Even if overt racism is now more and more tabooed, racism has far from disappeared. The old racist belief in some kind of innate, biological superiority of the “White race” has been replaced by new more subtle but equally dangerous forms of racism. Modern or contemporary racism comes in a new disguise: negative attitudes towards a minority group are now being justified by the specific cultural and behavioural characteristics ascribed to that minority.
For example, a modern racist view attributes the fact that Black citizens generally have a lower socioeconomic status in society to a lack of work ethic in the Black community itself – A narrative, which serves to blame Black people for their standing, while at the same time denying structural discrimination, White privilege and unequal access to opportunities.
Prejudice translates into strong negative stereotypes believed to hold true for Black people and in particular Black men: The strong belief that Blackness is associated with being more prone to violence, criminal and threatening than their White counterparts – even if this is no where near reflected by criminal evidence.
A study that was conducted in the USA showed the same association. Those who support police violence against adult males also tend to have a negative cultural image of Blacks: White respondents who approved of police violence, were twice as likely to attribute differences in income, housing and employment between Blacks and Whites to a lack of motivation and ability to learn of Blacks rather than to racial discrimination and lack of education caused by poverty.
These more subtle, implicit forms of racial prejudice are sometimes referred to as “symbolic” or “colour-blind” racism. Because modern racists can now blame people on the basis of seemingly “non-prejudiced”
reasons without actually having to admit racial prejudice.
Blackness and particularly Black men are associated with negative characteristics and stereotypes: they are being viewed as more prone to violence, criminal and threatening than their White counterparts, despite the fact that this is not supported by their criminal records.
Do they actually commit more crimes or is their an inherent bias against them in the criminal justice system: a criminalisation of race and a racialisation of crime. race and fear of crime fundamental part.
Black Americans represent less than 12% of the overall population and only about 13% of all drug users and 23% of violent criminal offenders (Morgan, 2017), but they are over-represented in the criminal justice system: representing some 33% of all prisoners, their incarceration rate is almost 6 times higher than for White Americans (Carson, 2018).
Although most crime is actually committed by
Whites, the common perception is that the majority of it is perpetrated by Blacks
(Gilens, 1996).
When the public sees such a large portion of those
convicted and sentenced by criminal courts are Black, the message conveyed is that
Blackness and criminality are inextricably related
Aside from the actual involvement of Blacks in crime and the criminal justice system,
other potential contributors to the profiling of criminals as young Black males may be
various media sources. The media provide readily accessible depictions of criminality,
which may help to shape perceptions about crime and subsequent justice practices.
This tells us two things: a criminalisation of race and a racialisation of crime
Because Black men are perceived as a public danger, feelings of anxiety and hostility towards them and punitive actions against them are seen as legitimate.
The linking of race and criminality, i.e. the racialisation of crime and criminalisation of race is consistent with the narrative of modern racism.
For instance a study conducted in the US showed that people who support police violence against adult males also tend to have a negative cultural image of Blacks. White respondents who approved of police violence, were twice as likely to attribute differences in income, housing and employment between Blacks and Whites to a lack of motivation and ability to learn of Blacks rather than to racial discrimination and lack of education caused by poverty.
White people who perceive Black people as more criminal are also more supportive of aggressive policing measures in general, because implicitly they understand that these measures will be primarily targeted at Blacks. But they will not admit or even deny racial bias, and instead explain the need for police violence with the higher criminality rates of Blacks.
However they don’t need to admit they are being racist here, and even deny being racially prejudiced or biased, because they explain the need for aggressive policing with the perceived higher criminality rates of Blacks.
The media plays an important role in forging that image.
Another form of modern racism: attributing certain characteristics and stereotypes to Blackness, particularly to Black men:
The old discourse on innate racial differences has been replaced by a new discourse, where negative attitudes towards a minority group are attributed to the specific cultural and behavioural characteristics presumed of that minority.
For example, modern racism interprets Black citizens’ lower socioeconomic status in the American society as a result of the lacking work ethic in the Black community: – A narrative which serves to blame people for their situation and denies Black citizens’ unequal access to opportunities due to historical and present discrimination in a society that is still largely structured by White privilege.
Members of ethnic minorities are criminalised and perceived as a public danger, which legitimises feelings of anxiety and hostility towards them and punitive actions against them.
For instance a study conducted in the US showed that people who support police violence against adult males also tend to have a negative cultural image of Blacks. White respondents who approved of police violence, were twice as likely to attribute differences in income, housing and employment between Blacks and Whites to a lack of motivation and ability to learn of Blacks rather than to racial discrimination and lack of education caused by poverty.
