African American Criminological Thought By Helen Taylor Greene And Shaun L. Gabbidon

In African American Criminological Thought by Helen Taylor Greene and Shaun L. Gabbidon, there are ten African American scholars presenting different research, and studies in regards to many different reasons and possible assumptions as to why crimes are committed by African Americans. For the most part, the scholars all take an approach on how race plays a huge role in the criminality of African Americans. However, they all have different perspectives on why and how the criminal acts come about, but basically are having the same conclusions from their evaluations at the end of their research and studies. In addition, they try to find ways to decrease blacks’ criminal activity. For instance, Wells-Barnett was strongly against lynching. Although

Criminologist E. Franklin Frazier argues blacks committed crimes as a way to retaliate towards whites when they were slaves. He also stated that criminal rates were increasing because of harsher punishment, unemployment, racial discrimination, and many other conflicts between blacks and whites. Frazier breaks down how males and females committed crimes. However, Coramae Richey Mann took a different turn. Mann focuses on “female crime and delinquency, violence, and minorities and crime” which is why she is one of the ones I liked the most (page 83). Mainly, everyone talks about blacks or African Americans in criminality as a whole, but no one really focuses on just one specific gender. She states how girls who ran away received a harsher punishment than males who run away; also, how girls and boys were treated differently in court when receiving punishment. When males were having their cases reviewed, they received two more minutes than females. Something that caught my attention was “female-on female homicide the offenders tended to be predominantly black, uneducated, unemployed, have prior arrest records and commit their offenses in residences” (page

“In December 1997, the Honorable Lee P. Brown was elected mayor of Houston, Texas. His election as Mayor is historic for many reasons. First, he is Houston’s first African American Mayor. Second, this is the first time he has been elected to a public office. Third, his educational background and experience are in law enforcement and criminal justice. Prior to his election, Mayor Brown serves as chief of the Houston Police Department from 1982 through 1990. As chief, he transformed the agency in several ways, most notably by implementing neighborhood-oriented policing. This community policing strategy brought police and residents together to address both crime and other community problems. As mayor, he continues his dedication to empowering citizens to improve their safety, security, and quality of life (Office of the Mayor, 1998). For over thirty years, Mayor Brown has been at the forefront of the progressive policing movement in America. He has a distinguished career, as well as a local, national, and international reputation. His law enforcement experience began as a patrolman, in San Jose, California, in 1960 and culminated in 1993 when he was selected by President Clinton to serve as the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, a cabinet-level position. In the interim, Mayor Brown serves as police