Description
Book SynopsisThe first book to develop an in-depth analysis of how legal and political ideas concerning the criminalization of racial violence have evolved from slavery to the present, and to offer new historical and theoretical perspective for analyzing limits of current attempts to use criminal legislation as a weapon against racism.
Trade Review'With a broad chronological sweep from the colonial era to the present day, Ely Aaronson for the first time illuminates the connections between efforts to criminalize violence against African Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and hate crime legislation today. Putting the tools of sociological analysis to work, he recasts familiar stories in a new and fascinating light, showing the way criminal justice - or injustice - works to perpetuate racial hierarchies. A must-read for students of law, history, criminology, and critical race studies.' Ariela J. Gross, John B. and Alice R. Sharp Professor of Law and History, University of Southern California Law School
'In this remarkable book, Ely Aaronson offers us a sophisticated and finely grained interpretation of the role of criminal laws ostensibly designed to address racial violence throughout the political history of the United States. Focusing in particular on the underlying political dynamics that shaped opportunities for both activism and resistance, but also paying close attention to the operation of legal doctrines and to the institutional structures within which law enforcement operates, Aaronson illuminates the distinctive shape of criminalization efforts in successive eras from slavery to the present day … From Slave Abuse to Hate Crime not only addresses a most pressing legal and political issue in the United States, but also contributes to sociolegal and political history and to social theory. It merits a large and attentive audience.' N. M. Lacey, London School of Economics and Political Science
'Contrary to the common assumption that hate crime laws are a product of the modern civil rights era, Aaronson's brilliant study traces the logic of laws protecting minorities back to the legal framework of racial domination from slavery on. This impeccably researched and beautifully written book is essential reading for anyone concerned about the tangle of race and criminalization in the United States today.' Jonathan Simon, Adrian A. Kragen Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley
Table of Contents1. Towards a historical and sociological analysis of the criminalization of racial violence; 2. Progressive criminalization at the heart of darkness?: the legal response to the victimization of slaves in the colonial and antebellum South; 3. 'Social equality is not a subject to be legislated upon': the rise and fall of federal pro-black criminalization policy, 1865–1909; 4. 'We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with': campaigning for criminalization reform in the long civil rights movement, 1909–68; 5. Criminalizing racial hatred, legitimizing racial inequality: hate-crime laws and the new politics of pro-black criminalization; 6. Conclusion: criminalization reform and egalitarian social change - an uneasy relationship.
