D. Jones-Brown, K. Fuller, Paul Reck, Waverly O. Duck
{"title":"Why we should stop using the term “Black-on-Black crime”: an analysis across disciplines","authors":"D. Jones-Brown, K. Fuller, Paul Reck, Waverly O. Duck","doi":"10.1080/15377938.2021.1976694","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Official statistics document that the majority of all crime committed in the U.S. is intra-racial. Only crimes involving victims and offenders of Black racial identity have been assigned an explicitly racialized label. Drawing on work from multiple disciplines, this paper traces the historical origins of racialized crime statistics. It examines how official statistics are manipulated, through racial disproportionality analysis, to mask the amount of crime committed by Whites and to support a view that Black crime is more prevalent and dangerous than other criminal offending. We trace the origin of the term “Black on Black crime” to unsuccessful efforts by Black leaders to protect the Black community from victimization or gain equitable treatment for Black defendants. We argue that the use of the term should be abandoned, in part, because of its current use in public discourse to legitimize police and civilian violence against Blacks. Recommendations for addressing and eliminating the use of this racially charged term in public discourse, policy, and criminal justice practice are provided.","PeriodicalId":45166,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2021-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/15377938.2021.1976694","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"CRIMINOLOGY & PENOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
Abstract Official statistics document that the majority of all crime committed in the U.S. is intra-racial. Only crimes involving victims and offenders of Black racial identity have been assigned an explicitly racialized label. Drawing on work from multiple disciplines, this paper traces the historical origins of racialized crime statistics. It examines how official statistics are manipulated, through racial disproportionality analysis, to mask the amount of crime committed by Whites and to support a view that Black crime is more prevalent and dangerous than other criminal offending. We trace the origin of the term “Black on Black crime” to unsuccessful efforts by Black leaders to protect the Black community from victimization or gain equitable treatment for Black defendants. We argue that the use of the term should be abandoned, in part, because of its current use in public discourse to legitimize police and civilian violence against Blacks. Recommendations for addressing and eliminating the use of this racially charged term in public discourse, policy, and criminal justice practice are provided.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice explores the prejudice that currently affects our judicial system, our courts, our prisons, and our neighborhoods all around the world. This unique multidisciplinary journal is the only publication that focuses exclusively on crime, criminal justice, and ethnicity/race. Here you"ll find insightful commentaries, position papers, and examinations of new and existing legislation by scholars and professionals committed to the study of ethnicity and criminal justice. In addition, the Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice presents the latest empirical findings, theoretical discussion, and research on social and criminal justice issues.