Tim Donnelly
10/20/2012
Racial Ideology
There are those who say we live in a post-racial society that someone’s race is not an
important factor upon their status and the condition of their living. This isn’t true; one merely has
to look at unemployment, prison numbers and political talk to know that this isn’t true. Many
political philosophy and ideologies have led to racial politics but I believe the defining ideology
for this of the last 30 years has been Reaganism. To me Ronald Reagan, the new right and the
political atmosphere he brought in changed America more than any political movement.
This essay will examine Reaganism along with examples from “Zero Tolerance
Policing”, Why “Mass Incarceration Matters”, and the Age of Oprah to show how Reaganism
has affected America in the last 30 years. It will give examples by these pieces to show how
Reaganism has shaped us in the police culture, war on crime and in the public opinions in terms
of racial politics. It will also examine some of the dog whistle words like “tough on crime” and
“urban” that Reaganism employed to keep racial politics under wrap.
Reaganism can be described as the central ideology of the Reagan administration it had
several components. One of the components was the belief that every individual is responsible
for themselves and only held back by their own efforts and ambitions. For this reason Reaganism
suggest that by limiting Government programs, taxes and spending individuals with drive and
ambition will succeed and those without these virtues will fail. For this reason Reaganism can in
some ways be described as a black and white form of thinking, those who succeed are virtuous,
those who fail are lazy. Those who are good choose to be good, those who choose to do bad are
not bad because of circumstances that forced them to be bad but because of circumstances they
forced upon themselves.
If one looks at “Zero Tolerance: The Science of Ass-Kicking” by Christian Parienti. You
can see how in many ways Reaganism impacted racial relationships. Zero tolerance policing
relates to Reaganism in the sense that Reaganism places things in a white and black issue, by
putting people into groups of “law breakers and criminals” against “civilians and innocent”, you
create a very set definition of groups. The language used in policing though was very dog whistle
racism, for example in New York City, the term “retaking” the city was often used, usually
directed at “urban” individuals suggesting black individuals. This might sound like a stretch until
