The politics of Mikhail M Bakhtin's Carni‐Phallic body

While many scholars attribute Barack Obama's success in the 2008 presidential election to his so-called deracialized campaign strategy, I argue that Obama constructed a persuasive message strategy that was fundamentally based on race. I argue that in pursuing what I call a racial distinction strategy, Obama mobilized race differently than previous Black candidates running in White-voter electoral majorities. Specifically, Obama's racial distinction strategy constructed a seamless racial narrative – deployed through constellations of subtle racial language and imagery – incorporating Obama's own personal biography within a broader narrative of the nation, specifically a narrative of American progress. The fact that Obama employed a racial distinction strategy, and the fact that he succeeded in doing so, sheds new light on, and leads us to reconsider the veracity of popular political theories such as post-Blackness, post-racialism and deracialization, along with the general ideology of colorblindness.     

Expanding the Definition of Asian Diasporic Studies

Abstract

Korean and other Asian adoptees are increasingly becoming a part of the racial landscape in the United States, although their presence is omitted or minimally addressed in Asian diasporic studies. In 1999, after 45 years of “feeling shame and a sense of guilt” (Lee, 1999, para. 3) First Lady Hee-Ho Lee marked the South Korean government's official recognition of adoptees as overseas Koreans. As involuntary immigrants, this population has both shared and unique experiences with other Korean immigrants. Current literature on Asian American acculturation, assimilation, and identity does not capture the experiences of Asian adoptees (McDonald&Balgopal, 1998; Min&Kim, 2000; Oyserman&Sakamoto, 1997; Phinney et al., 2000; Tse, 1999). This article presents quantitative research that considered the constructs of ethnic and racial identity for Korean adoptees, their relationship to each other, and to the process of acculturation.

This study of adoptees (N = 69), ranging in age from early-adolescence to young adulthood, explored the relationships between racial identity, ethnic identity, and acculturation in transracial Korean adoptees. The research was exploratory in nature and entailed a quantitative design comprised of three objective instruments measuring racial identity, ethnic identity, and acculturation. Findings indicated that the group was characterized as embracing both their Korean heritage and white middle-class upbringing with a somewhat greater need for assimilation or inclusion into the Korean community than differentiation from it. While adoptees are highly acculturated into the mainstream, they seem to journey, as do other immigrants, through a process of defining what ethnicity and race means to them.     

EXPLAINING RACIAL AND ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN SERIOUS ADOLESCENT VIOLENT BEHAVIOR*

This study explains racial/ethnic differences in serious adolescent violent behavior using a contextual model derived from prior urban, developmental, and criminological theory. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, we compare involvement in serious violence among Asians, blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans, and whites. Results indicate that statistical differences between whites and minority groups are explained by variation in community disadvantage (for blacks), involvement in gangs (for Hispanics), social bonds (for Native Americans), and situational variables (for Asians). The lesser involvement in violence among Asians compared to blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans is accounted for by similar factors. Differences in violent behavior among the latter three minority groups are not significant. Theoretical and policy implications of the findings are discussed.     

Consumer Racial Profiling and Perceived Victimization: A Phone Survey of Philadelphia Area Residents

This paper explored the perceived prevalence of consumer racial profiling (CRP) (also known as “Shopping While Black”) among residents in Philadelphia. Based on data collected from a random digit dialing (RDD) phone survey, the authors examined the characteristics of those persons who believed they had been profiled in retail establishments. The research found that African Americans were ten times more likely than non-African Americans to believe they had been profiled in a retail establishment. As for gender differences, males were nearly two times more likely than females to report that they had been experienced CRP. Educated respondents were more likely than those with less education to report having experienced CRP. There were no significant findings regarding income. The authors conclude by noting the policy implications of the research findings. This project was jointly funded by Penn State’s Africana Research Center and Penn State Harrisburg’s School of Public Affairs. The authors thank Auden Thomas, Stephanie Hintz, and the interviewers from Penn State Harrisburg’s Center for Survey Research who assisted in the completion of this project.     

MODELING THE EFFECTS OF RACIAL THREAT ON PUNITIVE AND RESTORATIVE SCHOOL DISCIPLINE PRACTICES*

It is clear that schools are mirroring the criminal justice system by becoming harsher toward student misbehavior despite decreases in delinquency. Moreover, Black students consistently are disciplined more frequently and more severely than others for the same behaviors, much in the same way that Black criminals are subjected to harsher criminal punishments than other offenders. Research has found that the racial composition of schools is partially responsible for harsher school discipline just as the racial composition of areas has been associated with punitive criminal justice measures. Yet, no research has explored comprehensively the dynamics involved in how racial threat and other factors influence discipline policies that ultimately punish Black students disproportionately. In this study (N = 294 public schools), structural equation models assess how school racial composition affects school disciplinary policies in light of other influences on discipline and gauge how other possible predictors of school disciplinary policies relate to racial composition of schools, to various school disciplinary policies, and to one another. Findings indicate that schools responding to student misbehavior with one type of discipline tend to use other types of responses as well and that many factors predict the type of disciplinary response used by schools. However, disadvantaged, urban schools with a greater Black, poor, and Hispanic student population are more likely to respond to misbehavior in a punitive manner and less likely to respond in a restorative manner.     

