Summary

Chapter Four also discusses the idea of “white fear,” exploring how it has shaped society as a whole. Hayes states that though nonwhite people are disproportionately the victims of crime, white fear has created the modern prison system. He notes that, even as crime rates dropped in the 1990s, the country’s incarceration rate continued to increase. The War on Drugs is a possible explanation for this, but even after releasing all nonviolent drug offenders, the country would still have the world’s highest incarceration rate. Minimum sentences and aggressive prosecutions also contribute, but no one factor explains the emergence of the colony. Instead, Hayes argues that it was a combination of political and societal decisions, all driven by an undercurrent of white fear. This fear is based somewhat on an unconscious bias against black Americans, even by members of their own race. The...