Statistically, it has been documented that people of color in the population of the United States face disproportional rates of mass incarceration.[1] Structural racism, particularly among law enforcement officers, is a more probable explanation than presuming that people who are not white are more likely to commit crimes. By examining articles from The Southern Patriot, a progressive newspaper published from 1942-1973 out of South Carolina, I am going to examine the question of whether multiple elements of the justice system throughout the United States, including law enforcement officers, judges, and corrections officers use violence or threats of violence as a standard method of enforcing white supremacy.
[1] (Walker 2019)
Walker, Anders. 2019. “Freedom and Prison: Putting Structuralism Back into Structural Inequality.” SSRN Electronic Journal, January.
All materials used belong to Valdosta State University and can be accessed in the Valdosta State University And Special Collections: Valdosta Archives and Special Collections
The Southern Patriot Collection can be found in the Archives and Special Collections specifically here: The Southern Patriot
This guide was created by VSU Graduate Students in Summer 2024 as a part of the HIST 6215/MLIS 7998: Public History Virtual Exhibit Project.
For more information about online exhibits or the collections contained in the VSU Archives, contact Archives and Special Collections
