Race and Crime Exam 1

Pre-colonial racial ideologies

Antinquity, Medieval, Early Modern

Antiquity ideology

difference based on environment/personality/language

Medieval ideology

difference based on religion and mobility

Early modern ideology

difference based on physical characteristics, first use of term “race”, polygenism

“The Great Chain of Being”

Foundational racial ideology by Plato, Aristotle, and Neoplatonism; hierarchical structure of all matter

God and Humans as holy and civilized → plants and soil as unholy and uncivilized

Biological essentialism

naturalization of racial difference

phrenology

claimed psychological traits and intelligence can be determined by measuring the bumps and shapes of their skull/head

Alexis de Tocqueville

studied intergroup relations in pre-reconstruction US between European, Black, and Indigenous people

Tocqueville’s primary cause of racial separation

Education and Law

Tocqueville on European Americans

dominant and majority racial group, forced cultural hegemony of “European Civilization” on other races and dehumanized them

Tocqueville on Black Americans

assimilated into control, stigmatized and oppressed, struggle for freedom and equality

Tocqueville on Indigenous Americans

difficulty adapting to European civilization, they will ultimately perish

Cultural diffusion

the adoption of cultural elements through direct or indirect contact (usually through cultural elements like language or symbols)

Acculturation

adopting elements of another culture while retaining elements of the original culture

Assimilation

adopting elements of the other culture and losing elements of your original culture (ex. English language)

Cultural imperialism

legalized oppression through forced efforts by dominant culture to assimilate minority culture (Civilization Fund Act, Slave Code)

Civilization Fund Act

Native American Boarding Schools, withheld funds and resources to indigenous people for non-compliance

Slave Code/Black Code

laws defining appropriate behaviors and punishments for enslaved and free Black Americans, forbid transmission of culture and forces subordination

2 reactions to Black Codes

Stono Rebellion (largest slave rebellion, in CHS, 50-75 killed)

Negro Act of 1740

banned movement and social resources, white men required to own firearms

3 focuses of Toqueville

European hegemony, Black assimilation, Indigenous decline

Toqueville’s overall theme

Criminal resistance to opression

Ida B. Wells—A Red Record (1895)

evolution of crime and justification, racial violence in the Reconstruction South, Black liberation?

KKK Act 1871 and 1875

deprived Black Americans the right to hold office, serve on jury, and vote; large increase in race based violence and lynchings

Lynching and criminal oppression

used as an oppression tool to prevent voting and miscegenation (interracial marriage)

The Hamburg Massacre (1876)

White Democrat Red Shirts, including Tillman attacked Black National Guardsmen and killed 6 black men but were not prosecuted

Hamburg Massacre led to (3)…

Democratic control of the SC state gov.

Further violence in the next election

Jim Crow laws

Pre-reconstruction justification of race violence

Fear of “race riots”

Post-reconstruction justification of race violence

“protection of White women’, excuse of Southern whites for lynching

Lynching and myth busting

generally based on false accusations (usually consensual relations) punished black men to deny rights

Double standard of white men

white men used position of power to sexually exploit Black women and kill Black men → hypocritical

Toqueville highlighted (4)

Pre-Reconstruction America

Cultural Diffusion

Oppressive/highly enforced law

Criminal resistance

Wells and Pre-Construction

strongly oppressive law, crime of resistance justified by fear of riot

Wells and Post Reconstruction

weaker, non oppressive law for crimes of oppression justified by protection of women

Dialectical analysis

the synthesis of a thesis and antithesis, reconciling two conflicting ideas

Synthesis in pre reconstruction

increased repression → increased positive resistance → social disorder

Synthesis in post reconstruction

increased freedom → increased negative resistance → social disorder

W.E.B. Du Bois, Souls of Black Folk

central problem of 20th century was the color line

studied psychological impact of racial violence, Jim Crow laws, and discrimination

Freedmen’s Bureau

tried to assist Black people with integration into white culture (education, labor, legal assistance, etc) but met with strong resistance and underfunded

14th amendment

granted citizenship, due process, and equal protection to Black people (overturned Dred Scott v. Sandford), ended reconstruction era

15th amendment

voting rights and enforcement clause, end of reconstruction era

Jim Crow Laws (1870s-1960s)

enforced segregation in all aspects of life (education, housing, public places)

Jim Crow Laws and limits

taxes and tests to prevent voting

banned interracial marriage

“Black jobs” with lower pay

Unfair sentencing and trials

The Veil

symbolizes the racial divide and lack of understanding between Black and white Americans, veil alters perceptions of eachother

Double consciousness

internal conflict of seeing oneself through the eyes of a prejudiced society

What does Du Bois mean by “double consciousness”?

the feeling of having two identities, one as American and one as a Black person

The Color Line

division between Black Americans and White Americans AND division between Black Americans and their self

Black vs. White

no democracy, equality, or fraternity

Black vs. self

lack of esteem, self realization, social progress, and social disorder

W.E.B. Du Bois Summary

post reconstruction and Jim Crow laws had psychological consequences and disadvantages, color line remained

Civil Rights Movement

similar goals to Freedman’s Bureau but also met with resistance

MLK vs. Malcolm X

assimilation and non-violent resistance vs. separation and violent resistance

4 Civil Rights Movement events

Brown v. Board of Education

Emmet Till (young boy killed for assault with no evidence)

Rosa Parks

Birmingham Church Bombing

Actions of Civil Rights Movement

sit ins and protests, boycotts, voter registration drives

Letter from Birmingham Jail

MLK’s justification for direct action and disappointment with white moderates who ran away and preserved the flawed system → interconnection of injustice

No justice = No peace

Negative peace

present social order, maintained by whites who don’t stand up for the movement

Positive peace

justice and equality, people gaining access to what they are promised

Civil Rights Acts (1964-1991)

thesis of these acts met with antithesis and resistance → depend on the people to uphold them, may reproduce color line and tension for fight for equality

Legacy of Racial Bias

to this day there is still resume bias, wealth gaps, residential segregation, and mass incarceration

Objectives

main points of Toqueville, Wells, and Dubois

understand historical racial processes shaping groups

understand law, crime, racial justice, and evolution of justification pre and post reconstruction