ABSTRACT
It is well-established that Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people have the highest rates of incarceration. Without coming to terms with this injustice, investigations into mass incarceration are missing something central to the process. In this chapter, the analytic of critical race theory provides the analytic for grasping how mass incarceration is a central tool of white supremacy. In particular, this chapter investigates how US carceral systems are direct products of slavery and neoliberalism. As a direction forward, the chapter argues the prison abolition movement continues a long legacy of resistance within the US against these racial injustices.
