According to published reports, three out of every four inmates in Illinois prisons are African American, causing some to conclude that banning the books was a means for prison officials to deprive Blacks of learning their history.
Race matters in the United States, and virtually throughout the world. Throughout U.S. history, race and racial conflict shaped and reshaped the categories into which all identities were classified. Since its beginning, the racial struggles at the heart of U.S. society created the nation’s politics and culture. Winnant argues that although race matters, it is as problematic a concept today as ever. He calls the current period one of “universal racial dualism.”