WHAT MIGHT THE COUNTRY LOOK LIKE IN 2044,
when the United States is projected to tip from being majority
white to majority minority, or in the ensuing years, when
people of color also wield the majority of political and
economic power? And specifically, what might policing
look like?
These are the questions Bennett Capers, the Stanley A.
August Professor of Law, takes up in his article “Afrofuturism,
Critical Race Theory, and Policing in the Year 2044,” 94 New
York University Law Review 1 (2019). Capers is a prolific scholar
on the relationship between race, gender, and criminal
justice. At the Law School, he teaches evidence, criminal
procedure, and criminal law. He spent nearly 10 years as an
Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York.
In his article, Capers analyzes policing issues in the
context of Afrofuturism, a cultural aesthetic and philosophy
of science and history that explores the intersection of
African diaspora culture with technology; and in the context
of critical race theory (CRT), a framework that uses critical
theory to examine society and culture as they relate to
categorizations of race, law, and power.
Capers anticipates
that in an Afrofuturist
and CRT-informed
future, crime will have
dropped dramatically,
owing, in part, to
societal changes in the
redistribution of wealth.
Extant and emerging
technology (e.g., race-neutral
surveillance,
big data, and terahertz
scanners, as well as vast improvements in face, voice, and gait
recognition) also will help reduce crime and lead to a drastic
reduction in the use of force by police.
“I hope the article will encourage people of color,
progressives, and others to think about and envision the
future,” said Capers. “It’s easy to be pessimistic about the
status quo. But smart people should start planning now for
a future world in order to better map a way toward it. It’s
important to have a vision.”