ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some official facts and figures pertaining to the criminalization of people of colour and discusses how professional sociology has sought to account for them. It shows the persistent features of the interaction between the criminal justice system and racialized minorities across the Western world, if not beyond and discusses the grammar of race in relation to criminalization. The inquiry was sparked by two cases, in which racism appeared to play a role in the crime, the investigation and the actions of officials and citizens. These cases were seen by many as examples of the way Manitoba's justice system was failing aboriginal people. Perhaps the most notable characteristic of the criminalization of African Americans is its stubborn persistence. The crucial relation of production was that between the plantation owners who owned both the land and the labour, namely African or African-American slaves, and the slaves themselves.
