Coramae Richey Mann: A “Tidal Wave” of Criminal Justice

By: Arielle Pare, Bicentennial Intern, Class of 2021, International Studies, French, Bloomington

Edited by: Ellie Kaverman and Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistants

Dr. Coramae Richey Mann worked diligently to expose the systemic racism  of the American criminal justice system. She served as a mentor to countless students and was a well known  expert who was often consulted by the media to speak on current issues regarding race.

While her nationwide impact on criminal justice discourse was remarkable, her impact on IU during her tenure was equally significant.

Childhood and Early Career

Dr. Mann was born in 1931 in Chicago, Illinois. She had a brief modeling career during high school and college, including an appearance on the cover of Ebony.[1] Dr. Mann earned both her undergraduate degree and her graduate degree in clinical psychology from Roosevelt University in 1956 and 1961, respectively. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1976.[2]

Before coming to Indiana University in 1988, Dr. Mann had a rich, interdisciplinary career. She worked with the Chicago Board of Health, served as a diagnostician for the Chicago Psychiatric Institute, and was director of Chicago’s Planned Parenthood.[3]] She left Chicago in 1977 to become a professor at Florida State University. She worked there for eleven years as the only Black woman on the faculty.[4] 

Coming to IU

Dr. Mann came to Indiana University in 1988. Her interest in IU lay in the university’s criminal justice department’s interdisciplinary approach, which resulted from the leadership of IU faculty members J. Erroll Miller and Robert F. Borkenstein.[5] The university hired her to establish the department’s Ph.D. program and bring a new point of view to the criminal justice department.[6]

Dr. Mann was also an adjunct professor in Afro-American studies and the women’s affairs programs. She taught classes such as “Ecology of Crime” and “Women in the Criminal Justice System,” which were designed to make students think critically about a part of American life often pushed to the side–especially, she argued, with its implications for young minorities.[7]

“So much of the fear of crime, and crime statistics, are driven by politicians in conjunction with the media. It’s clear to me that is what has been going on in particular with children of color,” she said in a 1996 interview on her opinion of how crime and children are used as a political tactic.[8]

Martinsville, IN

In 1989, Dr. Mann made local news by taking her “Minorities and Crime” class on a trip to Martinsville, Indiana, a town 20 minutes north of Bloomington. Martinsville had a reputation for racial prejudice, especially after a 1967 Ku Klux Klan march there and the 1968 unsolved murder of Carol Jenkins, an African American woman who sold encyclopedias door-to-door.[9]

At the time, it was known as a “sundown town,” so named for the signs stating that “colored people” had to leave town before sundown.[10] Dr. Mann was warned by her peers against going to Martinsville, but she felt that she had to investigate these claims.[11]

After announcing her plans, “someone in the IU hierarchy” requested that her students sign safety waiver forms, which were reserved for unusually dangerous activities.[12] While some white students dropped out of the trip upon hearing of the waivers, Dr. Mann was determined to see the rest of her class travel to Martinsville, which they did in 1989.[13]

Dr. Mann’s 1989 study had IU students observe the reactions of Martinsville residents to interracial couples. Their findings showed that racial prejudice in Martinsville was likely overstated by the media. Dr. Mann was optimistic about future growth for the city since especially when the town formed the “Citizens for Cultural Enhancement” group in 1989.[14]

Dr. Mann and her students became “quasi-famous” in Martinsville, attracting the attention of TV and radio stations and even attended  a lunch forum with the Martinsville Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Mann was even asked by the city to be an advisor on forming the city’s new public image.

“Inconvenient Woman of the Year”

The Martinsville trip was only one example of Dr. Mann challenging the status quo. “I make tidal waves,” she said in the Indianapolis Star in 1992, comparing her approach to other Black faculty’s apprehensive approach to change.[15]

In fact, Dr. William Oliver, a current professor of criminal justice and African American studies at IU Bloomington who was recruited by Dr. Mann, asserted that she was “no punk.”[16] She prided herself on her “strange personality and unorthodox teaching,” using it to initiate relationships with students.[17]

Her unique approach to teaching was also recognized by the Division on Women and Crime in the American Society of Criminology, which has a Coramae Richey Mann “Inconvenient Woman of the Year” Award for women in criminology who question norms of gender inequality.[18]

Dr. Mann’s academic research reflected this boldness. She wrote dozens of articles and reports, many of which illustrated racial disparities in the US justice system. During her time at IU Bloomington, her works included Unequal Justice: A Question of Color (1993); and A Minority View of Juvenile “Justice” (1994).

