Racism, African Americans, and social justice / Rudolph Alexander, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Alexander, Rudolph, Jr., 1949-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Civil rights.

African Americans.

African Americans--Social conditions.

African Americans--Legal status, laws, etc.

Racism--United States.

Racism.

United States.

Race discrimination--United States.

Race discrimination.

Social justice--United States.

Social justice.

United States--Race relations.

Race relations.

Physical Description:

xiii, 149 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, MD : Rowman & Littlefield, [2005]

Summary:

Moving from the end of slavery to the present day, this book discusses how and why African Americans have received less than equal justice as compared to other races. This thesis is laid out in chapters discussing the history of race and what some professionals currently call "modern racism," higher education, juvenile justice, law enforcement, the military, economics, the issue of reparations for slavery, and employment discrimination.

Contents:

1 African Americans and Justice: An Introduction 1

Explanations of Justice, Social Justice, and Economic Justice 4

Attitudes of Whites about African Americans near the End of Slavery and After Slavery 5

The Use of Law to Oppress African Americans 7

Capricious Interpretation of Laws and Leadership: Role of the Court 10

Justice in the Criminal Courts 13

The Relevance of the Past to the Present 15

2 African Americans and Higher Education 21

Historical Review 22

Race, Admission, and the Courts: Keeping African Americans Out, Part I 23

The Creation of Affirmative Action 25

Race, Admission, and the Courts: Discriminating against Whites or Keeping African Americans Out, Part II 26

A Critique of the Critics of Affirmative Action in Education 29

Lack of Focus on Affirmative Action for Whites 32

3 African American Juveniles and the Justice System 37

The Fallacy of Leniency toward Juveniles and Particularly African American Juveniles 38

A More Contemporary Analysis of African American Juveniles in the Justice System 42

4 African Americans, Maltreatment, and Law Enforcement 49

Background of the Problem 50

Excessive Force 52

Racial Profiling, Stops, and Their Effects 54

Consequences of Excessive Force and Maltreatment 59

5 African Americans and the Military 63

African Americans' Participation in the Service during the Colonial Period 64

African Americans in the Military Post-Civil War 66

Violence against African American Soldiers: 1900s to World War II 67

Current Controversies: African Americans' Deaths from Conflicts, the Return of the Draft, and Jessica Lynch and Shoshana Johnson 69

Reflections and Analyses of African Americans in the Military Presently 71

6 African Americans and Economic Discrimination 75

Discrimination in the Acquisition of Real Property: Racially Restricted Covenants 77

African Americans and the Taking of Property 79

Violent Land Taking 81

Coercive Land Taking 82

"Legal" Land Taking 83

Discrimination in Mortgage Lending 84

Discrimination in Insurance 86

Discrimination in Automobile Lending 88

7 African Americans and Reparations 91

Definition of Reparations and the Restitution Principle 92

Contemporary Precedents for African Americans Receiving Reparations 93

Arguments against and for Reparations for African Americans 96

Philosophical Arguments against Reparations 97

Philosophical Arguments in Support of Reparations 98

Further Observations and Arguments Overlooked Regarding Reparations 98

Attempts at Legal Redress for Descendants of African American Slaves in the Courts 103

8 African Americans, Employment Discrimination, and Legal Justice 107

Legal Standards for Employment Discrimination 107

Illustrations of the Use of the McDonnell Douglas Standard 108

Differential Outcomes in Discrimination Cases 109

Differential Adoption of Statistics in Discrimination Cases 115

9 African Americans and Justice: Summary and Conclusions 119.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 127-140) and index.

ISBN:

074254348X

0742543498

OCLC:

56840562