Race, Public Perceptions of Injustice, and the Racial Gradient Thesis

• In Event: Perceptions of Injustice

Abstract

We test the racial gradient thesis to determine whether there are strong racial differences in public perceptions of injustice in the criminal justice system. Using survey data collected both before the arrest of George Zimmerman and after the not guilty verdict, we illustrate that public perceptions of injustice adhere to a black/Hispanic/white gradient with blacks and whites having widely differing perceptions of the legal system and Hispanic perceptions falling somewhere in-between. We examine racial differences in opinion regarding whether Zimmerman would have been arrested sooner if Trayvon Martin was white and whether respondents agreed with the not guilty verdict. We authenticate these findings with an analysis of the cumulative file of the General Social Survey (GSS) 1972-2010 to show that race significantly predicts perceptions of fairness and confidence in the justice system. Our findings support the racial gradient thesis by demonstrating that public reactions to the Martin/Zimmerman incident as well as, the acquittal of Zimmerman symbolizes a long-standing disequilibrium in attitudes toward the criminal justice system among blacks, Hispanics, and whites.

Authors

• Isaac Unah, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

• Valerie Wright, Cleveland State University