Essay by Adeno Addis
To most Americans, both black and white, the outcome of the jury deliberation in the first Rodney King case was manifestly unjust. I think it might be accurate to say, however, that the decision was more surprising to whites than it was to blacks. This is not to say that blacks were not outraged by the decision. They were. What occurred in South Central Los Angeles and other urban centers in the aftermath of the decision is the proof, if proof is indeed needed, of their outrage. Rather, the point is that for most blacks the devaluation of their lives by the criminal justice system is a routine affair. The Rodney King episode was just one more example, though a very blatant one, of this devaluation. On the other hand, for many whites the Rodney King decision was perhaps one of the few moments in the “post-civil-rights era” where they were forced to confront the discrepancy between the favorable image they have of the institutions of this country-and consequently of themselves-and what looked to be a monumental failure of institutional responsibility.
I suspect that most whites resolved this contradiction by invoking the notion of exception. In other words, they probably saw the decision as unrepresentative of how the criminal justice system normally functions. The concept of exception would allow them simultaneously to hold on to the image of a fair criminal justice system, while expressing their disapproval of the specific outcome in the Rodney King case. After all, no system is perfect, they could be saying, and this was just one of those moments when the criminal justice system failed to function as it is supposed to, and as it normally does.
If I am accurate in my observation about the responses of most blacks and most whites to the Rodney King decision, it indicates that blacks and whites have radically different perceptions about both the nature of racism and its prevalence in this country. For most whites, racial incidents (injustices) demonstrate that bigots and institutional failures still exist; however, they do not indicate that racism is a systemic problem. On the other hand, for blacks, racism is not simply a problem of bigots and the occasional institutional failure. It is deeply entrenched in this polity and defines the institutions of this country, not so much by being an exception to the general rule of fairness, but rather by being central to the polity's very understanding of fairness, justice, and virtue. Put simply, while most whites see racism as an occasional unfortunate interruption to the institutional and individual commitments to the values of equal opportunity and equal treatment, most blacks see racism as a daily routine by which the lives of black people are systematically and institutionally devalued.
The most glaring example of such devaluation occurs in the criminal justice system. As some studies have shown, the victimization of a black person by either a white or a black offender does not outrage white jurors to the same degree as the victimization of a white person. And when the victim is white and the offender is black, the level of outrage reaches its highest point. As I argue later, this is also the case in the media coverage of criminal cases. When the victim is white and the alleged offender is black, the media's interest is enormous, even in cities with staggering numbers of murders every month. The race of the victim is an important factor in the level and intensity of coverage.
The jury box is not the only place in the criminal justice system where the lives and well-being of African Americans are devalued. The judiciary and lawyers themselves are also engaged in this process of devaluation. Although there has not been a systematic study on the subject, there are a sufficient number of statements by judges and lawyers to indicate that, in the scale of justice, black lives are worth much less than their white counterparts.
Devaluation, however, is not just limited to the criminal justice system. One can see it by the routine way in which financial institutions, real estate agents and agencies, car dealers, politicians, and political institutions deal with their black customers and constituencies. The very breadth of this devaluation suggests that the institutions of this country are interlinked and that they recycle the process of devaluation.
The purpose of this short Essay is not, however, to give a detailed account of the extent and reach of the devaluation of the lives and well-being of African Americans. Nor is it concerned with the degree and extent of devaluation in the criminal justice system. I have neither the space, nor, more importantly, the expertise to engage in such an enterprise. Rather, the object of this Essay is to show how the communication process, about which I know something, provides a context for the criminal justice system's overall unjust treatment of African Americans. The argument here is that the media constructs a certain image of African Americans that provides a condition necessary for the criminal justice system to devalue the lives and well-being of African Americans.
Lest I be misunderstood, let me at the outset indicate what the argument is not. I do not claim that the media's image of African Americans, developed over the years, is the cause of every miscarriage of justice visited on African Americans, nor do I claim that a less stereotypical image would remove the condition for all injustices. That cannot be right, for numerous other reasons may drive the criminal justice system's systematic devaluation of African-American lives. The economic condition of African Americans might, for example, be one factor. Rather, my claim is that if we do not take seriously one social context-the image the media portrays of African Americans-we might not fully understand why the criminal justice system (or any other sphere of life) continues to devalue the lives of African Americans or what the appropriate response should be. Thus, part of the objective of this Essay is to show how the devaluation of the lives of African Americans in one sphere of existence is linked to a process of devaluation in another sphere. The implication of this for jurisprudence in this area is clear. We will not be able to grasp fully the nature and extent of devaluation unless we realize: 1) that devaluation is a systemic problem, and 2) that it is recycled institutionally from one sphere to another, that is, the various spheres of existence assume one another in this process of devaluation.
If one accepts the above propositions, then it becomes clear that, to be effective in countering systemic devaluation, our responses will not only have to be directed at the criminal justice system, but also at the other spheres that create a certain identity of African Americans for consumption by the criminal justice system. One of those spheres is the communication process though which the image of the transgressing black is systematically developed.
About the Author
Adeno Addis. W.R. Irby Chair and W. Ray Forrester Professor of Public and Constitutional Law, Tulane Law School.
Citation
67 Tul. L. Rev. 2253 (1993)