Running the numbers: race, police, and the history of urban gambling

Politics and the Old Policy Wheel -- "Are You Going to Let a Negro Name the Next Mayor of Chicago?": Investigations and Elections -- This Community Is Being Criminalized -- Half of the Rest of Their Lives in Jail -- We Intend to Run It -- Conclusion: Lottery as an American Way of Life.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Vaz, Matthew (Author)
Format: Print Book
Language:English
Published: Chicago London University of Chicago Press 2020
In:Year: 2020
Online Access: Table of Contents
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Summary:Politics and the Old Policy Wheel -- "Are You Going to Let a Negro Name the Next Mayor of Chicago?": Investigations and Elections -- This Community Is Being Criminalized -- Half of the Rest of Their Lives in Jail -- We Intend to Run It -- Conclusion: Lottery as an American Way of Life.
"Strictly and widely illegal, the most common manifestations of urban gambling were once "the numbers game" and "policy," in which people would place daily bets on random numbers, through community institutions, such as newsstands and barbershops. Gambling became one of the largest economic activities and sources of employment in some nonwhite neighborhoods-and therefore it drew intense police interest. Some of the most corrupt and blatantly discriminatory police actions centered on gambling and its practitioners. The state's interest doomed urban gambling, as many states coopted the market with their own hugely lucrative lotteries. A game that first flourished in poor and nonwhite urban communities has become America's game"--
Physical Description:197 Seiten Illustrationen
ISBN:9780226690445