“Clearly the African-American Public has very little faith in the justice system,” she stated as a radio commentator. “Almost every African-American you talk to has someone under the yoke of that system, either in prison or arrested or in court. And they know for themselves that the system is bigoted.”[19] She proved through her own research that crime did not see color.

Dr. Mann encouraged students of color, who she saw as at risk of discrimination in the justice system, to seek out graduate degrees at IU Bloomington.[20] She told her students to “not take anything from anybody” and to negotiate to solve problems of racial conflict.[21] Her dedication benefited minority students and gave them the confidence and courage to succeed in an unjust world.

Equally as important as her observations on race was Dr. Mann’s research on female crime. Dr. Mann’s 1996 book Why Women Kill examined trends of murder committed by females and made revolutionary discoveries.[22] She found that at the time women were increasingly killing people they had not met and that 60% of women’s murders of male partners were pre-planned.[23] Citing women as the more dangerous of the sexes, she disputed stereotypes that resulted in gender-based unequal sentencing.[24]

Dr. Mann advocated for rehabilitative methods of justice and was adamantly against the death penalty. She wrote about these views in a 1984 opinion piece in the Fort Lauderdale News:

“The ultimate violence committed by the state differs only in degree from the ultimate violence committed by the inhabitants of the nation’s isolated, barren, solitary death row cells; the state’s form of murder is legal.”[25]

She was also against prison sentences for drug users, believing that it was a health, rather than criminality, issue. As drug crimes disproportionately affected minorities, she stated that she was “pretty damned tired” of seeing people of color sentenced for this reason.[26]

Her academic work resulted in her receiving the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Bruce Smith Sr. Award in 1995, among other awards.[27] Though many saw her as the “logical chair of the department,” she turned down administrative roles and kept her focus on scholarship and teaching.[28] She continued to form meaningful relationships with her students, pushing them to ask difficult questions that solicit difficult answers about the reality of American life.

While Dr. Mann retired from Indiana University as professor emeritia in December 1996, she continued to contribute to academic discourse in the fields of sociology, criminology, gender studies, and African American studies until her death in 2004.[29]

Her memory is honored with a number of awards and scholarships, including the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences’ Coramae Richey Mann Leadership Award for women and minority students.[30]

“It is obvious at this point in our tormented history that any change depends a great deal upon attitude change,” she stated in “A Minority View of Juvenile ‘Justice.’”[31]

With the tidal waves she made at IU Bloomington, she certainly exemplified this change both within herself and her community.

Bibliography

1. “A Murderous Pace.” Indianapolis Star, January 29, 1995, p. D4.
2. “‘A Question of Color’ Challenges Idea of Equal Justice for All.” Journal and Courier (Lafayette, Indiana, March 2, 1993.
3. Bing, Robert L. ‘Dr Coramae Richey-Mann (1931-2004)’, Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences: Today, Volume XXIX, 4, November/December 2004.
4. Crittenden, Danielle. “Number of Women Arrested for Violent Crimes on Rise.” Poughkeepsie Journal (Poughkeepsie, New York), February 2, 1990, p. 1C.
5. “Drug Ills Warrant Treatment, Pros Say.” Indianapolis Star, December 26, 1996, p. 2.
6. “Expert: Women Pick More Violent Crimes.” The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Florida, June 8, 1984, p. B8.
7. “History.” Department of Criminal Justice, Indiana University Bloomington. https://criminaljustice.indiana.edu/about/history.html.
8. Hudson, Herman C. “The Black Faculty at Indiana University 1970-93,” 1994.
9. Indiana University Bloomington Faculty Council Minutes, 15 September 1992.
10. Kemberly, Kim. “Martinsville Now Victim of Prejudice, Teacher Says.” Indianapolis News, September 8, 1989.
11. Ksander, Yaël. “Damage Control for a Painful History.” Indiana Public Media, February 28, 2011. https://indianapublicmedia.org/momentofindianahistory/damage-control-painful-history/.
12. Mann, Coramae Richey. “A Minority View of Juvenile “Justice.”” Washington Lee Law Review, vol.51, issue 2 (March 1, 1994): 465-478. https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1595&context=wlulr.
13. Mann, Coramae Richey. “The Barfield Execution and the Irony of ‘Equality.’” Fort Lauderdale News (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), November 11, 1984, p. 113.
14. “Memorial Resolution.” Indiana University Criminal Justice Department, 2004.
15. “Minorities and Women Section Awards.” The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, https://www.acjs-mws.org/awards.html.
16. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 02 August 1988
17. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 24 June 1989
18. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 03 November 1989
19. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 05 June 1993
20. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 15 September 1995.
21. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 16 August 1996.
22. Minutes of the Board of Trustees of Indiana University, 24 January 1997.
23. Neal, Andrea. “Radio Listeners Air Their Disagreement.” Indianapolis Star, August 7, 1993, p. 14.
24. News Release, Indiana University News Bureau, August 1, 1990.
25. “Professional Awards.” Division on Crime, American Society of Criminology.https://ascdwc.com/awards/professional-awards/.
26. “Professor: More Rehab, Not Prisons.” Palladium-Place (Richmond, Indiana), February 21, 1994, p. 3.
27. Rochester, Mark J. “Minorities Treated Unfairly by Justice System, Book Says.” Indianapolis Star, 1 March 1993, p. C3.
28. Sacks, Glenn. “Violence A Two-Way Street.” April 8, 2005. https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Domestic-violence-a-two-way-street-2687190.php
29. Stolley, K. S. (2007). The basics of sociology, p.126 Westport, CT: Greenwood.
30. Smulewitz, Howard M. “Professor Not Afraid of Controversy.” Indianapolis Star, December 6, 1992, p. 31.
31. “Sundown Town.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundown_town. Wyman, Thomas P. “Professor Says Politicians, Media Mislead Public about National Crime Statistics.” Logansport Pharos-Tribune, May 7, 1996, p. 3.

