tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/black-men-41365/articlesBlack men – The Conversation2022-06-23T20:09:26Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1855042022-06-23T20:09:26Z2022-06-23T20:09:26ZHow young Black African Australians use social media to challenge anti-Black narratives and reclaim racial dignity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469966/original/file-20220621-18-4g1i30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C7951%2C5285&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For Black African young people in Australia, social media can be especially fraught – a place they witness footage of anti-Black violence, contend with an “othering” gaze and encounter racist trolling, posts or comments.</p>
<p>Despite these challenges, social media can offer Black African young people in Australia safe spaces to engage in positive expressions of afro-Blackness, as our new study shows. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.224">study</a>, published today in the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/18394655">Australian Journal of Social Issues</a>, was an ethnographic study of the social media activity of 15 young people (16–25) who self-identify as African and live in Australia. </p>
<p>Participants consented to being followed and/or “friended” on social media so as to observe their online practises over a six month period. They were also interviewed about their experiences on social media.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.224">Our study</a> reveals how these young people are using social media to challenge anti-Black narratives and reclaim some of their racial dignity.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/battlegrounds-highly-skilled-black-african-professionals-on-racial-microaggressions-at-work-149169">Battlegrounds: highly skilled Black African professionals on racial microaggressions at work</a>
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<h2>Racial dignity and anti-Black racism</h2>
<p>One of us (Gatwiri) has defined <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JME-11-2021-0205/full/html">racial dignity</a> as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the immutable, unconditional worth of Blac/k people as human beings. To be racially dignified is to be seen through a humanised lens, and to be afforded basic respect, compassion and recognition in interpersonal and systemic contexts.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Anti-Black racism is a unique form of racism especially directed towards dark skinned Black people. </p>
<p>Research on <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2158244017720483">blackness</a> argues there is something particular and specific about the visibility of <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=Q8ZuDQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Black+Bodies,+White+Gazes+-+Rowman+%26+Littlefield&ots=grKfUiyFe4&sig=ERpK8J66munyZZpNURuzIuUL1Ug&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Black%20Bodies%2C%20White%20Gazes%20-%20Rowman%20%26%20Littlefield&f=false">Black bodies</a> that triggers the imagination of white Australia. They are “read” as too un-assimilable, too different, too foreign, too dangerous, too visible, <em>too everything</em>.</p>
<p>Zuberi (age 25) also highlighted how anti-Blackness produces hyper-criminalisation of Black people. This results in over-policing by the community and the criminal justice system. He reflected on one example:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We were walking back to the train station, and we were topping up our Myki. And there were two inspectors, standing a few metres from us, on the side. And this was probably about 9pm, a bit late. and they were like “Those people are always up to no good.” And then my cousin’s like, “What? What do you mean?” Like he got very angry and I think in those kinds of moments you kind of question […] you question a lot of stuff.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Real world experiences of anti-Black racism can inform the way young African Australians experience social media and participate in racial discourse online.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470453/original/file-20220623-52323-zbzr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470453/original/file-20220623-52323-zbzr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470453/original/file-20220623-52323-zbzr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470453/original/file-20220623-52323-zbzr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470453/original/file-20220623-52323-zbzr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470453/original/file-20220623-52323-zbzr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470453/original/file-20220623-52323-zbzr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470453/original/file-20220623-52323-zbzr0o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Many use social media functions – such as block, delete, mute and unfollow – to effectively bypass racism online.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Our other <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/01634437221089246">journal article</a> from this study reported how Black African Australians used social media to spotlight and engage in positive expression of afro-Blackness. But they were also terrified of making white people uncomfortable, which could invite racial trolling or racial abuse online.</p>
<p>King (age 18) reflected on his attempts to separate himself from the “African gangs” label often attached to young Black African people in Australia. This informed the design of his online avatar and profile photo, curated to evoke a “friendly” persona: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>People sometimes they just look at your profile and they think you’re a bad person or a bad influence based on your picture. They’ll assume that you’re like other Black people they’ve seen in their life, they’ll assume you’re the same person.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When confronted with racist content on their newsfeed, most participants made deliberate choices to stay away from the comments section, colloquially considered a “cesspool of hatred”. Zuberi <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.224">explained</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You do see things on social media but I try to not get involved with it as much […] And for that reason, I choose not to look at the comments.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Creating online boundaries and communities</h2>
<p>The young people in our study reported digital spaces were safer than physical, offline settings in the white-majority Australian context. </p>
<p>Many used social media functions – such as block, delete, mute and unfollow – to effectively <em>bypass</em> racism online. They also used the “close friends” and “private stories” features to share their racial experiences.</p>
<p>This allowed people to engage in the kind of self-representation they chose – including posting pictures of themselves or discussing their experiences – within a “safe digital space”. </p>
<p>Social media was also particularly useful in connecting Black African youth who are geographically separated from each other. Many reflected how useful these connections are, often noting they were the “only Black kid” in their school or neighbourhood. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470454/original/file-20220623-51080-yjaqlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470454/original/file-20220623-51080-yjaqlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470454/original/file-20220623-51080-yjaqlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470454/original/file-20220623-51080-yjaqlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470454/original/file-20220623-51080-yjaqlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470454/original/file-20220623-51080-yjaqlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470454/original/file-20220623-51080-yjaqlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470454/original/file-20220623-51080-yjaqlb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Social media was also particularly useful in connecting Black African youth who are geographically separated from each other.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Social media therefore became a place where participants sought out connections that dignified and validated their experiences.</p>
