Police Violence Against Blacks

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Abstract

Blacks comprise 13.4% of the US population (US Census Bureau, 2019) yet are 2.5 times more likely to die at the hands of police than Whites are (Statista Research Department, 2020). Thus, it is logical to understand why Blacks worry about police violence five times more than Whites (Graham et al., 2020), have negative views of police (Robertson and Chaney, 2019), and complain more often about police brutality (Smith and Holmes, 2003). Police “disturb the peace” when they engage in excessive force and murder of Black bodies instead of protecting and serving them. In this work, I define “disturbing the peace” “as public and private actions whereby police systematically diminish and/or erode Blacks' inalienable right to be individually, familiarly, and communally innocuous. Furthermore, police disturb the peace of Black people when they demonstrate contempt for Blacks, threaten or inflict violence on Blacks, disrupt interactions within Black communities, avoid legal accountability for murdering Blacks, and cause Blacks to have elevated concerns that members of law enforcement will verbally abuse, physically assault, or murder them, their family, or members of their community.” By referencing Conflict Theory, Racial Formation Theory, and Systemic Racism Theory, and numerous empirical studies, the author highlights police violence is detrimental to the health and well-being of Blacks, reminds Blacks they are not safe, disrupts interactions within Black communities, prevents police accountability for Black murders, and causes Blacks to have concerns for their safety.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Encyclopedia of Violence Peace Conflict Volume 1 4 Third Edition

First Page

727

Last Page

739

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