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Elizabeth Hinton presents 'From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America"

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Wednesday, September 21st 2016

7:30 pm

Red Emma's

We've been told that the roots of mass incarceration lie with conservative backlash and the Reagan Republican War on Drugs—but, as Elizabeth Hinton shows in her new book, the roots of mass incarceration are older and deeper, grounded in the liberal response to urban crisis, and specifically to the way federal support for increasingly militarized policing arose during LBJ's war on poverty.  In an era where urban unrest among Black Americans demanding justice is once again foregrounding the depths of poverty in communities of color across the country, this is a vital cautionary tale about the unintended or unnoticed consequences of policies that purport to offer solutions but are really grounded in an agenda of control.

“From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime requires slow and careful reading for anyone seeking to grasp the full implications of this exceedingly well-researched work… The book is vivid with detail and sharp analysis… Hinton’s book is more than an argument; it is a revelation… There are moments that will make your skin crawl… This is history, but the implications for today are striking. Readers will learn how the militarization of the police that we’ve witnessed in Ferguson and elsewhere had roots in the 1960s… A reader cannot help reckoning with the truth that the problem of police brutality and mass incarceration won’t be remedied with technology and training. Those of us who believe in the principles of democracy and justice would do well to witness, as detailed in Hinton’s pages, the shameful theft of liberty in this so-called land of the free.” —Imani Perry, The New York Times Book Review

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