Economic History Commons^™

The Progressives: Racism And Public Law, Herbert J. Hovenkamp

All Faculty Scholarship

American Progressivism inaugurated the beginning of the end of American scientific racism. Its critics have been vocal, however. Progressives have been charged with promotion of eugenics, and thus with mainstreaming practices such as compulsory housing segregation, sterilization of those deemed unfit, and exclusion of immigrants on racial grounds. But if the Progressives were such racists, why is it that since the 1930s Afro-Americans and other people of color have consistently supported self-proclaimed progressive political candidates, and typically by very wide margins?

When examining the Progressives on race, it is critical to distinguish the views that they inherited from those that …

Institutionalized: How Racial Wealth Inequality Creates A Cycle Of Mass Incarceration, Alphonso C. Kenneth

Senior Projects Fall 2017

Racial wealth inequality is a relentless cycle that operates uniquely in America because it implies that the racial consequences of racism continue to influence decisions made in structures and institutions and create unjust economic relationships between white and Black people in America.(Richard F. America) The recent political discourse alleges, by asserting neoclassical theory, that the wealth divide is resultant of differences in self-determination, prioritization, and work ethic alone varying across racial demographics — reinforcing the assumption that some races of people (Whites and Asians, for example) work harder than others(like Blacks). Therefore, by the transitive property, racial wealth inequality is …