Police, "Chip" and some material (and a few laughs) before tomorrow's discussion on the legal system

Everyone should take ten minutes of time before class tomorrow and watch minutes 3-13 of this Dave Chappelle standup routine from 2000. Much of Chappelle's work deals directly with issues of injustice and the ways that race operates institutionally within the United States. In this segment Chappelle (who I consider a comedic genius) deals directly with the systematic and institutional unequal treatment of African Americans by law enforcement in the United States.

While the video is certainly comical, underneath all of his jokes and silly comedic delivery, Chappelle is making some strong claims about the way the legal system, specifically the police force, treat African Americans. His story about his experiences with his white friend "Chip" point to the ways that the United State's legal institution and the police force operates using a racial hierarchy that favors whites over people of color. The point Chappelle is making is especially important because not only has institutional racism resulted in a "staggering number of Blacks in prison" as the Alexander article makes clear, but police are often central to that high level of incarceration. Police officers often have the highest level of individual discretion in terms how laws are enforced and have a great deal of individual control over who is "deemed" criminal in the American justice system. And as Chappelle and Alexander make clear (see pages 112-114 in your course packets) police often operate through racial profiling and many racialized assumptions regarding African Americans, which result in their high level of incarceration.

P.S. - If you haven’t seen this routine before it is a classic and most certainly worth your time.

Oh yeah, and keep up the good work on the blog everyone!!! Its really exciting to see some of the things that students are starting to bring up in their blog posts!

see everyone tomorrow.

John