Is Internalized Racism One More Piece of the Puzzle in Racial Disparities in Prosecution?

Scholars have long hypothesized that a lack of racial diversity among prosecutors contributes to the racial disparities present in prosecution and sentencing. However, there is little to no empirical basis for this conclusion. Rather, this article argues that minority prosecutors may actually contribute to the system’s racial disparities due to internalized racism, which occurs when members of a racially-oppressed group perpetuate the dominating groups’ supremacy by engaging in similar behaviors, attitudes, social structures, and ideologies that support the dominant groups’ power. This study tests whether internalized racism makes Black prosecutors prone to take more punitive action toward Black defendants than they do toward white, Latinx, and Asian defendants by analyzing prosecutors’ decisions to make custodial plea offers and reduce charges. The results supported the notion that internalized racism at least partially contributes to the racial disparities in the criminal justice system, as Black prosecutors offered Black and Latinx defendants more punitive plea offers than they gave to white defendants. However, the solution to this problem is not to decrease the presence of minority prosecutors. To the contrary, this study argues for continued diversification of prosecutors.

“[M]inority prosecutors may not be immune to internalized racism. Surviving on the margin of a predominantly White industry, minority prosecutors may believe employment and career advancement requires them to adopt what they perceive as White prosecutors’ behavior. Minority prosecutors may strive for toughness and punitive outcomes for all groups of defendants, especially for those in their own racial group.” p. 727