In the USA, black rage refers to a purported psychological phenomena and innovative defense proposed, but not used, for the 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 at 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. Innovative defenses (the invention of which is sometimes called creative lawyering) are relatively new and untried defenses for having committed a criminal act. ... Colin Ferguson For the Canadian actor, see Colin Ferguson (actor) Colin Ferguson (born January 14, 1958, Kingston, Jamaica) was convicted of murdering six people and injuring nineteen others on the Long Island Rail Road in Nassau County, New York on December 7, 1993. ... Mass murder (massacre) is the act of murdering a large number of people, typically at the same time, or over a relatively short period of time. ... In legal parlance, a trial is an event in which parties to a dispute present information (in the form of evidence) in a formal setting, usually a court, before a judge, jury, or other designated finder of fact, in order to achieve a resolution to their dispute. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hindrance, or puts individuals at a disadvantage. ... Action, as a concept in philosophy, is what an agent can do, as for instance humans as agents can do. ... Lady Justice or Justitia is a personification of the moral force that underlies the legal system (particularly in Western art). ... Anger may be a (physiological and psychological) response to a perceived threat to self or important others, present, past, or future. ... Young people interacting within an ethnically diverse society. ... Racism is a belief or concept that inherent differences between people, in particular those upon which the concept of race is based, determine cultural or individual achievement, and may involve the idea that ones self-identified race is superior. ... This article is about discrimination in the social science context. ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Black rage was first proposed by black psychologists William Grier and Price Cobbs in their book, entitled, "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. A legal drama is a work of dramatic fiction about law, crime, punishment or the legal profession. ... Law & Order is a long-running American television police procedural and legal drama set in New York City. ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... A stock broker or stockbroker or stock brokerage is someone or a firm who performs transactions in financial instruments on a stock market as an agent of his/her/its clients who are unable or unwilling to trade for themselves. ... Courtney Vance Vance with wife Angela Bassett Courtney B. Vance (born March 12, 1960) is an American actor. ...

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. Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic comedy written and directed by Kevin Smith about two comic book artists: Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck), a heterosexual male, and Alyssa Jones (Joey Lauren Adams), a lesbian-identified woman. ...