Doctoral Dissertation Research: Speaking Race Legally: Colorblind Jurisprudence, Institutional Racism, and Faltering Racial Mediation in Cincinnati, Ohio

本研究项目探讨了在俄亥俄州辛辛那提市调解激烈而旷日持久的种族冲突的摇摇欲坠的尝试的动态，以确定是否以及如何色盲法理学代表了缓解种族紧张关系的结构性障碍。在2001年初的种族骚乱之后，辛辛那提市、警察部队和非洲裔美国人社区开始在联邦监督下就改革警务策略进行谈判。本研究将采用民族志的方法来分析这些改革。数据将通过记录人类受试者加入辛辛那提种族对话所涉及的组织形式来收集。研究人员将1)研究辛辛那提有关种族的官方法律和政策文件；2)记录正式谈判环节的话语；3)采访所有参与组织的代表；4)记录所涉及的各个群体的内部结构和动态；5)观察官方代表将种族证词翻译成法律上可接受的措辞所采用的策略。在询问制度结构本身是否以及如何解释群体对谈判失去信心的过程中，这项研究将成为改进政治法律调解方法的宝贵财富，这种调解方法可以激发所有参与者的信心，而不是让一些人觉得，法院这个表面上负责纠正歧视影响的机构，可能是另一个制度性种族主义的场所。通过调查诉讼程序中断的原因，该项目将加强非洲裔美国人社区、警察部队和市政府之间现有的沟通渠道，并开辟新的渠道。此外，由于研究结果将在学术界、非裔美国人社区组织、城市代表、调解咨询公司和警察之间传播，这项研究将促进这些经常不同的选区之间的伙伴关系。

This research project explores the dynamics of a faltering attempt to mediate intense and protracted racial conflict in Cincinnati, Ohio, in order to determine if and how colorblind jurisprudence represents a structural impediment to mitigating racial tension. Following racial unrest in early 2001, the city of Cincinnati, the police force, and the African-American community began negotiations under federal oversight to reform policing strategies. This study will adopt an ethnographic approach to analyze those reforms. Data will be collected by documenting the enlistment of human subjects into the organizational forms involved in the racial dialogue in Cincinnati. The researcher will 1) study official legal and policy documents dealing with race in Cincinnati; 2) record the discourse of formal negotiation sessions; 3) interview representatives of all participating organizations; 4) document intra-group structures and dynamics of the various constituencies involved; and 5) observe strategies official representatives employ to translate racial testimony into legally acceptable terms. In asking if and how institutional structures themselves account for groups having lost faith in the negotiations, this research will be a valuable asset for refining approaches to politico-legal mediation that inspire the confidence of all participants rather than causing some to feel as if the court, the very institution ostensibly responsible for redressing the effects of discrimination, may be yet another site of institutional racism. By investigating the reasons for breakdowns in the proceedings, this project will strengthen existing and open new channels of communication between the African-American community, the police force, and city government. Additionally, because the findings will be disseminated among academics, African-American community organizations, city representatives, mediation consulting firms, and police officers, this research will facilitate partnerships between these often disparate constituencies.