Welcome to the Race, Crime, and Justice Open Educational Resource! This book was developed with a diversity, equity, and inclusion framework. This course is about race, so our primary focus will be on the experiences of people of color (POC) in the criminal justice system. An important aspect of this book is the various spotlight examples we weave throughout the chapters to demonstrate the application of materials. We hope to increase awareness of the experiences of people of color, both historically and in modern day, and the criminal justice system. Throughout history, people of color have had routinely negative experiences with the criminal justice system at every level. A person’s race and ethnicity can determine how one interacts with and experiences the criminal justice system. People of color have faced various barriers and challenges when attempting to make meaningful changes to a system that has operated in a repressive manner since it began.