<p>Nya (age 18) told us these communities helped her to form a positive sense of identity as a young Black woman in Australia: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve created a communal space on every single platform which has made me feel comfortable with myself […] I feel like I belong to the wider Black diaspora […] I actually didn’t grow up with Sudanese people, I grew up in (location removed for privacy) which is very white. So yeah, I created a community and I have connections and I like it.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Fear of racial trolling persists</h2>
<p>Human rights lawyer <a href="https://ethniccouncilshepparton.com.au/?p=6111">Nyadol Nyuon</a>, has said racial trolling is provoked by the belief that discussions about racism are a lack of gratitude “for the hand that fed you.” </p>
<p>Participants in our study also expressed awareness about the types of content they could and could not post, demonstrating how the fear of offending white people in digital spaces continued to shape their online practices.</p>
<p>As Mark (age 25) <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ajs4.224">said</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I try to be quite careful in digital spaces because anything to do with race, you never know who is going to use that against you.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Using certain social media features allowed our participants to bypass traditional media and instead engage in self-presentations of their own making. This way, they were able to reclaim aspects of their racial dignity by developing positive pro-Black narratives online. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-power-of-no-simone-biles-naomi-osaka-and-black-womens-resistance-165318">The power of no: Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Black women's resistance</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This story is part of The Conversation's Breaking the Cycle series, which is about escaping cycles of disadvantage. It is supported by a philanthropic grant from the Paul Ramsay Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Claire Moran does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Social media can offer Black African young people in Australia safe spaces to engage in positive expressions of afro-Blackness.Kathomi Gatwiri PhD, Senior lecturer, Southern Cross UniversityClaire Moran, PhD Candidate, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1783812022-05-30T12:27:57Z2022-05-30T12:27:57ZRace, gender and the ways these identities intersect matter in cancer outcomes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/463462/original/file-20220516-11-3il8v8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=43%2C51%2C5708%2C3742&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cancer care research usually focuses on just one of a patient's social identities.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/patients-in-infusion-room-royalty-free-image/522902646">Isaac Lane Koval/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em> </p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Belonging to one or more groups with long-standing social and economic disadvantages increases the risk of cancer diagnoses and death, according to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5890">our review of 28 cancer studies</a> published between 2012 and 2021. </p>
<p>People who were both nonwhite and LGBTQ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.5890">received fewer cancer</a> prevention services and had fewer cancer screenings, we found, for example. </p>
<p>We started by searching for studies of groups with poor cancer outcomes. Then we narrowed our focus to cancer studies that specified the race, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, disability status or rural residency of study participants. We found just 28 that provided such information. We classified those studies according to the aspect of cancer care they covered. Some studies, for example, were about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.06.039">cancer screening and prevention</a>, while others <a href="https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-020-09267-y">focused on treatment</a>. </p>
<p>Most of the studies focused on what people did to prevent cancer or to check for it. Examples include getting mammograms or a human papilloma virus vaccine. And we found some studies that were about specific kinds of cancer, like cervical or breast.</p>
<p>We found that sexual orientation and race influenced whether women chose to get screened for cancer or to take preventive treatments. Nonwhite women of low socioeconomic status also had lower cancer survival rates. We saw that these patients experienced fears of discrimination, a general discomfort with health care providers and more distrust of the health care system. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Despite advances in detection and treatment, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/dcpc/research/update-on-cancer-deaths/index.htm">cancer remains the second-leading cause of death in the United States</a>. And in communities with long-standing social and economic disadvantages, the risk of cancer diagnoses and death is higher than in the general population.</p>
<p>For example, Black women are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a586">more likely than white women</a> to die of breast cancer. New diagnoses of prostate cancer occur more frequently <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/disparities">in rural Appalachia</a>, compared with urban areas in the same region. And bisexual women are 70% more likely to get a cancer diagnosis, <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/disparities">compared with heterosexual women</a>.</p>
<p>Cancer care research usually overlooks the multiple identities of individual patients. But most people have more than one social identity, and those identities are hard to separate from one another. For example, a gay Black man is not gay one day and Black the next; he’s both, all the time. And he has different experiences of discrimination and disadvantage compared with a straight Black man. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/intersectionality-how-gender-interacts-with-other-social-identities-to-shape-bias-53724">Intersectionality describes</a> the recognition and consideration of a person’s multiple, intersecting social identities. Taking these multiple identities into consideration could help improve cancer prevention and survival among those who belong to one or more historically disadvantaged groups. </p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>We did not look at lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking, that could increase the risk of getting cancer and contribute to poorer cancer treatment outcomes. However, cancer <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/disparities">disparities based on lifestyle behaviors</a> are well documented, and it would be valuable to look at how complex identities and lifestyle affect those outcomes.</p>
<p>As researchers we wanted to focus on identifying studies in the literature that focused on the interconnected, multiple ways patients self-identify and how this related to their health care. Unfortunately, only a small amount of data was available, and our current report suffered from these limitations.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>Our paper describes ways for scientists to take patients’ multiple identities into account when doing cancer research. This model includes recommendations for setting up studies, conducting the research itself and documenting the findings. Considering more complex patient identities could make future studies more consistent and understandable. It will help fill some large gaps we’re seeing in how researchers study cancer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/178381/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Belonging to one or more groups with long-standing social and economic disadvantages increases the risk of cancer diagnoses and death.Timothy Pawlik, Professor of Surgery, The Ohio State UniversityElizabeth Palmer, Research Scientist, The Ohio State UniversitySamilia Obeng-Gyasi, Assistant Professor of Surgical Oncology, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1707942021-12-02T13:43:56Z2021-12-02T13:43:56ZUse of HIV prevention treatments is very low among Southern Black gay men<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431188/original/file-20211109-21-cgzyrl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C18%2C5988%2C3989&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black men who have sex with men in Southern states have a low rate of using HIV prevention treatments.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/selective-focus-of-medicine-being-in-hands-of-a-royalty-free-image/698025480?adppopup=true"> yacobchuk/iStock/Getty Images Plus via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Use of antiretroviral treatments to prevent HIV infection – called pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP – is very low among high-risk populations with poor access to HIV care, especially Black men in the South who have sex with men. That’s the main finding of <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189715">our new study</a>, which suggests public health officials will need to do more outreach to this population if they hope to end the HIV pandemic by 2030. </p>
