Enclosures abound: Black cultural autonomy, prison regime and public education

Abstract

Since slavery, attempted enclosures upon Black spaces of cultural production and autonomy (i.e. music, language, art) have manifested in various forms. In the context of the post‐industrial terrain of urban southern California, the formation of the prison is the dominant model of forced enclosure in the lives of Black people. Moving beyond the physical site of the prison, the conception of the prison regime is utilized to connect how racialized processes emanating from public education are informed by the formation/maintenance of the prison system. In particular, this article addresses the cultural assertions of Blackness made by Black students and how the corresponding attempted enclosure of Black cultural autonomy by the school is undergirded by a history of violence against Black spaces of cultural autonomy. Ethnographic research for this article was conducted at Southeast County High School (SCHS).