Criminalizing black children establishes the boundaries of whiteness

Evidence

Henning writes, “There is something particularly efficient about treating Black children like criminals in adolescence. Black youth are dehumanized, exploited, and even killed to establish the boundaries of Whiteness before they reach adulthood and assert their rights and independence.” Once again laws vaguely worded with phrases like “disruption of class,” “willful defiance,” and “disorderly conduct” are inherently discriminatory and designed so that “just about any black [can] be arrested.” It was an efficient strategy during convict leasing, and it remains one today. — Dorothy A. Brown, Getting to Reparations, 426

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines what the vague criminalization language actually does — functions as a racial boundary-drawing mechanism, not a public-safety measure.
• XREF: The explicit historical continuity claim — convict leasing to today — is load-bearing for the reparations ‘hidden history’ + ‘saturated system’ architecture. — connects to: Racialized vigilante murder polices neighborhood boundaries against Black and Muslim bodies alike — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 490; Racialized neighborhood boundaries are violently enforced against Black and brown bodies — Cyra Akila Choudhury, Racecraft and Identity in the Emergence…, 490; White observers hold innocence as the default for Whites and criminality for Blacks (+1 more)