Racism, African Americans, and Social Justice

By (author) Rudolph Alexander

Publication date:

14 April 2005

Length of book:

168 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

236x153mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780742543485

One philosopher identified and defined five types of justice: interpersonal justice, commutative justice, distributive justice, communal justice, and social justice. Moving from the end of slavery to the present, this book discusses how and why African Americans have received less than equal justice in these five areas.

This thesis is laid out in chapters discussing the history of race and what some professionals currently call "modern racism," higher education, juvenile justice, law enforcement, the military, economics, the reparations for slavery issue, and employment discrimination. Arguments presented include the differential treatments in the law based on gender and race, the false impression about the affirmative action benefits that African Americans allegedly receive in higher education, and the issue of reparations.
Alexander's knowledgeable use of case law is at the center of a strong work that makes important contributions to our understanding of the complexities of racism in American society and analyzes racist oppression in new ways. Racism, African Americans, and Social Legal Justice has the kind of broad appeal that makes it exciting and accessible to both scholars and general readers with an interest in racial justice.