race and public schools. In all of these contexts, Valls argues that liberal values of liberty and equality require profound changes in public policy and institutional arrangements in order to advance the cause of racial equality. Racial inequality will not go away on its own, Valls argues, and past and present injustices create an obligation to address it. But we must rethink some of the fundamental assumptions that shape mainstream approaches to the problem, particularly those that rely on integration as the primary route to racial equality.

scholarly journals Color Crit: Critical Race Theory and the History and Future of Colorism in the United States

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert L. Reece
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Black Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Skin Tone ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
Race Theory ◽  
American Society

Critical race theory teaches that racism and racial inequality are constants in American society that stand outside of the prejudices of individuals. It argues that structures and institutions are primarily responsible for the maintenance of racial inequality. However, critical race theorists have neglected to formally examine and theorize colorism, a primary offshoot of racial domination. Although studies of colorism have become increasingly common, they lack a unifying theoretical framework, opting to lean on ideas about prejudice and preference to explain the advantages lighter skinned, Black Americans are afforded relative to darker skinned Black Americans. In this study, I deploy a critical race framework to push back against preference as the only, or primary, mechanism facilitating skin tone stratification. Instead, I use historical Census data and regression analysis to explore the historical role of color-based marriage selection on concentrating economic advantage among lighter skinned Black Americans. I then discuss the policy and legal implications of developing a structural view of colorism and skin tone stratification in the United States and the broader implications for how we conceptualize race in this country.

A TEST OF THE AFRO CARIBBEAN MODEL MINORITY HYPOTHESIS

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mosi Adesina Ifatunji
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Model Minority ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Immigrants ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Mixed Support ◽  
And Function

AbstractThroughout the twentieth century, Black immigrants from the Caribbean attained greater socioeconomic status than African Americans. Although Black immigrants remain an understudied population, recent studies show that Afro Caribbeans continue to outperform African Americans in the labor market. Given that these groups share a set of racialized physical features, some contend that this gap highlights the role of cultural attributes in the manufacture of Black ethnic and Black-White racial disparities. In this study, I investigate the degree to which cultural attributes associated with a specific form of themodel minority hypothesisare responsible for disparities between African Americans and Afro Caribbeans. I use data from theNational Survey of American Lifein order to test for the relative roles of work ethic, economic autonomy, oppositionality, family structure and function, and racial attitudes in the manufacture of disparate labor market outcomes between African Americans and Afro Caribbeans. I find mixed support for the idea that Afro Caribbeans constitute a model minority vis-à-vis African Americans and that differences in model minority attributes are only partially responsible for these labor market disparities. My findings suggest that racial inequality will not be undone if the racially stigmatized and marginalized simply work harder and complain less about race and racism in the United States.

The Dimensions of Racial Inequality: Occupational and Residential Segregation Across Metropolitan Areas in the United States

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 313-333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Ovadia
Keyword(s):  
Residential Segregation ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Zero Order ◽  
Structural Systems ◽  
Exogenous Factor ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
American Society

Residential and occupational segregation are two structural systems that perpetuate the disadvantaged status of blacks in American society. Despite extensive research on both these topics, there has been little empirical examination as to whether they are independent systems or both part of a larger monolithic system of racial inequality. An analysis of 1990 Census data for 261 metropolitan areas shows that there is a negative zero‐order correlation between the two forms of segregation. However, controlling for the size of the population accounts for the negative correlation. Net of this exogenous factor, the correlation between the two forms of segregation is not statistically significant. This suggests that for individuals, the issue of racial inequality is one of tradeoffs between forms of disadvantage as one moves from city to city. For policymakers, these results indicate that urban racial inequality is multidimensional, requiring different strategies for different manifestations.

Theorizing Race and Racism: Preliminary Reflections on the Medical Curriculum

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 239-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lundy Braun
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Medical Curriculum ◽  
Student Activism ◽  
The United States ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Biomedical Knowledge ◽  
Racial Capitalism

The current political economic crisis in the United States places in sharp relief the tensions and contradictions of racial capitalism as it manifests materially in health care and in knowledge-producing practices. Despite nearly two decades of investment in research on racial inequality in disease, inequality persists. While the reasons for persistence of inequality are manifold, little attention has been directed to the role of medical education. Importantly, medical education has failed to foster critical theorizing on race and racism to illuminate the often-invisible ways in which race and racism shape biomedical knowledge and clinical practice. Medical students across the nation are advocating for more critical anti-racist education that centers the perspectives and knowledge of marginalized communities. This Article examines the contemporary resurgence in explicit forms of white supremacy in light of growing student activism and research that privileges notions of innate differences between races. It calls for a theoretical framework that draws on Critical Race Theory and the Black Radical Tradition to interrogate epistemological practices and advocacy initiatives in medical education.

