About the Course

The course reviews the major theoretical constructs that have guided research and writing on racial differences, with special emphasis being given to African Americans and comparative differential crime rates. We critically evaluate empirical studies that have impacted public policy and other attempts to explain African American involvement in crime e.g. sentencing differences in possession of "crack" vs. powdered cocaine, three strike laws, racial profiling, etc. In addition, we explore differences in public initiation of criminal complaints, policing, prosecution, sentencing, and biases in jury selection. In summary, we examine the historical and contemporary patterns of crime and social control as it has impacted the experience of African Americans.

About the Course

The course reviews the great intellectual ideas of selected Twentieth Century Black Scholars as they have impacted social justice within American society.
We begin with a quote from W. E.B. Dubois in 1903 where he provides the frame for our discussion,
“The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color line…”

Specifically we examine how Black intellectuals have dealt with color and race as an “American dilemma” during the Twentieth Century through a review of selected works from such scholars as W.E.B. Dubois, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, Marcus Garvey, Carter G. Woodson, Zora Neale Hurston, Paul Robeson, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Angela Davis, Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson.