Article
The Racialization of Crime and Punishment: Criminal Justice, Color-Blind Racism, and the Political Economy of the Prison Industrial Complex
American Behavioral Scientist
(2008)
Abstract
The current explosion in criminalization and incarceration is unprecedented in size,
scope, and negative consequences—both direct and collateral—for communities of
color. These macro systems exist in relationality to the micro dynamics of living in the
midst of police scrutiny, economic marginalization, and political disenfranchisement.
Critical race theory is a guide for pedagogy and praxis in exploring the racist and classist
foundations of current micro and macro injustices. Using Supreme Court opinions
and the voices of political prisoner/prisoners of conscience as evidence of the dominant
text and the dissent, this article explores the following issues: the roots of U.S. law,
criminal justice, and mass imprisonment in classism and racism; the political economy
of the criminal justice system and the prison industrial complex; the intersectionality of
injustices rooted in micro and macro systems; and the role of prisoners of conscience/
political prisoners in inspiring resistance to micro and macro injustice.
Keywords
- prison industrial complex; color-blind racism; critical race theory; racism and the law; racism and the criminal justice system
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring 2008
DOI
10.1177/0002764207307745
Citation Information
Rose Brewer and Nancy Heitzeg. "The Racialization of Crime and Punishment: Criminal Justice, Color-Blind Racism, and the Political Economy of the Prison Industrial Complex" American Behavioral Scientist (2008) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nancy-heitzeg/38/