This dissertation examines the historical process of racially constructing and criminalizing black males in the United States. More specifically, the dissertation explores how marginalizing and subordinating narratives are generated and informed by various intersecting and stratifying ideologies that, in turn, become institutionally reified, enshrined, and transmitted throughout the culture. This invisible/seamless process has contributed to the economic, social, and political disempowerment of the black male subject long after he returns to his community after incarceration. The study conducts an historical genealogy of black male racial construction, ideological narrative, and the penal process in the United States between 1790–1930, examining changes in corrections ideology, and highlighting evolving representations of criminality and its effects on popular perspectives concerning black male citizenship.