<p>The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of two oral medications for PrEP, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/prep_gl_patient_factsheet_truvada_english.pdf">Truvada</a> and <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/clinicians/prevention/prep.html">Descovy</a>, to prevent HIV in high-risk populations – for example, people whose sexual partner is HIV-positive. Both medications are clinically indicated for use among gay men. </p>
<p>The widespread adoption of these treatments is a crucial component of the United States strategy <a href="https://www.hiv.gov/federal-response/ending-the-hiv-epidemic/overview">for ending the domestic HIV epidemic by 2030</a>. Multiple clinical trials have proved that these treatments are safe and highly effective at protecting people from becoming HIV-positive if used appropriately. </p>
<p>According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, PrEP lowers the risk of contracting HIV from sex <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/prep/index.html">by around 99%</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189715">Our study</a> found several barriers to PrEP use among Southern Black gay men. They include stigma, homophobia, poverty, access and transportation issues, distrust of the medical system, negative attitudes from health care providers and misinformation about PrEP. </p>
<p>Our review and findings were based on assessment of existing research and data on this population. This includes epidemiological data from organizations such as the CDC.</p>
<p>We concluded that programs need to be structured in ways that effectively address the varied concerns and different barriers to care that these men experience, as well as encouraging more PrEP use among these men. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.hiv.gov/federal-response/ending-the-hiv-epidemic/overview">national plan for ending the HIV epidemic by 2030</a> prioritizes widening PrEP use. Six of the seven states identified as key to the plan’s success are in the South. </p>
<p>According to the recent <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/overview/ataglance.html">CDC HIV Surveillance Report</a>, the South accounts for more than half of all new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. Men who had sex with men comprised 69% of the new national HIV diagnoses, with the rate higher among Black gay men. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2017.02.003">Another CDC study</a> shows that half of Black gay men in the U.S will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime. </p>
<p>Almost all insurers <a href="https://theconversation.com/hiv-prevention-pill-prep-is-now-free-under-most-insurance-plans-but-the-latest-challenge-to-the-affordable-care-act-puts-this-benefit-at-risk-171086">must cover 100%</a> of PrEP treatment, which is designated a required preventive treatment under the Affordable Care Act. Nonetheless, the nationwide HIV infection rate among Black and Latino gay and bisexual men <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2021/11/30/despite-interventions-black-and-hispanic-men-are-contracting-hiv-at-the-same-rates-as-10-years-ago/?utm_source=STAT+Newsletters&utm_campaign=82c89e62ff-MR_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8cab1d7961-82c89e62ff-153726530">has remained the same for the past 10 years</a>, according to the CDC.</p>
<p>These facts point to the need for rigorous research and PrEP promotion and awareness among these Black men and other underserved populations.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>CDC <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2018.05.003">surveillance data from 2015</a> reveals that of an estimated 1.1 million adults who would benefit from PrEP use, 71% were gay men. However, there are no publicly available or coordinated statewide or regional data measuring PrEP uptake among eligible adults. </p>
<p>This is particularly true in the Southern states that are <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/library/reports/surveillance/cdc-hiv-surveillance-supplemental-report-vol-25-1.pdf">disproportionately affected</a> by the HIV epidemic. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18189715">In our review</a>, we also observed a lack of interdisciplinary scientific research exploring the complex interactions between the many barriers to sexual health care by <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2021/11/30/despite-interventions-black-and-hispanic-men-are-contracting-hiv-at-the-same-rates-as-10-years-ago/?utm_source=STAT+Newsletters&utm_campaign=82c89e62ff-MR_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8cab1d7961-82c89e62ff-153726530">Southern Black gay men</a>. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>To dig deeper into issues identified in our review, we hope to gather data on PrEP use among Black gay men in South Carolina, where we are based, and other Southern states. </p>
<p>Our long-term goal is to collaborate with these men to develop, implement and evaluate culturally acceptable HIV prevention interventions to reduce HIV incidence in the community.</p>
<p>[<em>Too busy to read another daily email?</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-toobusy">Get one of The Conversation’s curated weekly newsletters</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170794/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Oluwafemi Atanda Adeagbo receives funding from the University of South Carolina Advanced Support Program
for Innovative Research Excellence-I (ASPIRE–Grant no: 115400-21-56809).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Xiaoming Li receives funding from National Institutes of Health</span></em></p>This finding suggests public health efforts will have to address the treatment barriers these men face – like poverty or homophobia – to meet the nation’s goal of ending the HIV epidemic by 2030.Oluwafemi Atanda Adeagbo, Research fellow, University of South CarolinaXiaoming Li, Professor of Health Promotion, Education and Behavior, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1580932021-03-29T18:26:40Z2021-03-29T18:26:40ZDerek Chauvin trial begins in George Floyd murder case: 5 essential reads on police violence against Black men<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/392319/original/file-20210329-17-f3uaon.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C34%2C7717%2C5325&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Floyd's nephew, Brandon Williams (center), with the Rev. Al Sharpton (left) outside the heavily guarded Hennepin County Government Center, in Minneapolis, Minn., before the murder trial of Officer Derek Chauvin began, March 29, 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/brandon-williams-wears-a-mask-and-pendant-with-the-image-of-news-photo/1232003463?adppopup=true">Stephen Maturen/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the <a href="https://www.startribune.com/derek-chauvin-murder-trial-opens-today-in-minneapolis-with-opening-statements-evidence/600039838/">murder of George Floyd is underway in Minneapolis, Minnesota</a>. </p>
<p>Chauvin, who is white, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter in connection with the death of George Floyd, who was Black, during an arrest last May. For <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/18/us/george-floyd-timing.html">8 minutes and 46 seconds</a>, Floyd – handcuffed and face down on the pavement – said repeatedly that he could not breathe, while other officers looked on. </p>
<p>A video of Floyd’s agonizing death soon went viral, triggering last summer’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/george-floyd-protests-arent-just-anti-racist-they-are-anti-authoritarian-139932">unprecedented wave of mass protests</a> against police violence and racism. Chauvin’s murder trial is expected to last up to four weeks.</p>
