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Forget Me . . . Not: Marion Jones and the Politics of Punishment.
Study Details
- Authors
- Delia D. Douglas
- Published
- 2014
- Citation
- Douglas, Delia D. 2014. Forget me . . . not: Marion Jones and the politics of punishment. Journal of Sport and Social Issues 38(1): 3-22.
In 2008, Marion Jones was convicted and sentenced to 6 months in a federal prison for lying to federal prosecutors about steroid use and knowledge of a check-cashing scheme. This article explores the Jones scandal and the aftermath in the context of the contemporary cultural politics of Black female bodies and Black womanhood. I examine these events in the era of mass incarceration and a post-9/11 culture. I argue that the fervor and contempt expressed toward Jones are emblematic of a climate where the ideology of color blindness and claims to post-raciality promote and sustain the normalization of humiliation and punishment of Black females.