The Presumption: Race and Injustice in the United States

The Presumption from the renowned Professor D. Marvin Jones is a must read for anyone who is trying to understand mass incarceration of Black men. He adroitly lays out how the presumption of the dangerousness or criminality of Black men is rooted in America’s history of racial oppression. It has functioned in narratives and images to normalize police policies and practices that have long produced over policing of Black men. While one would expect that that presumption would function when Black men are accused of a crime, Professor Jones also shows how it works with Black men are the victims. Thereby attenuating the ability of the justice system to conceptualize them as victims of criminal activity as well.

“Presumptions of guilt, dangerousness and menace have haunted the black community since America was founded. These inhumane assumptions continue to infect every aspect of American justice causing untold suffering, marginalization and death. No one understands this toxicity better than Professor Donald M. Jones. In an original work like no other, Professor Jones dives deeply into the psychological, historical and legal elements of these deadly presumptions. The analysis is brilliant, original, sober and clear. Lawyers, law students, academics journalists, activists, college students and anyone concerned about injustice will benefit from the preeminent expert on this subject, Professor Donald M. Jones.”

“There is an old saying that “the eye cannot see what the mind does not comprehend.” In The Presumption, Professor Jones helps even those with the most skeptical vision recognize through historical documentation, persuasive reasoning, and powerful examples how Black identity has been criminalized-both historically, during slavery and the Jim Crow period, and today-in police practices, media biases, and social interaction. Perceptive, thoughtful, and timely, The Presumption should be required reading for anyone concerned about reducing racial discrimination in America today.” ―Michael Higginbotham