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Editorial
journal of Contemporary Criminal justice
2016, Vol. 32(l) 4-6
Introduction @ 2016 SAGE Publications
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DOI: 10.1177/1043986215623765
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SAGE
It seems like every day another instance of the intersection of race, crime, and the crimi-
nal justice system is splashed across the social media. Also, we are continually con-
fronted by the incredulous disproportionalities in the arrests and mass imprisonment of
African Americans. Studies report that among prime-age Black men, around 15% of
those with no college and a third of high school dropouts were incarcerated on an aver-
age day in 2010 (Travis & Western, 2014). In addition, in 2014, the overall incarcera-
tion rate for African American males was approximately 2,724 per 100,000, and for
Black men, in the age range of 30 to 34, the incarceration rate spikes to 6,412 per
100,000 (Carson, 2015). Indeed, among recent cohorts ofAfrican American men, 70%
of those who dropped out of school served time in state or federal prison (Travis &
Western, 2014). Perhaps, the most glaring disproportionality is the official arrest statis-
tic showing that a small percentage of African American men were arrested for more
than half the robberies in 2013 (Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI], 2014). Together,
these findings suggest that something profound is happening to someAfricanAmericans.
But, perhaps what is most disconcerting is that the prevailing general theories of
crime deny that the lived racialized experiences of African Americans are not uniquely
different than the more privileged lives of Whites. Thus, these hegemonic theories posit
that the only reason why some African Americans unduly offend is that they, for exam-
ple, are more likely to live in disorganized neighborhoods, have weaker social bonds,
associate more often with delinquent peers, have greater episodic strains, or exhibit less
self-control. In short, Hirschi's (1969) long ago declaration that there is no need to
study the Negro boy still soundly reverberates throughout the science of crime.
We believe that the development of a vibrant African American/Black Criminology
is still necessary (Russell, 1992). Indeed, we argue that a Black Criminology is as
equally warranted as a Feminist Criminology given that women disproportionately
under-offend whereas African Americans disproportionately over-offend. We consider
the unique lived racialized experiences of being Black in a racist society as worthy of
study as is the inimitable lived experiences of being a woman in a sexist society.
The foundation of an African American/Black Criminology must rest upon the
acknowledgment that the historical and contemporary experiences of African
Americans are incomparable. In brief, being Black in the United States is a unique
experience. Built upon this foundation should be theoretically informed empirical
studies that detail the dynamic interplay between racial oppression and resiliency.
Our Theory of African American Offending begins the illumination of the innumer-
able forms of racial oppression and how they dynamically open up pathways to offend-
ing and resiliency (Unnever & Gabbidon, 2011). We detail how the everyday lived
experiences of being denied one's humanity because of one's skin color causes some
African American youths to feel anger and hostility and how these feelings lead to](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jccj32&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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