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A review by 11corvus11
Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment by Angela J. Davis
3.0
2.5 stars, rather. I admit, it was my fault that I mistook Angela J. Davis (the law professor, editor, and author of some essays) for Angela Y. Davis (the famous, brilliant Black liberation activist, writer, scholar, and many other things.) When I saw the title I just made the assumption that it was the latter Angela Davis and that the book would be full of essays about prison abolition, the problems with authoritarianism and the police, solutions for Black liberation, and so on. What I got instead was an academic text that seems like it would go over well in an introductory class in law school where the students are predominantly non-Black and inexperienced with the topic at hand- an extremely important topic that I wish this book handled better.
The first essay was promising which catalogued the history of lynching and authoritarianism and how if fits in with today's policing. There were some gems of knowledge peppered throughout other essays that the general layman would benefit from- especially about prosecutors, grand juries, and implicit bias. Most of the rest of the book was extremely repetitive, dry, and very centrist liberal, reformist rather than abolitionist, and downright praising of police. One guy even used the "a few bad apples/rogue actors" phrase and called most cops "heroes." Another person's entire essay couched every critique of racist, anti-Black policing in fawning complements of police officers in general. There was not a single essay aside from the first that I noticed making an argument or critique of the police force and prison industrial complex in general- all of it simply suggested there were these few broken issues that we could fix with a cop education program here and there and a Black prosecutor. It was at this point that I was asking myself, "Why on Earth would Angela Davis include these essays in her book?!" I then went to read some reviews and on brought my ignorant mistake to my attention.
The book is also poorly edited. I lost count of how many times there were extremely long slogs through defining and representing what implicit bias is and why it is wrong. Many essays catalogued the same court cases over and over. I sometimes wondered if I had some sort of cognitive lapse and did not realize I started the book over as some things were so repetitive. Some overlap and repetition is to be expected in anthologies, no doubt. But, the amount in this one was overkill. It means the book only really serves as something you read one essay out of, not something you want to read all of. And, why not just read online if you're going to read only one paper?
I do think this book has its place which is why I didn't give it a 1 or 2 star review. A white liberal middle class kid steeped in white privilege may need this kind of book as a stepping stone. Early law students who trust the system and the police unconditionally may need to understand the basics in this book in a way that is not heavy handed. People who balk at the idea of internalized white supremacy may better grasp the concept of "implicit bias" as it lets them off the hook in a way. People who need to understand more complicated definitions of racial profiling or of the basics of how court systems work could benefit. I would hope that these things would then lead them to more radical thought down the line. I am not saying I learned nothing from this. There were definitely things I picked up. But, what I picked up out of this entire book could have been conveyed to me in a long newpaper article. Perhaps if I went in with different expectations and the right Angela Davis in mind, I would have felt differently.
.........
The first essay was promising which catalogued the history of lynching and authoritarianism and how if fits in with today's policing. There were some gems of knowledge peppered throughout other essays that the general layman would benefit from- especially about prosecutors, grand juries, and implicit bias. Most of the rest of the book was extremely repetitive, dry, and very centrist liberal, reformist rather than abolitionist, and downright praising of police. One guy even used the "a few bad apples/rogue actors" phrase and called most cops "heroes." Another person's entire essay couched every critique of racist, anti-Black policing in fawning complements of police officers in general. There was not a single essay aside from the first that I noticed making an argument or critique of the police force and prison industrial complex in general- all of it simply suggested there were these few broken issues that we could fix with a cop education program here and there and a Black prosecutor. It was at this point that I was asking myself, "Why on Earth would Angela Davis include these essays in her book?!" I then went to read some reviews and on brought my ignorant mistake to my attention.
The book is also poorly edited. I lost count of how many times there were extremely long slogs through defining and representing what implicit bias is and why it is wrong. Many essays catalogued the same court cases over and over. I sometimes wondered if I had some sort of cognitive lapse and did not realize I started the book over as some things were so repetitive. Some overlap and repetition is to be expected in anthologies, no doubt. But, the amount in this one was overkill. It means the book only really serves as something you read one essay out of, not something you want to read all of. And, why not just read online if you're going to read only one paper?
I do think this book has its place which is why I didn't give it a 1 or 2 star review. A white liberal middle class kid steeped in white privilege may need this kind of book as a stepping stone. Early law students who trust the system and the police unconditionally may need to understand the basics in this book in a way that is not heavy handed. People who balk at the idea of internalized white supremacy may better grasp the concept of "implicit bias" as it lets them off the hook in a way. People who need to understand more complicated definitions of racial profiling or of the basics of how court systems work could benefit. I would hope that these things would then lead them to more radical thought down the line. I am not saying I learned nothing from this. There were definitely things I picked up. But, what I picked up out of this entire book could have been conveyed to me in a long newpaper article. Perhaps if I went in with different expectations and the right Angela Davis in mind, I would have felt differently.
.........