Racism and Police Violence in the United States

Introduction

"Can't you just shoot them?" — Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump, in response to Black Lives Matter racial justice protesters exercising their lawful First Amendment rights, Summer 2020.

The epigraph above reflects one prominent figure's longing for a time when white police officers in the United States could hurt or even kill minority members — Black Americans in particular — with impunity. Unfortunately, this view is still shared by far too many white Americans, including some in law enforcement, who believe the republic was founded on a white supremacist ideal that should remain in place regardless of the Bill of Rights or the Fourteenth Amendment.

In order to examine the facts, this paper (1) reviews the relevant literature to identify the antecedents of racism in general and among police officers in particular, including statistical data; (2) identifies the current status of racism and police violence in the United States; and (3) describes what efforts are underway to address this nationwide problem. The conclusion summarizes the research and key findings.

Antecedents of Racism in the United States

It is impossible to completely erase the lingering legacy of 400 years of slavery in the United States or the Civil War that was fought to end the "peculiar institution." The Confederate States were founded on the fundamental belief that slavery was the proper station for Black people, and many Southerners even maintained that slavery "was good for them" since it introduced them to Western civilization and the Christian promise of salvation. Few Black people — then or now — would agree with this view, but the stereotypes forged during the early years of the American experiment have had long-lasting implications for the country's race relations.

Enduring and powerful stereotypes about Black people have led some authorities to believe that it is impossible for white people to grow up in America without being racist to at least some extent. White reaction to the introduction of critical race theory, for instance, reflects a deep anxiety about confronting this history. In this regard, Johnson and Lecci (2020) emphasize that "there is evidence that stereotype-related beliefs play a central role in the racist treatment of Black Americans" (p. 753). While this observation is fairly intuitive, it underscores the primary antecedents of racism in the United States today.

Although some especially egregious stereotypes about Black people have faded somewhat in recent years, misguided beliefs among white Americans about Black Americans have resulted in generations of African Americans being subjected to second-class treatment by the general population and law enforcement officers alike. According to Johnson and Lecci (2020), "Race identity theorists have shown that perceptions of 'acting Black' include negative stereotypes such as 'talking Black,' having a 'ghetto' mentality, 'dressing Black' (e.g., sagging pants), and living in a bad neighborhood" (p. 753). In other words, white police officers may not concede or even recognize that they engage in racial profiling in their day-to-day duties, but the grim statistics on police shootings discussed in the next section clearly suggest otherwise.

One of the sources of the modern problem of racism and police violence can be traced to the early days of colonial America, and the pattern has not changed fundamentally when it comes to the use of violence — including deadly force — against unarmed Black people by white officers. As Lemieux et al. (2020) point out, "The historic and current prevalence of murder and other violent acts against Black community members at the hands of law enforcement is a contemporary public health crisis. Police shooting homicides of unarmed Black men, in particular, has been deemed an extension of historically based white supremacy" (p. 664). As the far right continues to mobilize against any perceived threat to the white supremacy ideal, it is not surprising that police violence against Black people remains a major moral, political, social, and economic issue for the country.

Current Status of Racism and Police Violence

Police shootings of civilians in the United States have continued to increase in recent years, with unarmed Black victims representing a disproportionate share of the totals. As of April 2022, a total of 241 civilians in the United States had been shot by police, and 14 of these victims were Black (People shot to death by U.S. police 2017–2022, by race, 2022). Moreover, there were 1,055 police shootings in 2021 and 1,021 in 2020 that resulted in fatalities, and Black Americans suffered a significantly higher rate of these fatalities than any other demographic group. Although the raw totals of fatal police shootings are lower for Black Americans compared to other groups, the per-capita rates are substantially higher. Black Americans currently experience a rate of 38 fatal police shootings per million of population — the highest rate in the country (People shot to death by U.S. police 2017–2022, by race, 2022).

These figures are especially alarming given the increased scrutiny of police violence that followed the death of George Floyd in May 2020. The nationwide and then global outrage sparked by Floyd's death galvanized public attention on racism and police violence as never before in American history. Consequently, a growing number of initiatives specifically intended to address this public health threat have emerged in recent months, as discussed below.

Conclusion

Hate and racism are not against the law, but when these beliefs are acted upon by police in ways that involve violence, they become criminal acts. De facto segregation was practiced in the United States well into the second half of the twentieth century, and some places in the country remain virtually white-only enclaves, even though sundown towns are no longer advertised as such. Against this backdrop, it is little wonder that racism and violence have infiltrated the nation's law enforcement ranks, given that law enforcement is a sociological mirror of the larger population. Nevertheless, things are changing and some progress is being made. It is reasonable to conclude, however, that it may be several more generations before the last vestiges of racism are banished from the American consciousness.

References

Johnson, J., & Lecci, L. (2020). Does empathy undermine justice? Moderating the impact of empathic concern for a White policeman on responses to police interracial violence. The British Journal of Social Psychology, 59(3), 752–772.

Lemieux, C., Kim, Y., Brown, K. M., Chaney, C. D., Robertson, R. V., & Borskey, E. J. (2020). Assessing police violence and bias against Black U.S. Americans: Development and validation of the Beliefs About Law Enforcement Scale. Journal of Social Work Education, 56(4), 664–682.

Organizations addressing police accountability and racial justice. (2022). Neighborhood Funders Group. Retrieved from

People shot to death by U.S. police 2017–2022, by race. (2022). Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/