Criminal Justice Racism, Black Revolution and White Reformation

• In Event: Revolutionary Criminology: Shifting Toward a 21st Century Radical Paradigm

Abstract

As Black Lives Matter protests police brutality and racism, President Obama and candidates for the 2016 presidential election have echoed in their speeches the need to reform the United States Criminal Justice System. Electoral and political platforms have responded to the Black Lives Matter narrative of protest against and resistance to white supremacy with calls for reformation within criminal justice policies and practices. This paper examines speeches on prison reform by President Obama and candidates for the 2016 presidential election. It analyzes how these speeches have been able to rephrase, disguise, pacify, and diffuse sources and products of racial tension.

Author

• Christopher Magno, Gannon University