<p>These five stories offer expert analysis and key background on police violence, Derek Chauvin’s record and racism in U.S. law enforcement.</p>
<h2>1. Police violence is a top cause of death for Black men</h2>
<p>Since 2000, U.S. police have killed between 1,000 and 1,200 people per year, according to Fatal Encounters, an up-to-date archive of police killings. The victims are <a href="https://theconversation.com/police-are-more-likely-to-kill-men-and-women-of-color-121158">disproportionately likely to be Black, male and young</a>, according to a study by Frank Edwards at the Rutgers School of Criminal Justice, in Newark. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man helping a woman during a street protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Protesters in Kenosha, Wisc. after another 2020 shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-helps-a-woman-during-a-clash-with-law-enforcement-in-news-photo/1228208322?adppopup=true">Brandon Bell/Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In 2019, Edwards and two co-authors analyzed the Fatal Encounters data to assess how risk of death at the hands of police varies by age, sex and race or ethnicity. They found that while “police are responsible for a very small share of all deaths” in any given year, they “are responsible for a substantial proportion of all deaths of young people.” </p>
<p>Police violence was the sixth-leading cause of death for young men in the United States in 2019, after accidents, suicides, homicides, heart disease and cancer. </p>
<p>That risk is particularly high pronounced for young men of color, especially young Black men.</p>
<p>“About 1 in 1,000 Black men and boys are killed by police” during their lifetime, Edwards wrote. </p>
<p>In contrast, the general U.S. male population is killed by police at a rate of .52 per 1,000 – about half as often.</p>
<h2>2. Chauvin has a track record of abuse</h2>
<p>Many police officers who kill civilians have a history of violence or misconduct, including Chauvin.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/police-officers-accused-of-brutal-violence-often-have-a-history-of-complaints-by-citizens-139709">an article on police violence</a> written after George Floyd’s killing, criminal justice scholar Jill McCorkel noted that Derek Chauvin was “the subject of at least 18 separate misconduct complaints and was involved in two additional shooting incidents.” </p>
<p>During a 2006 roadside stop, Chauvin was among six officers who fired 43 rounds into a truck driven by a man wanted for questioning in a domestic assault. The man, Wayne Reyes, who police said aimed a sawed-off shotgun at them, died. A Minnesota grand jury did not indict any of the officers.</p>
<p>Nationwide fewer than one in 12 complaints of police misconduct result in any kind of disciplinary action, according to McCorkel. </p>
<h2>3. Bad police interactions hurt Black families</h2>
<p>Even when officers who use excessive force are fired, as Chauvin was after the George Floyd killing, these incidents – occurring so frequently, for so many years – take an emotional toll on Black communities. </p>
<p>In a 2020 Gallup survey, one in four Black men ages 18 to 34 reported they had been treated unfairly by police within the last month.</p>
<p>The racism and inequality researchers Deadric T. Williams and Armon Perry analyzed data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, which surveyed nearly 5,000 families from U.S. cities, and found that negative police interactions have “<a href="https://theconversation.com/when-police-stop-black-men-the-effects-reach-into-their-homes-and-families-144321">far-reaching implications for Black families</a>.”</p>
<p>“Fathers who reported experiencing a police stop were more likely to report conflict or lack of cooperation in their relationships with their children’s mother,” they wrote. </p>
<p>Black mothers also report “feelings of uncertainty and agitation” after Black fathers are stopped by police, Williams and Perry found. That can “affect the way that she views the relationship, leading to anger and frustration.”</p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=experts">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p>
<h2>4. This happens far less in Europe</h2>
<p>According to a 2014 study on policing in Europe and the U.S. by Rutgers researcher Paul Hirschfield, American police were 18 times more lethal than Danish police and 100 times more lethal than Finnish police. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103120/original/image-20151125-18267-gnya28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103120/original/image-20151125-18267-gnya28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/103120/original/image-20151125-18267-gnya28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=261&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103120/original/image-20151125-18267-gnya28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=261&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103120/original/image-20151125-18267-gnya28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=261&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103120/original/image-20151125-18267-gnya28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103120/original/image-20151125-18267-gnya28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/103120/original/image-20151125-18267-gnya28.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Annual fatal police shootings per million residents as of 2014. Data are based on most recent available. US: 2014; France: 1995-2000; Denmark: 1996-2006; Portugal: 1995-2005; Sweden: 1996-2006; Netherlands: 2013-2014; Norway: 1996-2006; Germany: 2012; Finland: 1996-2006; England & Wales: 2014.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The top reason for this difference, Hirschfield <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-american-cops-kill-so-many-compared-to-european-cops-49696">wrote in an article explaining his findings, is simple</a>: guns.</p>
<p>In most U.S. states, it is “easy for adults to purchase handguns,” Hirschfield wrote, so “American police are primed to expect guns.” That may make them “more prone to misidentifying cellphones and screwdrivers as weapons.” </p>
<p>U.S. law is relatively forgiving of such mistakes. If officers can prove they had a “reasonable belief” that lives were in danger, they may be acquitted for killing unarmed civilians. In contrast, most European countries permit deadly force only when it is “absolutely necessary” to enforce the law. </p>
<p>“The unfounded fear of Darren Wilson – the former Ferguson cop who fatally shot Michael Brown – that Brown was armed would not have likely absolved him in Europe,” writes Hirschfield. </p>
<h2>5. American policing has racist roots</h2>
<p>Well before modern gun laws, <a href="https://theconversation.com/george-floyds-death-reflects-the-racist-roots-of-american-policing-139805">racism ran deep in American policing</a>, as criminal justice researcher Connie Hassett-Walker wrote in June 2020. </p>
<p>In the South, the first organized law enforcement was white slave patrols.</p>
<p>“The first slave patrols arose in South Carolina in the early 1700s,” Hassett-Walker wrote. By century’s end, every slave state had them. Slave patrols could legally enter anyone’s home based on suspicions that they were sheltering people who had escaped bondage.</p>
<p>Northern police forces did not originate in racial terror, but Hassett-Walker writes that they nonetheless inflicted it. </p>
<p>From New York City to Boston, early municipal police “were overwhelmingly white, male and more focused on responding to disorder than crime,” writes Hassett-Walker. “Officers were expected to control ‘dangerous classes’ that included African Americans, immigrants and the poor.” </p>
