Syndetics cover image
Image from Syndetics

Black silent majority : the Rockefeller drug laws and the politics of punishment / Michael Javen Fortner.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, [2015]Description: xii, 350 pages : illustrations ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780674743991 (alk. paper)
  • 0674743997 (alk. paper)
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction : the reign of criminal terror must be stopped now -- Rights and wreckage in postwar Harlem -- Black junkies, white do-gooders, and the Metcalf-Volker Act of 1962 -- Reverend Dempsey's crusade and the rise of involuntary commitment in 1966 -- Black silent majority -- King heroin and the development of the drug laws in 1973 -- Race, place, and the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s -- Conclusion : liberal sentiments to conservative acts.
Summary: "Often seen as a political sop to the racial fears of white voters, aggressive policing and draconian sentencing for illegal drug possession and related crimes have led to the imprisonment of millions of African Americans--far in excess of their representation in the population as a whole. Michael Javen Fortner [argues] that these punitive policies also enjoyed the support of many working-class and middle-class blacks, who were angry about decline and disorder in their communities. [His book examines] the role African Americans played in creating today's system of mass incarceration"--Dust jacket flap.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 364.1336 F743 Available 33111008091148
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Aggressive policing and draconian sentencing have disproportionately imprisoned millions of African Americans for drug-related offenses. Michael Javen Fortner shows that in the 1970s these punitive policies toward addicts and pushers enjoyed the support of many working-class and middle-class blacks, angry about the chaos in their own neighborhoods.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 283-333) and index.

Introduction : the reign of criminal terror must be stopped now -- Rights and wreckage in postwar Harlem -- Black junkies, white do-gooders, and the Metcalf-Volker Act of 1962 -- Reverend Dempsey's crusade and the rise of involuntary commitment in 1966 -- Black silent majority -- King heroin and the development of the drug laws in 1973 -- Race, place, and the tumultuous 1960s and 1970s -- Conclusion : liberal sentiments to conservative acts.

"Often seen as a political sop to the racial fears of white voters, aggressive policing and draconian sentencing for illegal drug possession and related crimes have led to the imprisonment of millions of African Americans--far in excess of their representation in the population as a whole. Michael Javen Fortner [argues] that these punitive policies also enjoyed the support of many working-class and middle-class blacks, who were angry about decline and disorder in their communities. [His book examines] the role African Americans played in creating today's system of mass incarceration"--Dust jacket flap.

Powered by Koha