The American term ‘mugging’ entered British crime discourse through race-laden panic about black youth.

Evidence

In the final section, the book focused attention on one of the main figures or tropes that had been conjured up at the center of the mugging phenomenon: black youth. At a high point in the crisis, a journalist, drawing comparisons between black crime in the US and Britain, asked “Must Harlem Come to Handsworth?” The question became a self-fulfilling prophesy. The term “mugging” in its contemporary American meaning, with its connotations of race, crime, and violence, was first used to describe a modern British crime in 1972: ” ‘To our police it’s a frightening new strain of crime’ ” (7). — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 1066

Categorization

• XREF: A textbook example of moral panic and the social construction of crime categories — connects to labelling theory and Cohen’s concept of moral panic discussed in earlier material. — connects to: The American term ‘mugging’ was imported into Britain carrying racialized meanings; The American term ‘mugging’ first described a modern British crime in 1972; The mugging panic fused crime, race, and urban change into social crisis (+6 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: The American term ‘mugging’ was imported into Britain carrying racialized meanings; The American term ‘mugging’ first described a modern British crime in 1972; The mugging panic fused crime, race, and urban change into social crisis (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• The American term ‘mugging’ was imported into Britain carrying racialized meanings #corroborates (1.00)