Blacks and Police Perceptions: A Review of Psychological and Sociological Explanations

• In Event: Race and Police Violence

Abstract

It is far too easy and inaccurate to claim that simple white racism explains police interactions with blacks in general and specifically black males. The problem with modern racism is that it suffers from its own success. Bull Connor is dead. Racism is now subtle and code word oriented. The real problem is that America has been conditioned through news stories, popular movies, tv shows and political discourse to view blacks as a group as something to be feared and controlled. The modern avenue for that control is the police. This paper will discuss how this conditioning occurred and how it manifests itself in political discourse.

Author

• Arthur Garrison, Kutztown University