Regarding police violence against Black citizens, both racial and political identity seem to influence heavily on the causal attributions that are being made: Do people attribute police violence to either broader, systemic and structural problems in police practices or to isolated, rare incidents? As police violence against a Black citizen activates the “Black identity” of those belonging to this racial minority, they tend perceive involvement with and exposure to police violence as common and a shared experience. Therefore they tend to view the underlying causes for violence not as specific to an individual, but to a broader system of differential treatment, unequal justice and sustained discrimination. Political identity is a second important predictor. While Republicans and Conservatives perceive police violence against Blacks as isolated, dispositional events and not requiring any governmental interventions, Democrats and Liberals assign problems to larger institutions and perceive widespread, systemic patterns in police violence against Blacks.
Modern racism includes feelings of anxiety, hostility, and
negativity toward minority groups (such as African Americans in the United
States) instead of a direct expression of racial superiority. Modern racism
is transformed through selective misleading and misinforming information
that fuels support for punitive measures regarding crime controls against
members of minority groups (Beckett & Sasson, 2004; Garland, 2001).
study on: how racial identity affects the attributions that are made about police violence and about disparities in society
Blackness and particularly Black men are associated with negative stereotypes: they are being viewed as more prone to violence, criminal and threatening than their White counterparts, despite the fact that this is not supported by criminal statistical evidence.
In fact, even though Black Americans represent less than 12% of the overall population and only about 13% of all drug users and 23% of violent criminal offenders (Morgan, 2017), they are over-represented in the criminal justice system: representing some 33% of all prisoners, their incarceration rate is almost 6 times higher than for White Americans (Carson, 2018).
The linking of race and criminality, i.e. the racialisation of crime and criminalisation of race is consistent with the narrative of modern racism. Whites who perceive Black people as more criminal are also more supportive of aggressive policing measures, because implicitly they understand that these measures will be primarily targeted at Blacks. However they don’t need to admit they are being racist here, and even deny being racially prejudiced or biased, because they explain the need for aggressive policing with the perceived higher criminality rates of Blacks.
The media plays an important role in forging that image.
–> takes origins in the war against drugs/ war against Blacks
study on stereotypes…
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In a study conducted in the US, predominantly White participants (n White= 73%) got to read a brief account of an incident following a minor traffic accident, resulting in a shooting death. Both the race of the shooter (Black or White) and of the victim (Black or White) were manipulated and randomly assigned to participants. Participants then also learned additional background information about the victim. This information was either negative Black male stereotypical or positive Black male counter-stereotypical – independent of the actual race of the victim. For example the negative stereotypic biography read that the victim had been raised by a single mother in and out of jail for dealing drugs, the young man had dropped out of high school and already been in prison for robbery. He was also described as Someone with a quick temper, inclined to turn easily aggressive and violent. The result of this study: When negative, Black stereotypical information was provided about the victim, participants viewed the victim as being more at fault and more to blame for the shooting incident. And this held true regardless of the race of the victim. Less sympathy for the victim and understanding of the victim’s behaviour was expressed and participants were more likely to endorse the shooter’s behaviour and sympathize with him.* (*as compared to when positive, Black counter-stereotypical information was provided) This points to the dangerous power negative posthumous stereotypical media portrayals have on public opinion. Especially racial minorities are over-represented as criminals in the media and when they are depicted as victims, they are often dehumanized and demonized, so as to present them as non-respectable citizens who should be blamed for their own deaths. The study shows that the negative stereotype associated with Black males is extremely detrimental for any victim, because it is the stereotype alone independent of the victims true race (Black/White) that colours perceptions negatively. |
role of criminal history & level of racial prejudice matter
The role of criminal history: there’s a stigma associated to having a criminal record. In a study White respondents say that police violence against individuals with a criminal history is more justified – even when anything that might have happened in the past is completely unrelated to the present case where the police reacts violently against those individuals. This is problematic since the media often contributes to blaming a Black victim by alluding to any past criminal transgression in order to present that person as inherently bad and criminal.
The role of the level of racial prejudice: White people who are racially prejudiced also see police violence justified. But it is important to differentiate here: Not all White Americans are racially prejudiced and in favour of police violence. Essentially White respondents with a higher level of racial prejudice believe that Black citizens are more acceptable targets of police violence. Others do not view police violence in racial terms and do not see it differently or more justified when targeted at a Black person than violence against a White person.
political identity and attributions