Southern Strategy 2.0

2009 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 426-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Edge
Keyword(s):  
Racial Identity ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
American Society ◽  
The Impact

In the rush of excitement over Barack Obama’s nomination and ascension to the presidency of the United States, many media figures were loathe to analyze the impact of race on both the rhetoric of the election and the actual results. From across the political spectrum, pundits argued that race did not play a major role on Election Day, without offering any context to such comments. Likewise, conservatives in particular have used that idea to assert that racism is no longer a hindrance to advancement in American society. This article seeks to examine the role of race in the election, both in political attacks on Barack Obama and in an analysis of the voting patterns, with a particular emphasis on how conservatives have tried to shape the contours of these discussions. Their purpose, it is argued, is to launch Southern Strategy 2.0, which seeks to use Obama’s victory to attack some of the results of the civil rights movement that helped make his rise possible. At the same time, it still plays on some of the overt racism of the first Southern Strategy, using Obama’s racial identity and politics to challenge whether he is “American” enough to lead the nation. Thus, conservatives use Obama’s image as a sign that racism is dead, while simultaneously attacking him with the same race-based tactics that have played such an important role in the recent history of the Republican Party.

Study Abroad in Africa: Learning about Race, Racism, and the Racial Legacy of America

2000 ◽  
Vol 28 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 112-116
Author(s):  
Derise E. Tolliver
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Racial Identity ◽  
Study Abroad ◽  
American Association ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Reconciliation ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
Institutionalized Racism ◽  
Transatlantic Slave Trade ◽  
The Impact

In 1998, the American Association of Colleges and Universities raised the question of what higher education could do to prepare graduates to address “the legacies of racism and the opportunities for racial reconciliation in the United States.” One of the most powerful and pedagogically rich approaches to facilitate learning about race, racial identity, and the impact of racism in America today is study abroad in Africa. With a history that includes dynasties and empires; the capture and enslavement of Africans and the transatlantic slave trade; and the structures of colonialism, neocolonialism, and apartheid (which have often been conceptualized as parallel to the institutionalized racism of America), the continent of Africa can be a wonderful classroom for this type of learning. This is particularly the case when the location of study is West Africa, by most accounts where the majority of people of African descent living in the United States have ancestral ties. Visits to and interactions around the monuments to and symbols and physical remnants of the complex historical relationships between Europeans and Africans can be a catalyst for stimulating challenging but ultimately rewarding discussions and growth with regard to issues of race and racism.

scholarly journals Reassessing the Inclusion of Race in Diagnosing Kidney Diseases: An Interim Report from the NKF-ASN Task Force

2021 ◽  
pp. ASN.2021010039
Author(s):  
Cynthia Delgado ◽  
Mukta Baweja ◽  
Nilka Ríos Burrows ◽  
Deidra C. Crews ◽  
Nwamaka D. Eneanya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
Kidney Diseases ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
The United States ◽  
Initial Assessment ◽  
Organized Activities ◽  
Interim Report ◽  
Race And Racism ◽  
American Society ◽  
Assessment Of Evidence

For almost two decades, equations that use serum creatinine, age, sex, and race to eGFR have included “race” as Black or non-Black. Given considerable evidence of disparities in health and healthcare delivery in African American communities, some regard keeping a race term in GFR equations as a practice that differentially influences access to care and kidney transplantation. Others assert that race captures important GFR determinants and its removal from the calculation may perpetuate other disparities. The National Kidney Foundation (NKF) and American Society of Nephrology (ASN) established a task force in 2020 to reassess the inclusion of race in the estimation of GFR in the United States and its implications for diagnosis and subsequent management of patients with, or at risk for, kidney diseases. This interim report details the process, initial assessment of evidence, and values defined regarding the use of race to estimate GFR. We organized activities in phases: (1) clarify the problem and examine evidence, (2) evaluate different approaches to address use of race in GFR estimation, and (3) make recommendations. In phase one, we constructed statements about the evidence and defined values regarding equity and disparities; race and racism; GFR measurement, estimation, and equation performance; laboratory standardization; and patient perspectives. We also identified several approaches to estimate GFR and a set of attributes to evaluate these approaches. Building on evidence and values, the attributes of alternative approaches to estimate GFR will be evaluated in the next phases and recommendations will be made.

American Exceptionalism in Crime and Punishment

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
Ethnic Disparities ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Supervision ◽  
Crime And Punishment

The idea of American exceptionalism has made frequent appearances in discussions of criminal justice policies—as it has in many other areas—to help portray or explain problems that are especially acute in the United States, including mass incarceration, retention of the death penalty, racial and ethnic disparities in punishment, and the War on Drugs. While scholars do not universally agree that it is an apt or useful framework, there is no question that the United States is an outlier compared with other industrialized democracies in its punitive and exclusionary criminal justice policies. This book deepens the debate on American exceptionalism in crime and punishment through comparative political, economic, and historical analyses, working toward forward-looking prescriptions for American law, policy, and institutions of government. The chapters expand the existing American Exceptionalism literature to neglected areas such as community supervision, economic penalties, parole release, and collateral consequences of conviction; explore claims of causation, in particular that the history of slavery and racial inequality has been a primary driver of crime policy; examine arguments that the framework of multiple governments and localized crime control, populist style of democracy, and laissez-faire economy are implicated in problems of both crime and punishment; and assess theories that cultural values are the most salient predictors of penal severity and violent crime. The book asserts that the largest problems of crime and justice cannot be brought into focus from the perspective of a single jurisdiction and that comparative inquiries are necessary for an understanding of the current predicament in the United States.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document