The Politics of Black Criminality and Popular Protest

3 units

This course will explore the meanings and perceptions of Black criminality in modern American culture. It will consider issues of rioting and racial violence; movements ranging from hip-hop to Black power; the crucial matter of police brutality; and cultural associations between criminality and Black masculinity. Our work will be informed by an awareness of the historical interactions between African Americans and legal and other systems of authority: in particular, the ambiguous boundaries of legality under slavery, post-emancipation convict leasing, Jim Crow laws, Black gangs, and the functions of illegal acts in the lives of Black citizens. The course will give special attention to the ways that popular thought, imagination, and culture -- and particularly Black thought and culture -- have addressed crime. How does criminality connect to popular forms of protest, resistance, and discussions about inequality and identity?