On Wednesday, Feb. 20, the DU community gathered on the fourth floor of the Sturm College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) to hear Dr. Hannah Walker’s, who is an assistant professor at Rutgers University, lecture “Mobilized by Injustice: Criminal Justice Contact, Political Participation and Race.” Walker’s work centers around the impact of the criminal justice system on democracy—especially for minority groups.

One of the points that Walker brought up throughout the presentation is that police in lower income, minority areas are used for surveillance and to disrupt and manage movement, whereas police aim to protect the white, wealthy individuals from people who are viewed as potentially dangerous. Latin Americans, African-Americans and immigrants are significantly more likely to encounter the criminal justice system than their white counterparts. Police apply policies unequally depending on one’s background, income and level of education.

Walker’s research, which includes six surveys and 59 interviews, has noted that proximal contact, when combined with a feeling of injustice, causes an increased participation in events that will spark political action. Racial oppression, she said, can cause an increase in political action both inside and outside the voting booths. This leads to an increase in marches, city council meetings and other events to protest police brutality. However, a feeling of injustice without proximal contact will do little to increase participation in voting or political action—according to Walker.

In the presentation, Walker also discussed that each minority should be mobilized in a unique way. African-Americans should be mobilized through a sense of injustice through narrative, immigrants are group conscious so they should be mobilized if they are not threatened and Latinos should be mobilized when they connect their criminal justice experiences to immigration.

Walker ended her presentation with three concluding points:

First, proximal contact mobilizes marginalized individuals who view their experiences through the lens of injustice. Second, the criminal justice system creates the possibility for multicultural coalition to contest its legitimacy. Third, further research should be done on the criminal justice system and democracy as it applies to women and newly founded groups such as Black Lives Matter.

Walker will continue doing research on criminal justice and is in the midst of writing a book called “Mobilized by Injustice: Criminal Justice Contact, Political Incorporation and Race.” This book will further discuss the impact of experiences with the criminal justice system on political engagement.