The Perilously Racist Carceral System in America and Its Perpetuation of Police Brutality against Black People

Abstract

Abstract This article discusses various issues of race and law enforcement in the USA through the lenses of critical race theory and Black radical tradition, precisely to convey the fact that racism is still alive and well in the USA and reverberates through the criminal justice system against Black people. American legal scholars are divided on which legal methodology is most appropriate in addressing racial cum legal issues. However, this article argues that tackling the systemic racism and the perilous proclivity of the police in brutalizing Black people in the USA cannot be adequately achieved through the current (mainstream) frameworks of rule of law and democracy because, arguably, these institutions were erected on the foundations of slavery and racism to principally serve the interests of White Americans. Using legal storytelling, the article narrates specific cases of police brutality and amplifies the voices of critical race theorists that racism in the USA cannot truly be dismantled solely via democratic dialogues and legal formalism as the mainstream view tends to always suggest. It posits that the hefty intellectual effort required to positively bend the mainstream towards realizing the constitutional rights of Black people in the USA can only be shouldered on Black radicalism and ‘racial realism’, as Derrick Bell, Cedric Robinson, and other scholars have opined.