Anti-racism: Articles

Abstract: This study investigates the effect of segregationist murders, in conjunction with black protest, on federal passage of black voting-rights policies. Using time-series regression techniques, I find that white violence diminished federal responsiveness to black protest from the '30s through the end of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration. But by President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration and the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, violence stimulated government response to black protest. I argue that the historically contingent nature of the violence effect is attributable to the changing nature of the audience. Segregationist violence seems to have helped the movement win Southern suffrage only when the audience was attentive, sympathetic and involved in the policy conflict.

"Until the lions have their historians, tales of the hunt shall always glorify the hunter." —Chinua Achebe, “The Art of Fiction,” 1994.

This study examined the experiences of three middle school teachers who created their own Black History Month curriculum. The goal was to uncover various ways in which teachers navigate or interrupt "official curriculum" that marginalizes the history of Black Americans.

As the "war on drugs" enters the latter half of its third decade since being forged into the American lexicon by President Ronald Reagan, the public has grown more skeptical of the current strategy and has proven to be receptive to a broader consideration of alternatives to incarceration. This has been the case most notably with marijuana offenses, where the policy discussion has shifted in some localities to one of decriminalization or de-prioritizing law enforcement resources dedicated to pursuing possession offenses. Despite the increased profile surrounding marijuana policy in recent years, there remains a significant degree of misunderstanding regarding the current strategy, both in terms of how resources are being allocated and to what eventual gain.

The current war on drugs has radically transformed the criminal justice system. Although criminologists are aware of the multitudes of problematic justice system outcomes associated with this war the widespread social, economic, health, political, and human costs of the current antidrug crusade have not been studied extensively by criminologists.

A comprehensive examination of the 100-to-1 crack versus powder cocaine sentencing disparity under which distribution of just 5 grams of crack carries a minimum 5-year federal prisonsentence, while distribution of 500 grams of powder cocaine carries the same 5-year mandatory minimum sentence.

For the last thirty years or so, America has been embroiled in a great domestic war. This war has had devastating impacts on the lives of countless individuals, families, and in some cases whole communities. This war has left numerous casualties in its wake; some of its youngest victims are small children whose parents have been captured in this war and incarcerated.' This war has cost our nation trillions of dollars and the ongoing loss of human and intellectual capital. Many of the unintended consequences of this war are irreversible. This war is a war on drugs.