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81 Or. L. Rev. 15 (2002)
Black Man's Burden: Race and the Death Penalty in America

handle is hein.journals/orglr81 and id is 25 raw text is: CHARLES J. OGLETREE, JR.* Black Man's Burden: Race and the Death Penalty in America N early 120 years ago, Frederick Douglass, the former slave and great African American leader, described the Ameri- can criminal justice system as follows: Justice is often painted with bandaged eyes. She is described in forensic eloquence, as utterly blind to wealth or poverty, high or low, white or black, but a mask of iron, however thick, could never blind American justice, when a black man happens to be on trial.1 Sadly, little has changed in the century and a half since Douglass had cause to condemn the state of the justice system in America. Nowhere is this more true than in the application of the ultimate punish- ment-the punishment of death. After September 11th, America's attitudes about crime and punishment shifted dramatically. Americans, without regard to race, class, or religion, were all shocked by the tragic circum- stances of the terrorist attack, and have not been reluctant to seek vengeance. The response in the African American commu- nity has been particularly surprising, given the history of racial discrimination in America. As I discuss the intersection of race and criminal justice, specifically in the context of capital punish- ment, it is critical to reveal some facts that are frequently ignored in this country today. African Americans are, by and large, con- servative. They are among our nation's most patriotic citizens. They are prepared to sacrifice their own liberty by supporting governmental efforts to protect their security. Even though dis- criminatory treatment by law enforcement against African * Jesse Climenko Professor of Law, Harvard Law School. I Frederick Douglass, The United States Cannot Remain Half-Slave and Half- Free, Speech on the Occasion of the Twenty-First Anniversary of Emancipation in the District of Columbia, delivered in the Congregational Church, Washington, D.C. (April 16, 1883), in 4 THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, RECON- STRUCTION AND AFTER 357 (Philip S. Foner ed., 1975).

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