''The Color of Crime: Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police Harassment and Other Macroaggressions'' is a 1998 book by American academic

Katheryn Russell-Brown Katheryn Russell-Brown (born Katheryn K. Russell, September 17, 1961) is an American social scientist, professor of law and director of the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations at University of Florida Law School. Her main areas of expe ...

(Katheryn K. Russell at the time of the book's publication), published by

New York University Press New York University Press (or NYU Press) is a university press that is part of New York University. History NYU Press was founded in 1916 by the then chancellor of NYU, Elmer Ellsworth Brown. Directors * Arthur Huntington Nason, 1916–1932 ...

(NYUP), with a second edition in 2008. The book discusses the topic of

race and crime in the United States In the United States, Race and crime, the relationship between Race and ethnicity in the United States, race and crime in the United States, crime has been a topic of public controversy and scholarly debate for more than a century. Crime rates v ...

, particularly in the context of

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

– white relations. It looks at the stereotypes of black men as criminals (what she refers to as the "criminalblackman" myth); whether black people commit a disproportionate amount of

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

; how the criminal stereotypes have enabled the use of "

racial hoax A racial hoax occurs when a person (usually the purported victim) falsely claims that a crime was committed by member of a specific race. The crime may be fictitious, or may be an actual crime.Russell-Brown, p. 70 defines a racial hoax as "w ...

es"; whether black people are discriminated against in society, in

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term en ...

, and in the justice system;

white supremacism White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

and white racism; how black people protect their own; and the idea of "macroagression" where a whole society is involved in persecuting a group. The book has been widely cited since its publication.

Synopsis

''The Color of Crime'' provides an overview of race, crime, and law, beginning with a discussion of slavery. Russell-Brown writes that crime and young black men have become synonymous in the American mind, giving rise to the " criminalblackman" stereotype.Russell-Brown, p. 71. The book popularised the term "

", which Russell-Brown defines as occurring when someone fabricates a crime and blames it on another person because of their race or when an actual crime has been committed and the perpetrator falsely blames someone because of their race.Russell-Brown, p. 70. It gives the cases of

Susan Smith Susan Leigh Smith (née Vaughan; born September 26, 1971) is an American woman who was convicted of murdering her two sons, three-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander, in 1994 by drowning them in a South Carolina lake. The case gained i ...

Jesse Anderson Jesse Michael Anderson (May 3, 1957 – November 30, 1994) was an American convicted murderer. He was murdered, alongside the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, by fellow inmate and convicted murderer Christopher Scarver at the Columbia Correctiona ...

, and Charles Stuart as examples of racial hoaxes. She proposes six principles to achieve fairness in the criminal justice system: # Criminal penalties apply to everyone, regardless of the race of the offender. # Criminal penalties apply to everyone, regardless of the race of the victim. # The race of the offender is not relevant in determining whether his actions constitute a crime. The offender's actions would have been considered criminal, even if he were another race. # The race of the victim is not relevant in determining whether the offender's action constitutes a crime. # The offender's racial pedigree (e.g., "degree of Blackness") is not used to determine punishment. # There are checks and balances that mitigate against racial bias within the legal system.March 1999
[Review by Hernán Vera
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/nowiki>(via JSTOR). ''

American Journal of Sociology The ''American Journal of Sociology'' is a peer-reviewed bi-monthly academic journal that publishes original research and book reviews in the field of sociology and related social sciences. It was founded in 1895 as the first journal in its disci ...

'' 104 (5): pp. 1548–1550.

Reception

''The Color of Crime'' has been widely cited since its publication and has been described as a pivotal book. NYUP states the book was "heralded as a path-breaking book". An edition of the ''

'' states that Russell-Brown makes an "indispensable, intelligent, and practical contribution" to the issues of race and crime. Erica Chito Childs in ''Fade to Black and White: Interracial Images in Popular Culture'' (2009) writes that the book provides an excellent analysis of the media reaction in the O. J. Simpson murder case. However, Russell-Brown, who is

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, and the book have been criticised for being biased."The Color of Crime: Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police Harassment and Other Macroaggressions"
. ''Law and Politics Book Review'' website citing a review by Randy Glean in ''Law and Politics Book Review'' 8 (6): pp. 268–269. Critics have said the book downplays the level of black crime and that it over-attributes black crime to a discriminatory justice system.

References

Sources

* Russell-Brown, Katheryn (1998)
''The Color of Crime: Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police Harassment and Other Macroaggressions''

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Color of Crime, The 1998 non-fiction books Crime books Politics and race in the United States Race and crime in the United States New York University Press books