Black rage (law)

In the USA, black rage refers to a purported psychological phenomena and innovative defense proposed, but not used, for the 1994 Colin Ferguson mass murder trial. Ferguson's lawyers argued that he should not be held criminally liable, for actions which broke the law, because he was overcome with rage by his perceived society's racist discrimination against African-Americans. Ferguson rejected the advice of his lawyer and represented himself, arguing instead that he was completely innocent; he was found guilty and imprisoned.

Black rage was first proposed by black psychologists William Grier and Price Cobbs in their book "Black Rage" (ISBN 1579103499). Grier and Cobbs argue that black people living in a racist, white supremacist society are psychologically damaged by the effects of racist oppression. This damage causes black people to act abnormally in certain situations.

Popular culture

On an episode of the legal drama "Law & Order", an African-American stockbroker (Courtney B. Vance) uses black rage as his defense when he is charged with murdering his mentor. However, in that case, it is demonstrated that the defendant actually committed the murder to cover up a $500 million stock fraud.

The term black rage is referenced in the movie "Chasing Amy", where an African-American character in the movie begins shouting the term, pulls out a (fake) gun and shoots (blanks) at his white audience.