<p>This history persists today in the negative stereotypes of Black men as dangerous. That makes people like George Floyd more likely to be treated aggressively by police, with potentially lethal results.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158093/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Research on racism and policing in the US, explained by the experts who study it.Catesby Holmes, International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation USLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1511662020-12-16T13:15:32Z2020-12-16T13:15:32ZThe reality of Black men’s love lives and marriages is very different than what’s usually shown on TV – I spent years actually talking to them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/375187/original/file-20201215-23-iexjz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C6629%2C4426&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The popular image of Black men is skewed in America.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/portrait-of-family-in-front-of-suburban-home-royalty-free-image/844406156?adppopup=true">MoMo Productions/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Finding and keeping a good Black man in a relationship has <a href="https://www.ebony.com/love-relationships/black-love-commitment/">become a cottage industry</a>. <a href="https://steveharvey.com/tag/relationship-advice/">From celebrities</a> and reality TV stars to <a href="http://www.oprah.com/app/ready-to-love.html">social media influencers</a>, for better or worse, there is no shortage of relationship advice to people seeking to <a href="https://medium.com/candour/why-you-shouldnt-take-relationship-advice-from-steve-harvey-da0fa26a4351">figure out Black men</a>. </p>
<p>And while much of this content is understood to be for entertainment purposes only, some of it is presented and received as legitimate and data-driven.</p>
<p>This is a problem because too many people cannot distinguish what they see onscreen from reality. Media portrayals are often hyperbolic and sensationalized to attract public attention. Equally troubling is that the majority of academic research in this area also perpetuates many of the same, negative patterns that are common in popular culture.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-CvAX7sAAAAJ&hl=en">As a graduate student and university professor</a>, I have spent nearly two decades reviewing these studies on Black men and families. The general consensus from them falls into one of two categories: first, that many Black men are not viable marriage mates because their financial struggles will <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0021934707299637">not allow them to provide for a wife and children</a>. </p>
<p>Other studies conclude that many poor Black men reject monogamous romantic relationships in favor of a hypersexual masculinity to overcompensate for their inability to fulfill the traditional breadwinner role. These men, the studies conclude, <a href="https://sociology.yale.edu/publications/against-wall-poor-young-black-and-male">treat women as conquests rather than partners</a>.</p>
<p>In both historical and more recent research, studies on Black men have disproportionately examined the lives of low-income men and the struggles they faced in <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780742528963/Tallys-Corner-A-Study-of-Negro-Streetcorner-Men">maintaining stable relationships in the face of economic disadvantage</a>. </p>
<p>I have found that the near-exclusive focus on low-income Black men in research related to the family skews perceptions of these men. It also limits the public’s knowledge of them and the meanings they attach to their romantic relationships. And this perception can be used to perpetuate negative stereotypes that frame them as dangerous and predatory.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374926/original/file-20201214-19-gwv2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Black couple gets married on the beach in Miami, Fla." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374926/original/file-20201214-19-gwv2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374926/original/file-20201214-19-gwv2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374926/original/file-20201214-19-gwv2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374926/original/file-20201214-19-gwv2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374926/original/file-20201214-19-gwv2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374926/original/file-20201214-19-gwv2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374926/original/file-20201214-19-gwv2kd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the author’s interviews, many of the men credit their partners with making them better husbands, fathers and men.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/wedding-ceremony-on-miami-beach-news-photo/813794538?adppopup=true">Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Resetting the image</h2>
<p>In response to that limited view, I spent the last four years conducting a study on a more diverse group of Black men to learn more about their perspectives on marriage.</p>
<p>The men’s stories reveal important findings that are typically not explored in research on Black men. They opened up about their desire for intimacy and companionship in their relationships. </p>
<p>My findings, many of which are counter to the popular image that our society holds of Black men, have just been published in a book, “<a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793622044/Black-Love-Matters-Authentic-Men's-Voices-on-Marriages-and-Romantic-Relationships">Black Love Matters: Authentic Men’s Voices on Marriage and Romantic Relationships</a>.” </p>
<p>My study followed 33 Black men from Louisville, Kentucky, chronicling their personal circumstances, as well as their attitudes, experiences and behaviors within their marriages and romantic relationships. The data for the study were collected from over 150 hours of interviews with the men.</p>
<p>The men I interviewed ranged in age from 18 to 72. They represented a variety of relationship statuses, with men reporting being single, romantically involved, married, divorced and remarried. The men were also diverse in their educational attainment. Some had graduate and professional degrees, while others had high school diplomas and GEDs. The men also varied in their economic situations, with annual incomes ranging from $0 to US$175,000.</p>
<p>In sharing their experiences, the men provided an in-depth look into their love lives. Their discussions touched on many important factors that have shaped their past and current relationships. </p>
<p>They reflected on how they met their partners and the characteristics that made them stand out from previous partners. The men described their ideal marriage mate and shared what marriage means to them. </p>
<p>In discussing what attracted him to his wife, one man stated, “She wasn’t phony. She was comfortable being herself, she wasn’t trying to impress anybody. So it made me learn to be comfortable being myself.”</p>
<h2>‘The most important decision’</h2>
<p>In the interviews, many of the men credit their partners with making them better husbands, fathers and men. According to one of the participants, “I always tell her that I couldn’t have become who I am without her. Meeting the right person, to stand with the right person is probably the most important decision I’ve made in my life.”</p>
<p>The men even recognize the ways their relationships serve to combat the negative perception that often surrounds Black men. </p>
<p>“The media portrays us as shiftless and violent and not to be trusted. I think when you see a man with a woman treating her well, a man with his children treating them the way they should be treated, it dispels a lot of what folks see in the media. Just seeing positive men doing what men should do is a good thing,” said one man.</p>
<p>Most often, the men talked about how the unique characteristics that set their mate apart from others they had dated. </p>
<p>In explaining what attracted him to his wife, one man stated, “I think just how she was able to articulate to me who she was and how she shared some of my values when it comes to children and relationships. It’s just how she carries herself. Her presence made me want to be with her and I never had another woman make me feel like that.”</p>
<p>However, many of these men said they struggle with previous traumas that challenge their relationships. A detective alluded to the psychological stress he faced in being a Black man having to police his community at a time of distrust and unrest, only to come home and have to be emotionally available for his wife. </p>
<p>In one of his interviews, he stated, “I try not to let the stress bother me, but it’s still one of those things. It just does. Sometimes I’m really withdrawn because I’m thinking about things at work or I’m always working. When it happens, I’ve got to put myself in check.”</p>
