4. CONSECRATION: THE CANON AND RACIAL INEQUALITY

The criminal justice system in the United States both reflects racial inequality in the broader society and contributes to it. The overrepresentation of African Americans among those in prison is a result of both the conditions in poor black neighborhoods and racial bias in the criminal justice system. The American system of criminal justice today is excessively punitive, when compared to previous periods and to other countries, and its harsh treatment disproportionately harms African Americans. In addition, those released from prison face a number of obstacles to housing, employment, and other prerequisites of decent life, and the concentration of prisoners and ex-prisoners in black communities does much to perpetuate racial inequality.

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Introduction

10.1093/oso/9780190860554.003.0001 ◽

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.

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Rethinking Racial Justice

10.1093/oso/9780190860554.001.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

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.

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Racial Inequality in Academia: Systemic Origins, Modern Challenges, and Policy Recommendations

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1177/2372732220984183 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 11-18

Author(s):

Cydney H. Dupree ◽

C. Malik Boykin

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Racial Inequality ◽

Quality Education ◽

Policy Recommendations ◽

Scientific Impact ◽

Protest Movements ◽

Recruitment And Retention ◽

Ideal World ◽

Future Leaders

In an ideal world, academia serves society; it provides quality education to future leaders and informs public policy—and it does so by including a diverse array of scholars. However, research and recent protest movements show that academia is subject to race-based inequities that hamper the recruitment and retention of scholars of color, reducing scientific impact. This article provides critical systemic context for racism in academia before reviewing research on psychological, interpersonal, and structural challenges to reducing racial inequality. Policy challenges include (a) the cultivation of harmful stereotypes, (b) the education of racially ignorant future leaders, and (c) the dedication of resources to science that informs only a few, rather than many. Finally, recommendations specify critical features of hiring, retention, transparency, and incentives that can diversify academia, create a more welcoming environment to scholars of color, and maximize the potential for innovative and impactful science.

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Racism and Antiracism in the Liberal International Order

International Organization ◽

10.1017/s0020818320000521 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Zoltán I. Búzás

Keyword(s):

International Relations ◽

Racial Inequality ◽

Racial Diversity ◽

International Order ◽

Interdisciplinary Studies ◽

Racial Equality ◽

The Novel ◽

Current Regime ◽

Novel Concept ◽

Comprehensive Framework

Abstract Formal racial equality is a key aspect of the current Liberal International Order (LIO). It is subject to two main challenges: resurgent racial nationalism and substantive racial inequality. Combining work in International Relations with interdisciplinary studies on race, I submit that these challenges are the latest iteration of struggles between two transnational coalitions over the LIO's central racial provisions, which I call racial diversity regimes (RDRs). The traditional coalition has historically favored RDRs based on racial inequality and racial nationalism. The transformative coalition has favored RDRs based on racial equality and nonracial nationalism. I illustrate the argument by tracing the development of the liberal order's RDR as a function of intercoalitional struggles from one based on racial nationalism and inequality in 1919 to the current regime based on nonracial nationalism and limited equality. Today, racial nationalists belong to the traditional coalition and critics of racial inequality are part of the transformative coalition. The stakes of their struggles are high because they will determine whether we will live in a more racist or a more antiracist world. This article articulates a comprehensive framework that places race at the heart of the liberal order, offers the novel concept of “embedded racism” to capture how sovereignty shields domestic racism from foreign interference, and proposes an agenda for mainstream International Relations that takes race seriously.

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