Notes

[1] Stolley, K. S.

^[2] Robert L. Bing, “Dr Coramae Richey-Mann (1931-2004),” Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences: Today, Volume XXIX, 4, November/December 2004.

^[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

^[5]News Release, Indiana University News Bureau, August 1, 1990.

^[6] Herman C. Hudson, “The Black Faculty at Indiana University 1970-93,” 1994.

^[7] News Release, Indiana University News Bureau, August 1, 1990.

[8] Thomas P. Wyman, “Professor Says Politicians, Media Mislead Public about National Crime Statistics,” Logansport Pharos-Tribune, May 7, 1996, p. 3.

^[9] Kim Kemberly, “Martinsville Now Victim of Prejudice, Teacher Says.” Indianapolis News, September 8, 1989.

[10] Ibid; “Sundown Town.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundown town.

^[11] Ibid.

^[12] Kim Kemberly, “Martinsville Now Victim of Prejudice, Teacher Says.”

^[13] Ibid.

^[14] Kim Kemberly, “Martinsville Now Victim of Prejudice, Teacher Says.”

^[15] Howard M. Smulewitz. “Professor Not Afraid of Controversy.”

^[16] “William Oliver.” Linkedin, https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-oliver-22a15b28/; Robert L. Bing, “Dr Coramae Richey-Mann (1931-2004).”

^[17] Howard M. Smulewitz, “Professor Not Afraid of Controversy.”

[18] “Professional Awards.” Division on Crime, American Society of Criminology. https://ascdwc.com/awards/professional-awards/.

^[19]Andrea Neal, “Radio Listeners Air Their Disagreement.” Indianapolis Star, August 7, 1993, p. 14.

^[20]Howard M. Smulewitz, “Professor Not Afraid of Controversy.”

[21] Howard M. Smulewitz, “Professor Not Afraid of Controversy.”

^[22]Paul Leighton, “Fatal Females: Setting the Record ‘Straight.’” Social Pathology, 1997. http://www.paulsjusticepage.com/reality-of-justice/fatal-females.htm.

^[23]Glenn Sacks, “Domestic Violence A Two-Way Street.” April 8, 2005. https://www.sfgate.com/opinion/openforum/article/Domestic-violence-a-two-way-street-2687190.php.

^[24]“Expert: Women Pick More Violent Crimes.” The Palm Beach Post (West Palm Beach, Florida), June 8, 1984, p. B8.

[25] Coramae Richey Mann, “The Barfield Execution and the Irony of ‘Equality.’” Fort Lauderdale News (Fort Lauderdale, Florida), November 11, 1984, p. 113.

^[26] Robert L. Bing, “Dr Coramae Richey-Mann (1931-2004).”

^[27] “Drug Ills Warrant Treatment, Pros Say.” Indianapolis Star, December 26, 1996, p. 2.

[28] “Memorial resolution.” Indiana University Criminal Justice Department, 2004.

^[29] Robert L. Bing, “Dr Coramae Richey-Mann (1931-2004).”

^[30] “Minorities and Women Section Awards.” The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, https://www.acjs-mws.org/awards.html.

[31] Coramae Richey Mann, “A Minority View of Juvenile “Justice,”” Washington Lee Law Review, vol.51, issue 2 (March 1, 1994): 465-478, https://scholarlycommons.law.wlu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1595&context=wlulr.