Race/Ethnicity, Crime and Social Control: An Introduction

Abstract

As Cornel West (1993) asserted, ‘race matters’ because it has mattered so much and so significantly in the lives of millions of people. [...]

The 0161 rap gap: the marginalisation of Black rap musicians in Manchester's live music scene

“…The censorship practices that have been put in place to police and control grime and more recently drill echo the myth of Black criminality (Gilroy 1982), resulting from moral panic surrounding the ‘muggings’ crisis following the increased visibility of young Black people in England in the 1970s and 1980s (Hall 1978, 2013; Patel 2018). Constructed as a ‘Black crime’ (Hall et al .…”

“…The censorship practices that have been put in place to police and control grime and more recently drill echo the myth of Black criminality (Gilroy 1982), resulting from moral panic surrounding the 'muggings' crisis following the increased visibility of young Black people in England in the 1970s and 1980s (Hall 1978(Hall , 2013Patel 2018). Constructed as a 'Black crime' (Hall et al 1987), the 'muggings' crisis became associated with young Black men, which encouraged and justified the intensive policing of Black communities at the time (Elliott-Cooper 2021; Warmington 2014), while also shaping the negative perceptions and public anxieties towards Black and ethnic minorities (Patel 2018).…”

“…The censorship practices that have been put in place to police and control grime and more recently drill echo the myth of Black criminality (Gilroy 1982), resulting from moral panic surrounding the 'muggings' crisis following the increased visibility of young Black people in England in the 1970s and 1980s (Hall 1978(Hall , 2013Patel 2018). Constructed as a 'Black crime' (Hall et al 1987), the 'muggings' crisis became associated with young Black men, which encouraged and justified the intensive policing of Black communities at the time (Elliott-Cooper 2021; Warmington 2014), while also shaping the negative perceptions and public anxieties towards Black and ethnic minorities (Patel 2018). A longstanding history of the policing of Black people sadly remains prominent when we observe how Black rap and Black music practitioners in the UK are met with repackaged racialised bias from police authorities in order to censor and control their community, suggesting how the perception of Black people is still associated with being criminal by default, resulting in attempts to regulate these groups that are seen as 'innately criminal' (Williams and Clarke 2018).…”