<p>Another man wrestled with the realization that many of his former girlfriends had a striking resemblance to a babysitter who abused him as a child. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374941/original/file-20201214-16-1c7fwls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A crowd of Black students graduating from Howard University in 2016." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374941/original/file-20201214-16-1c7fwls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/374941/original/file-20201214-16-1c7fwls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374941/original/file-20201214-16-1c7fwls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374941/original/file-20201214-16-1c7fwls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=428&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374941/original/file-20201214-16-1c7fwls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374941/original/file-20201214-16-1c7fwls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/374941/original/file-20201214-16-1c7fwls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=538&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The near-total focus on low-income Black men by academia and popular culture creates an unrealistic picture of them. Here, at commencement at Howard University in 2016, students heard from then-President Barack Obama.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/HistoryofHBCUs/af09e56bcbdd48cca071daaf188363c3/photo?Query=Black%20college%20graduation&mediaType=photo,video&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=11&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana</a></span>
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<h2>Haunted by failures</h2>
<p>In discussing their fears and insecurities, many of the men acknowledge being guarded with their emotions as a result of some of their early experiences. </p>
<p>Even when they were able to move beyond early negative experiences, many of the men discussed feeling haunted by their friends and family members’ failed relationships. </p>
<p>In these cases, the men expressed concern that their relationships would not last. As one participant said, “I don’t know that many people of color have seen marriage modeled very well.” </p>
<p>Yet over and over again, in the interviews, men told how they would strive to maintain their relationships in the face of myriad internal and external challenges including racism and early negative relationship experiences.</p>
<p>Given the lack of research on Black men featuring firsthand accounts from them, “Black Love Matters” represents a departure from previous work that seems to be preoccupied with implicating Black men in discussions of what ails their families and communities.</p>
<p>In lifting up the men’s voices, “Black Love Matters” shifts the focus away from talking about Black men and instead talks to them about how they love and want to be loved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Armon Perry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The image of Black men in the US is distorted by the media and selective academic studies, says a scholar who has studied Black men’s romantic lives. ‘Black love matters’ is his counter to that image.Armon Perry, Professor of Social Work, University of LouisvilleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1480442020-12-04T13:27:11Z2020-12-04T13:27:11ZWisconsin’s not so white anymore – and in some rapidly diversifying cities like Kenosha there’s fear and unrest<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372360/original/file-20201201-12-1v4jh5g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2986%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An activist is arrested after his van was stopped by Kenosha police Aug. 27, days after police shot a Kenosha man, Jacob Blake, seven times in the back, leaving him paralyzed. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-activist-is-taken-into-custody-after-a-van-he-was-news-photo/1269241752">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kenosha, Wisconsin, became a national byword for racial unrest when protests in August erupted in violence. </p>
<p>After <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/25/us/rusten-sheskey-account-jacob-blake-shooting-invs/index.html">local police shot a Black man, Jacob Blake</a>, seven times in the back, leaving him paralyzed, furious residents took to <a href="https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/08/29/wisconsins-summer-of-fury">the streets expressing years of pent-up anger</a>. <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/fire-chief-damage-kenosha-unrest-tops-11-million-73049162">During nighttime hours</a>, fires were set. </p>
<p>Law enforcement’s response only <a href="https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/w8zn7/">escalated the situation</a>. One night an armed white militia showed up, and Kenosha officers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kenosha-police-thanked-armed-militia-and-gave-water-2020-8">thanked them</a>. Then, at 11:45 p.m. on Aug. 25, a white teenager allegedly <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kyle-rittenhouse-charged-killing-2-kenosha-protesters-has-bond-set-n1245953">fired an assault rifle during a confrontation</a>, killing two protesters and wounding one. </p>
<p>Most <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/09/us/george-floyd-protests-different-why/index.html">anti-racism demonstrations</a> across the United States last summer <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html">were fairly peaceful</a>. </p>
<p>What went wrong in Kenosha?</p>
<p>Our research on Wisconsin’s changing demographics suggests racial integration and political polarization are a combustible combination in Kenosha.</p>
<h2>Diversifying Wisconsin</h2>
<p>Nationally, Wisconsin is generally perceived as white and working class. Historically that was largely true, and the <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/WI">state is still 81% white</a>.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://cdn.apl.wisc.edu/publications/2010_census_chartbook_wi.pdf">it’s changing fast</a>. </p>
<p>In 1980 Wisconsin had 25 small cities – those with populations of 20,000 to 100,000. Only three had populations that were more than 1% Black, and only two were more than 1% Asian American, according to census data. Latinos comprised 1% or more of the population in eight small Wisconsin cities in 1980. </p>
<p>By 2010, the number of small cities in Wisconsin had grown to 35, and few were all white anymore. Nine were more than 5% Black, 11 were more than 5% Asian and 19 of the 35 were more than 5% Latino.</p>
<p>These demographic shifts were greatest early this century. Between 2000 and 2010, Black people as a percentage of total population <a href="https://uwjusticelab.wisc.edu/white-papers/kenosha/">more than doubled in a dozen of Wisconsin’s small cities</a>. In Milwaukee – the state’s largest, most diverse city – <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/milwaukeecitywisconsin">white people now comprise just 44% of the population</a>. </p>
<p>Today Kenosha is one of Wisconsin’s most racially diverse small cities. Black people make up about 11.5% of its 100,000 people, and Latinos make up nearly 18%, according to <a href="https://uwjusticelab.wisc.edu/white-papers/kenosha/">2018 population estimates</a>. Only three similarly sized Wisconsin cities have more people of color. </p>
<h2>‘You protect and serve who?’</h2>
<p>Historically, white Americans have <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1745-9125.2004.tb00533.x">reacted with suspicion and hostility</a> to the sudden arrival of <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674238145">Black people and immigrants to their neighborhoods</a>. </p>
<p>Integration is an American ideal – a high-minded recipe for combating racism that dates back to the 1950s. But research shows that even in multicultural communities, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cico.12371">social segregation among community members of different racial backgrounds persists</a>. </p>
