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The authors of Race to Incarcerate make a number of outright assertions and implied suggestions about both (A) the origins of mass incarceration and (B) the social meaning of the “punitive response” in criminal justice.

Do Pfaff and the primary sources we used in class suggest there might be flaws in the narrative of Race to Incarcerate? Take “flaws” here to mean either factual errors or simply  blindspots.

In an essay of 500 – 750 words, explain how these source might contradict, complicate, or confirm aspects of the Race to Incarcerate narrative. (And the sources could potentially contradict some aspects, potentially complicate some aspects, and potentially confirm others).

 

KEEP IN MIND THAT THESE SOURCES BEAR THE IMPRINT OF AN HISTORICAL MOMENT VERY DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN.  ALSO NOTE THAT RECOGNIZING THE ROLE OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN ACTIVISTS AND LEADERS IN THE EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR ON DRUGS  IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN HOLDING SUCH INDIVIDUALS OR COMMUNITIES RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW THAT WAR TURNED OUT.

(FYI AND NOT REQUIRED READING FOR THIS PAPER: FOR ANOTHER GOOD BOOK ON THE TOPIC, SEE THIS NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW  OF LOCKING UP OUR OWN: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN BLACK AMERICA BY JAMES FOREMAN, JR (THE AUTHOR IS THE SON OF THE FAMOUS CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST JAMES FOREMAN WHO WAS A LEADER IN THE BLACK PANTHERS, SNCC, AND OTHER INFLUENTIAL CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS.  MARIE GOTTSCHALK IN HER EXCELLENT BOOK CAUGHT LOOKS AT THE PRISON STATISTICS AND, AFTER DOING THE COMPLEX MATH, DRAWS THE SAME CONCLUSIONS AS DOES PFFAF REGARDING THE ROLE OF THE WAR ON DRUGS IN MASS INCARCERATION AND THE RACIAL MIX OF OUR INCARCERATED POPULATION. BUT AGAIN, DO NOT USE EITHER OF THESE SOURCES.  I INCLUDE THEM HERE FOR “FURTHER RESEARCH” FOR INTERESTED STUDENTS)

Your sources from class are:

40 request guns (New York Times, 1969)

vigilantism and addicts (New York Times, 1969)

image from vigilante article above

page 7 from M.J. Fortner’s The Black Silent Majority (Harvard University Press, 2015) detailing the response of the NAACP‘s Vincent Baker in 1969 to growing crime in Harlem.

Note that Baker was not unusual in his opinions on the topic. A well-conducted poll from 1973 found that “about three-quarters of New York’s blacks and Puerto Ricans” thought that convicted drug dealers should get  life without parole.  (BUT DON’T USE THIS SOURCE; INCLUDED HERE FOR CONTEXTUAL INFORMATION ONLY)

WRITING REQUIREMENTS AND TIPS

1. Length: 500 -750  words  (about two to three pages of 12-point, double-spaced font)

2. You will want to organize around your essay around a concise thesis statement that appears near the beginning of your paper.

3. Be sure to underline your thesis statement (5 points off if you do not).

4. Be sure to have at least 10 direct quotations with at least two from Race to Incarcerate and at least one from each of the sources linked to above.  When citing from Pfaff and Race to Incarcerate, be sure to include the page number. Quotations without page numbers will not count toward your 10-quotation minimum.

5.  Be sure to address both (A) the origins of mass incarceration and (B) the social meaning of the “punitive response” in criminal justice.  Your essay should address both (A) and (B) in roughly equal proportions.

6. When using direct quotations from the reading, be sure to use method 3 or 4 from HW 1 and also be sure to reduce your quotations to ten for fewer words. See here on how to reduce quotations.

7.  When making your arguments, be sure to ground those arguments in specific evidence from the reading.

8.   Be sure in those paragraphs where you make points from evidence to organize those paragraph in the familiar cl/ev/wa format from HW 1 and that you put a (CL) in front of your paragraph’s claim, an (EV) before the evidence, and a (WA) in front of the warrant. (5 pts off if you do not)

Keep in mind: (A) not all paragraphs should be in cl/ev/wa format–just those that make a point from evidence. Also keep in mind (B) that the cl/ev/wa format is for organizing individual paragraphs rather than for organizing whole papers. A strong paper will likely have a series of cl/ev/wa paragraphs as well as a number of paragraphs that are not in that format. Introductions, for example, rarely have evidence in them.

9.  No outside research is required or even permitted for this paper.