2nd Edition
Institutional Racism and Restorative Justice Oppression and Privilege in America
Invisible, intractable, and deadly— such is the nature of institutional racism. But are there mitigating actions that society could take against it? Diane Carpenter Emling explores this question in Institutional Racism and Restorative Justice: Oppression and Privilege in America. Moving beyond the immediate sources and consequences of prejudice, racism, and inequality to thoroughly assess approaches to restorative justice, Emling details America’s complex history of racism, demonstrating how it becomes embedded in society through land ownership, housing, education, health care, employment, public services, and criminal justice. For each of these issues, she suggests actions to restore justice. But societies don’t operate institution by institution, and extraordinary changes will be necessary to address systemic racism. Directed at college undergraduate students, Emling’s book offers a valueable contribution for teaching courses in African-American studies, sociology, economics, politics, and American history. Written in a comprehensive and accessible style, this book offers a much-needed perspective in the literature on institutional racism. This new edition includes important accounts and analysis of the political and social upheavals following the George Floyd killing and subsequent demonstrations, the cultural battle over Critical Race Theory, and the foregrounding of race in American politics and institutions.
Introduction: What is Race?; PART I: Concepts and Context: 1 Acculturation and Assimilation; 2 Immigration and the American Dream; PART II: The Social Institutions at Work: 3 Land; 4 Housing; 5 Education; 6 Health; 7 Social Wellbeing and Employment; 8 Criminal Justice; 9 Family; 10 Voting Rights; PART III: So What Can We Do?: Conclusion: Necessary but not sufficient; Appendix A: Reflections on restorative justice; Appendix B: Sociological theories; Appendix C: Timeline of key events
Biography
Diane Carpenter Emling holds a PhD in Sociology, emphasizing political economy, from Michigan State University. She is retired from a 30-year career teaching Sociology at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City, Michigan, as well as from adjunct teaching appointments at Michigan State University’s James Madison College and the School of Social Work, Ferris State University, and Grand Valley State University. She conducts Institutional Racism seminars and Implicit Bias training along with other public speaking.
"Diane Carpenter Emling’s Institutional Racism and Restorative Justice: Oppression and Privilege in America is a timely and much needed book in this racially charged environment in which we currently live. It provides an institutional approach to race relations in the United States and helps us understand the impact of societal institutions that perpetuate inequalities along racial lines, while exposing the underlying structural conditions that prolong racism and racial oppression. Emling’s approach makes clear the enormity of the impact of systemic racism, revealing its complex nature. It is a cogent and clearly written book that will make an invaluable contribution to our understanding of race and racism and bring awareness of this fault line in our society to a wide academic audience that will generate serious discussion and debate on this pivotal phenomenon of our time."
Berch Berberoglu, Foundation Professor of Sociology, Emeritus, University of Nevada, Reno
"This book is a terrific source for doing exactly what so many do not do well: capture the complexity of racial inequality and its historical roots. The author’s historic approach and attention to the complexities that keep inequality by virtue of race normal in society is critically important. Also, it is greatly appreciated that the author’s concern is not only with exposing social problems but offering solutions— something to say ‘yes’ to. This will be a vital text for undergraduate students wanting to learn more about race and inequality in society, and have concrete ideas and practices at hand."
Jacqueline Battalora, Professor of Sociology and author of Birth of a White Nation, 2nd edn (Routledge, 2021), Saint Xavier University, Chicago
"This book gives an excellent introduction to the sociological understanding of race, and explores what I think are the most important areas in which to understand how systemic/ institutional racism works in the US. Prof. Emling does a great job giving concise overviews of the historical bases for the different dimensions of institutional racism in the US. The structure of the book, in easy to digest chapters each on a different aspect of institutional racism, is quite useful, and will be a valuable resource for undergraduate and early graduate students."
Nicholas P. Demsey, Associate Professor of Sociology, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg
"Professor Emling has improved an on- point first edition by enhancing previously published chapters and adding new chapters, including a revised concluding chapter with new material on unwinding racist systems. Addressing one of America’s enduring challenges, Institutional Racism and Restorative Justice is well written and full of insights, ideal for classroom use."
Frank A. Fear, Professor Emeritus, Michigan State University
Praise for the first edition:
"America has a history of extreme racism, which reforms in the twentieth century have alleviated but not eradicated. Diane Emling lists ways in which racism in America has existed and still exists, ranging from the almost accidental way in which ‘[s]eemingly neutral policies … administered by whites who have no racist intent continue to benefit whites’ (36) to the discrimination formerly enshrined in law and organized violence and lynchings… This book would serve as a useful teaching tool for American students, but also [this] reviewer learned from it and found much to reflect on in his own country. It would be helpful if each country produced a comparable book on the treatment of racial minorities (or even in some cases an ethnically different majority), with recommendations— and included it in the syllabus for history and sociology."
Martin Wright in The International Journal of Restorative Justice 4/ 3 (2021): 504, 506