<p>White residents who feel threatened may turn to law enforcement, as demonstrated in numerous recent nationwide incidents of white people reporting Black people to the police for barbecuing, selling lemonade and <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/attorneys-for-the-three-white-men-accused-of-killing-a-black-georgia-jogger-offer-a-surprising-defense/">jogging</a> in predominantly white neighborhoods. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372361/original/file-20201201-21-jjy4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man sits handcuffed on a curb while police stand over him at night." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372361/original/file-20201201-21-jjy4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372361/original/file-20201201-21-jjy4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372361/original/file-20201201-21-jjy4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372361/original/file-20201201-21-jjy4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372361/original/file-20201201-21-jjy4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372361/original/file-20201201-21-jjy4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372361/original/file-20201201-21-jjy4vf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Arresting a man for breaking curfew in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, in October after a police killing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/police-take-people-into-custody-who-were-out-after-curfew-news-photo/1279430714?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To understand how this tension plays out in Wisconsin, the <a href="https://uwjusticelab.wisc.edu">Justice Lab at the University of Wisconsin</a>, where we work as sociological researchers, has been conducting interviews with police officers, residents and politicians in cities that have undergone such demographic and social changes. </p>
<p>University ethics requirements prohibit us from revealing identifying details about our study participants. But our work finds that Black residents of small cities like Kenosha, <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/yes-black-america-fears-the-police-heres-why">as in other large cities</a>, overwhelmingly fear police.</p>
<p>“I’m afraid … they might come to the car, and just for some reason be scared that day, and any sudden movement they’ll think I’m holding a gun,” said a 29-year-old Black father we’ll call Dennis.</p>
<p>“You protect and serve who? Not me or mine,” he said. “Not none of us.” </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/06/12/amid-protests-majorities-across-racial-and-ethnic-groups-express-support-for-the-black-lives-matter-movement/">2020 Pew Research survey</a> found that 64% of Black American men say they’ve been unfairly stopped by the police. </p>
<h2>‘They’re looking to stop you for anything’</h2>
<p>In Kenosha, the police department grew as its community of color did. </p>
<p>In 2007 Kenosha Police Department had 192 members. In 2013 it had grown to 198, according to <a href="https://uwjusticelab.wisc.edu/white-papers/kenosha/">Law Enforcement Management And Administrative Statistics data</a>, an expansion of 3.1%. That growth exceeds the city’s overall population growth during the same period, which was 2.6%. </p>
<p>Most Wisconsin police departments were shrinking at that time, even as the <a href="https://datacommons.org/">state’s population grew</a>. According to the Kenosha Police Department’s 2014 annual report, the force needed more officers to meet <a href="https://www.kenosha.org/images/police/annualreports/2014AnnualReport.pdf">growing demand for its services</a>.</p>
<p>But violent crime in Kenosha has remained fairly stable for decades. Since 1990, the city has had three to five murders a year, according to the <a href="https://crime-data-explorer.fr.cloud.gov/">FBI’s Uniform Crime Report</a>. And property crimes actually decreased by more than 25% between 2007 and 2013. Yet during the same period, the Kenosha police budget rose from <a href="https://www.kenosha.org/images/finance/AdoptedBudget2008.pdf">about $23 million</a> to <a href="https://www.kenosha.org/images/finance/AdoptedBudget2013.pdf">nearly $27 million</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011128707309718">Scores of studies from across the U.S. have documented</a> this phenomenon: When Black and Latino populations rise, white residents tend to respond by increasing the funding and size of local law enforcement agencies, independent of crime rate. Social scientists call this the “<a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195396607/obo-9780195396607-0204.xml">racial threat hypothesis</a>.” </p>
<p><a href="https://www.kenosha.org/images/police/annualreports/2014AnnualReport.pdf">Putting more officers on the street to do community policing</a> when there’s no rise in crime creates the potential for more routine interactions between police and civilians – and for people of color, more potential conflict. </p>
<p>Leslie, a mother of two sons, told us that police once stopped her son and his friend while driving one night, “talking about his license plates don’t match his car.” </p>
<p>Leslie said she knows that’s not true because she and her husband had recently bought the car for their son and registered it in their name. </p>
<p>Her perception: “No, you pulled him over because you were hoping that you had two black kids and when they rolled down the windows you would smell weed,” she said.</p>
<p>Leslie advises Black acquaintances not to drive into nearby largely white neighboring cities.</p>
<p>“They’re looking to stop you for anything,” she says of police.</p>
<h2>Police and politics</h2>
<p>Racial tension may be exacerbated when a city is also marked by strong partisan divisions, our research suggests. </p>
<p>Kenosha has been solidly Democratic for several decades, but about a third of its residents vote Republican, according to <a href="https://elections.wi.gov/elections-voting/results">state election records</a>. Republicans and Democrats tend to live side by side, not segregated by partisan affiliation, <a href="https://legis.wisconsin.gov/ltsb">community data shows</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372359/original/file-20201201-21-b4i131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Crowd of mostly Black protesters in face masks hold up BLM and other racial justice signs" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372359/original/file-20201201-21-b4i131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372359/original/file-20201201-21-b4i131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372359/original/file-20201201-21-b4i131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372359/original/file-20201201-21-b4i131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372359/original/file-20201201-21-b4i131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372359/original/file-20201201-21-b4i131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/372359/original/file-20201201-21-b4i131.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Outside the Kenosha County Courthouse on Aug. 24.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-gather-in-front-of-the-kenosha-county-court-house-to-news-photo/1268353449">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>That setup can pit neighbor against neighbor after events like police killings. Republicans are <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2020/06/12/amid-protests-majorities-across-racial-and-ethnic-groups-express-support-for-the-black-lives-matter-movement/">far less likely than Democrats to see racial bias in law enforcement as a problem</a>, according to Pew Research.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Donald Trump has stoked such tensions throughout his presidency, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpEz48TJz2A">vilifying Black Lives Matter and exalting law enforcement</a>. The day before the 2020 election, he held a rally in Kenosha, declaring he had <a href="https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/11/02/trump-returns-wisconsin-election-eve-rally-kenosha/6122031002/">brought “law and order”</a> to the city. </p>
<p>Trump narrowly lost Wisconsin, <a href="https://uwjusticelab.wisc.edu/white-papers/kenosha/">including Kenosha</a>. Joe Biden’s presidency will change the national debate on police violence, but it won’t stop the seismic demographic shifts creating unease in Wisconsin’s small cities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148044/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research on Wisconsin’s changing demographics suggests that racial integration and political polarization were a combustible combination in Kenosha, where violence erupted in August.John M. Eason, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-MadisonBenny Witkovsky, PhD Candidate, University of Wisconsin-MadisonChloe Haimson, PhD Candidate, University of Wisconsin-MadisonJungmyung Kim, PhD Candidate, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1428862020-09-28T12:23:49Z2020-09-28T12:23:49ZHow even a casual brush with the law can permanently mar a young man’s life – especially if he’s Black<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359890/original/file-20200924-14-1qemu6d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=176%2C142%2C5431%2C3589&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even a minor arrest and no conviction can be devastating. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Doug Berry/Photodisc via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.vox.com/2020/6/1/21276957/george-floyd-protests-coronavirus-police-brutality-racism">George Floyd’s death</a> highlighted how even a minor alleged infraction – in his case, over a fake $20 bill – can lead to a fatal interaction with law enforcement. </p>
