About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

117 W. Va. L. Rev. 1397 (2014-2015)
The Ghosts of White Supremacy: Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and the Specters of Black Criminality

handle is hein.journals/wvb117 and id is 1413 raw text is: THE GHOSTS OF WHITE SUPREMACY: TRAYVON MARTIN, MICHAEL BROWN, AND THE SPECTERS OF BLACK CRIMINALITY Nick J. Sciullo* I. IN TRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1397 ii. A HAUNTOLOGY OF THE CRIMINAL .................................................... 1400 III. BLACK LETTER LAW'S PHOTOGRAPHIC NEGATIVE ............................ 1405 IV. HOPE, NOT PESSIMISM, AND SURELY NOT OPTIMISM ........................ 1406 V . C ON CLU SION ....................................................................................... 1406 I. INTRODUCTION We are haunted by the specters of white supremacy conveniently masked in the avatar of black criminality.1 Racism is real and structural.2 Criminal law has a disparate effect on people of color.3 Workplace discrimination is real.4 White society's dominant strategy for addressing * ABD, Department of Communication (Rhetoric and Politics), Georgia State University; M.S., Troy University; J.D., West Virginia University College of Law; B.A., University of Richmond. Parts of this paper were presented at West Virginia University College of Law at the Mid-Atlantic People of Color annual meeting in 2015. I am thankful to the site host, Atiba Ellis, and the support and friendship of many in the MAPOC community including andr6 douglas pond cummings and Reginald Leamon Robinson. My thanks always go to my father, Rick Sciullo. I See KILLING TRAY VONS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN VIOLENCE (Kevin Alexander Gray et al. eds., 2014). 2 See generally Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Rethinking Racism: Toward a Structural Interpretation, 62 Am. Soc. REV. 465 (1997); William M. Wiecek, Structural Racism and the Law in America Today: An Introduction, 100 KY. L.J. 1 (2012); Donna Barry & Heidi Williamson, In Ferguson and the Entire Nation, Institutional Racism Extends Far Beyond Law Enforcement, THEROOT.COM (Aug. 28, 2014), http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2014/08/ in.ferguson and the entirenation institutionalracism extends far.beyond.html. 3 See generally Kathleen Daly, Symposium: Race and Criminal Justice: Criminal Law and Justice System Practices as Racist, White, and Racialized, 51 WASH & LEE L. REV. 431 (1994). 4 See generally Paul Butler, Affirmative Action: Diversity of Opinions: Affirmative Action and the Criminal Law, 68 U. COLO. L. REV. 841 (1997); David Cole, No Equal Justice: How the Criminal Justice System Uses Inequality, CHAMPION, Sept.-Oct. 1999, at 20; Diana R. Gordon, Drug Policy and the Dangerous Classes: A Historical Overview, 10 TEMP. POL. & CIv. RTS. L. REV. 315 (2001); William M. Wiecek & Judy L. Hamilton, Beyond the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Confronting Structural Racism in the Workplace, 74 LA. L. REV. 1095 (1994). 1397

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most