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Locking up our own : crime and punishment in black America

Forman, James, 1967-2018
Books, Manuscripts
Former public defender James Forman, Jr. is a leading critic of mass incarceration and its disproportionate impact on people of colour. In this book, he seeks to understand the war on crime that began in the 1970s and why it was supported by many African American leaders in the nation's urban centres. Forman shows us that the first substantial cohort of black mayors, judges and police chiefs took office amid a surge in crime and drug addiction. Many prominent black officials, including Washington, DC mayor Marion Barry and federal prosecutor Eric Holder, feared that the gains of the civil rights movement were being undermined by lawlessness - and thus embraced tough-on-crime measures, including longer sentences and aggressive police tactics. In the face of skyrocketing murder rates and the proliferation of open-air drug markets, they believed they had no choice.
Imprint:
London : Abacus, 2018.London : Abacus, 2018.
Collation:
306 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 20 cm
Notes:
Originally published: New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017.Includes bibliographical references and index.
Awards:
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
ISBN:
9780349143682 (pbk)
Dewey class:
364.973
Language:
English
BRN:
2055339
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