Episode 64: Midnight Basketball with Professor Douglas Hartmann

Dear Adam Silver

Professor Douglas Hartmann teaches sociology at the University of Minnesota and is on the show to discuss his book Midnight Basketball, which takes a deep, detailed look into the social initiative known as Midnight Basketball, developed in the late 1980s . In this episode, we unpack the racism that was built into this program, which targeted young adult African-American men who were living in large cities around the country. It is important to use the word targeted in this case because the use of surveillance was at the root of this project that used the game of basketball as a form of control during certain hours of the day.

As we discuss, this initiative is tied to our incoming presidential administration because Joe Biden was a proponent of Midnight Basketball during the mid 1990s and the fight for the passage of the 1994 crime bill. This conversation is timely and necessary to take a close look at the motivations and results of social policy that fall in line with the systemic racism inherent to our country, even when it is dressed up as help or social support.

Thank you to Doug for coming on and for writing this educational and informative book. As always, thank you to you for listening and I hope you all enjoy this episode.