Foreword

Recent political statements have revitalized the debate over Fascist antisemitism and the response by Italians to Benito Mussolini’s anti-Jewish campaign. Luconi offers an overview of the current reassessment of the attitude of Italians towards Jews during Il Duce’s rule in English- and Italian-language scholarship. Contrary to previous findings that have tended to emphasize the Italian people’s effective contribution to efforts to help Jews under the Fascist regime and the Nazi occupation of their country, more recent research has stressed that, notwithstanding remarkable exceptions, Italians—both inside and outside the Fascist hierarchy—were far from being immune to antisemitism and, therefore, did not refrain from actively participating in the discrimination, persecution and deportation of Jews in the pre-war and war years.     

Ethnic Profiling: A Rising Challenge for European Human Rights Law

Ethnic profiling, defined as the use of racial, ethnic or religious background as a determining criterion for the adoption of law enforcement decisions, has been rising significantly in Europe, in particular in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. This article examines whether European human rights law is well equipped to deal with this challenge, and if not, how it should be reformed. Against the widely held assumption that personal data protection legislation is insufficiently protective of 'sensitive' data relating to race or ethnicity, it explains instead why combating ethnic profiling has been made more difficult, rather than less, by an overly protective reading of the requirements of data protection laws. It then discusses the additional measures that European states could take to address more effectively the human rights concerns prompted by the development of ethnic profiling.     

RECONSIDERING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED NEIGHBORHOOD RACIAL COMPOSITION AND WHITES’ PERCEPTIONS OF VICTIMIZATION RISK: DO RACIAL STEREOTYPES MATTER?*

Recent theoretical extensions of threat theory have posited that Whites frequently view Blacks as a criminal threat because of stereotypes linking race and crime. Several studies have found indirect support for this hypothesis and have shown that the percentage of neighborhood residents who are Black is positively associated with the perceptions of victimization risk and fear of crime by White residents. To date, however, little research has investigated whether, as theory would suggest, this relationship is either a consequence of or is contingent on Whites holding stereotypes of Blacks as criminals. In this article, we address this issue by examining whether racial typification of crime mediates or moderates the relationships between static and dynamic measures of neighborhood racial composition and the perceptions of victimization risk by Whites. The results offer mixed support for the threat hypothesis and show that racial typification of crime conditions the relationship between perceived changes in neighborhood racial composition and the perceptions of victimization risk by Whites, but neither explains nor influences the association between static measures of racial composition and the latter. The implications of the findings for threat theory and research are discussed.     

POLICING RACE: THE RACIAL STRATIFICATION OF SEARCHES IN POLICE TRAFFIC STOPS*

Research on race effects in police traffic stops is theoretically underdeveloped. In this study, we derive propositions from Donald Black's theory of law to explain the interaction effects of officer and driver race on searches in traffic stops in St. Louis, Missouri. Our citywide results and those for stops in predominantly White communities are generally consistent with the theory: Searches are more likely in stops of Black drivers than in those of White drivers, especially by White officers, controlling for other characteristics of the officer, driver, and stop. In predominantly Black communities, however, stops of White drivers by White officers are most likely to result in a search. We interpret both sets of results as manifestations of racial profiling in segregated communities and suggest that Black's theory of law remains a promising theoretical framework for future research on the continuing significance of race‐based policing in the United States.     

Testing the racial profiling hypothesis for seemingly disparate traffic stops on the New Jersey Turnpike

This paper describes two studies designed to produce benchmark values with which to compare police stop data in an effort to assess racial profiling. Racial profiling is often measured by comparing the racial and ethnic distribution from police stop rates to race and ethnicity data derived from regional census counts. However, benchmarks may be more appropriate that are based on (1) the population of drivers or (2) the population of traffic violators. This research surveyed drivers on the New Jersey Turnpike and produced benchmark distributions reflecting these two populations. Benchmark values then were compared to police stops collected from State Troopers patrolling the Turnpike. The results revealed that the racial make‐up of speeders differed from that of nonspeeding drivers and closely approximated the racial composition of police stops. Specifically, the proportion of speeding drivers who were identified as Black mirrored the proportion of Black drivers stopped by police. This finding may explain the differences found between police stop rates and regional census data that are often interpreted as evidence of racial profiling. Interpretation and limitations of the results are discussed.