Posted: February 4th, 2015

Moving Forward

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

Reading

Before or after completing this week’s reading, take a few moments to write 1-2 pages in your notes listing policy suggestions you recall from other course readings, our class meetings, other things you have read or heard in other courses or the media, or your own ideas. Continue this list by noting all of the policy suggestions each of the authors in this week’s reading propose.

Part IX, “Solutions,” Blind Goddess (247-296)

This section includes three essays, all of which propose responses or solutions to problems related to race and justice. First, in an excerpt from the concluding chapter of his book on race and justice, Michael Tonry presents a series of policy suggestions relating to mass incarceration, the war on drugs, racial profiling, the use of criminal records, racial impact statements (see Mauer below), and other issues. Next, we return to Michelle Alexander, a thinker with whom we began the course. She proposes her own set of responses, including a reduction in incarceration, an end to the war on drugs, changes to the culture of law enforcement, a clear response to the ideology of colorblindness, and a change in the way affirmative action policies work. At the end of the chapter, Alexander cautions us to be wary of assuming that things are better simply because we have elected a Black president and have a Black middle- and upper-class today. Finally, Lani Guineier focuses on the need to move away from racial profiling and replace it with what she calls “racial literacy.”

Race to Incarcerate (99-108)

In the final section of Race to Incarcerate, Mauer and Jones detail the policy avenues they believe might help reduce the problems the war on drugs has created, including focusing on drug treatment, community supervision, and economic opportunity–and how these might lead to investment in rather than divestment from communities of color.

“Room for Debate: Young, Black and Male in America,” The New York Times 04/12/2013: roomfordebate.pdf

This series of 9 1-page essays/policy statements by theorists, researchers, activists, and justice system personnel from across the political spectrum gives each the chance to articulate his or her own perspective on the most crucial way to respond to the disproportionate involvement of young Black men in the criminal justice system.

Mauer, “Racial Impact Statements” Criminal Justice 23 (19-22): mauer.pdf

This short essay explores a particular policy idea that Mauer supports, the idea of racial impact statements for proposed legislation. I will not explain this idea here, as Mauer does so thoroughly and clearly in the essay. Be sure you can explain what a racial impact statement is and why it might matter to efforts to address issues related to race and the justice system.

Now that you have compiled several pages of policy suggestions, take a moment to read through your list. Which do you think would be the most useful for reducing racial discrimination and/or disparities in the justice system? What steps might we take, either as individuals or as a society, to move in those directions?

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTION:

For your final weekly assignment of the semester, you will write a short essay/policy statement in the same form as those you read in the “Room for Debate” section. Since you do not have the benefit of the experienced editorial staff from The New York Times to help you craft a concise and pithy argument, yours will need to be a bit longer–between 500 and 600 words would be ideal. Just like the authors in the debate, explain what you think the biggest problem related to race and justice is and present one or two of the most important solutions. You will notice that most of the debaters referenced other scholars; for this assignment, you are required to reference at least two scholars we have read in this course, at least one of whom represents an author you read for this week (other than the debaters, though you are free to reference them as well). Again, use the debate essays as a model for your work this week. Note I will not grade you on which policy suggestions you include, but rather on how well you meet the assignment requirements, conform to the “Room for Debate” model, and support the claims you make in your essay.