ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the convergence of two tools of oppression—the racial construction of crime and the use of reproduction as an instrument of punishment. It discusses how race is used to identify criminals and to define crime. The convergence of crime, race, and reproduction has deep roots in America. American history provides us with a wealth of hindsight with which to judge the potential danger of biological solutions to crime. During the first half of the twentieth century, the eugenics movement embraced the theory that intelligence and other personality traits were genetically determined and therefore inherited. The federal government has shown renewed interest in biological research on crime premised on the theory that criminality has a biochemical or genetic cause. The imposition of penalties related to reproduction prepares our society to accept a more purely eugenic program. The new reproductive punishments must be understood as part of the history of the systemic and institutionalized denial of black women's reproductive freedom.
