The ideas for this book had their origins in both my master’s and doctoral research. I watched, at the beginning of my master’s, in 2003, as what we now know to be deviance and punishment amplification took on a racialized tone, in the Canadian context. Media narratives introduced Torontonians, in particular, to the youth gang as a developing Black phenomenon. The year 2005 became variously labelled as The Summer of the Gun and by December The Year of the Gun. It was a troubling time. These narratives had become part of dialogical negotiation, representing Black youth as risky and threatening, and ultimately punishable. Do not make the mistake of believing these characterizations to be about criminal and non-criminal participation. Inequality and its relentless kin, labelling, and stigma also play a role.
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