ABSTRACT
Various types and levels of racial oppression have been pervasive in the United States (US) since African slaves were introduced in the colony of Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. This chapter provides an overview of what is known about race and the death penalty in the US, beginning with the early years through the Furman case in 1972. It discusses the important death penalty challenges and the resulting changes that created the current capital punishment process. Examinations of existing information on rape cases prior to Furman have shown that black men convicted of raping a white woman were almost always executed, while white men were rarely even prosecuted for raping a black female. The Furman ruling brought about a temporary moratorium on capital sentencing in the United States, allowing the more than 550 inmates awaiting execution on death row at the time to have their sentences commuted to life in prison.