<p>As a result, a coalition of advocacy organizations, criminal justice reform advocates and everyday citizens <a href="https://www.vox.com/21312191/police-reform-defunding-abolition-black-lives-matter-protests">have called for cities</a> to take a <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/28/us/police-out-of-schools-movement/index.html">wide range of actions</a> to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2020/08/13/at-least-13-cities-are-defunding-their-police-departments/#71497cd629e3">reduce the power and authority</a> of local police departments. </p>
<p>But loss of life isn’t the only potential consequence of a brush with the law. Even a single arrest, without conviction, can be devastating to the rest of a young man’s life – especially if he’s Black – particularly in terms of employment and earnings. And African American men are much more likely to get arrested than their white counterparts. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Cb-z1MwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">My own recent research</a> has been exploring what employers can do to help overcome the barriers associated with arrests and the stigma of incarceration. </p>
<h2>Devastating consequences</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Americans-with-Criminal-Records-Poverty-and-Opportunity-Profile.pdf">One in three Americans</a> has been arrested by the age of 23, but the stats get a lot worse if you are a Black man. </p>
<p>A young African American <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10560-019-00618-7">is seven times more likely</a> to get arrested than a white peer. By the time they are 23, Black men are at a <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1007/s10560-019-00618-7">49% risk of getting arrested</a> and six times more likely to be incarcerated than white men. As of 2010, <a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/news/5593/">one-third of African American adult males</a> had a felony conviction on their records, compared with 8% of all U.S. adults.</p>
<p>While the data on the system’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-americans-are-bearing-the-brunt-of-coronavirus-recession-this-should-come-as-no-surprise-137587">disproportionate impact</a> on Black men are bad enough, it doesn’t end there. Any interaction with the justice system, even for a misdemeanor or arrest without conviction, can have devastating consequences for the individual. </p>
<p>More than 60% of formerly incarcerated individuals <a href="https://www.nelp.org/publication/reentry-and-employment-for-the-formerly-incarcerated-and-the-role-of-american-trades-unions/">remain unemployed one year after being released</a>, and those who do find jobs make 40% less in pay annually.</p>
<p>Research shows that a criminal record of any sort – including arrest without conviction – <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.1177/0002716208330793">reduced the likelihood of a job offer by almost 50%</a>. The impact is substantially larger for Black job applicants. </p>
<p>And while Black men are affected most by these problems, it’s a national problem that affects many young men and women across the United States. More than <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/07/29/amid-coronavirus-outbreak-nearly-three-in-ten-young-people-are-neither-working-nor-in-school/">10 million young adults</a> age 16-24 were neither working nor in school in June. While it’s unclear how many of them are “disconnected” as a result of an arrest record – the pandemic <a href="https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/young-lockdown-generation-suffering-severe-job-losses-covid-19">has certainly put many of them out of work</a> – research <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4192649/">suggests an arrest</a> is <a href="http://www.justicepolicy.org/news/12816">a key factor</a>. </p>
<p>The effect on the U.S. economy as a whole is significant, with the underemployment of formerly incarcerated individuals <a href="https://cepr.net/images/stories/reports/employment-prisoners-felonies-2016-06.pdf">leading to a loss</a> of US$78 billion to $87 billion in gross domestic product in 2014.</p>
<h2>Finding solutions</h2>
<p>Local and state agencies <a href="https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/what-is-a-ban-the-box-law.html">have passed legislation</a> designed to prevent hiring practices that discriminate against individuals with criminal records. </p>
<p>These efforts include “<a href="https://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/">ban the box</a>,” which removes the question asking about a criminal record from job applications, and other <a href="https://www.goodhire.com/blog/understanding-the-fair-chance-act-and-fair-hiring-laws/">“fair chance” hiring</a> policies aimed at preventing employers from explicitly asking about an applicant’s criminal history.</p>
<p><iframe id="GOrii" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/GOrii/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.nelp.org/blog/ban-the-box-statistical-discrimination-studies-draw-the-wrong-conclusions/">research has shown</a> that these policies are not a panacea and <a href="https://psmag.com/social-justice/how-ban-the-box-can-lead-to-even-more-racial-discrimination-by-employers">can even lead to more</a> discriminatory and racist hiring practices as some employers switched to making certain assumptions based on racially distinctive names.</p>
<p>My team of researchers has been working with <a href="https://www.leadersup.org/about-us">LeadersUp</a>, a nonprofit that targets high youth unemployment in America, to identify more inclusive hiring practices for young adults who have interacted with the criminal justice system, including everything from a singular arrest to incarceration for felony offenses.</p>
<p>Our findings suggest that while there is strong support for the concept of fair chance hiring among employers, practices that would lead to more of these people being hired have not yet been widely adopted. </p>
<p>According to a soon-to-be-published survey of 39 employers so far, almost half reported trying to distinguish between an applicant’s arrest and an actual conviction, while 44% offered applicants an opportunity to explain a conviction.</p>
<p>One problem we encountered was that despite strong interest in proposing changes, human resources employees didn’t always feel they have enough authority to implement new initiatives regarding fair chance hiring. Additionally, when background checks are required, the burden often falls on the job applicant to take the initiative to review these checks for accuracy or to report employers who not are abiding by local hiring laws. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Hiring opportunities for young people who have an encounter with the justice system are further limited by compounding issues such as stigma, skill matching and a lack of education about what it means.</p>
<p>Employers play an important role in expanding inclusive hiring practices for individuals who have had involvement with the criminal justice system. But I believe a key first step toward more equitable hiring practices should be to expunge the criminal records of young adults who have been arrested but not convicted or have committed misdemeanor crimes. That will give more of them a clean slate to build their lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142886/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gary Painter receives funding from the Workforce Accelerator Fund (WAF 7.0) for the research referenced in this piece</span></em></p>Whether or not someone is eventually convicted, an arrest alone is enough to significantly impair a Black man’s job and earning prospects.Gary Painter, Professor of Public Policy, University of Southern CaliforniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1443212020-08-28T12:23:18Z2020-08-28T12:23:18ZWhen police stop Black men, the effects reach into their homes and families<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355159/original/file-20200827-18-124vkis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=57%2C40%2C5332%2C3555&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black men are stopped by police in disproportionate numbers. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-on-cheering-on-the-protesters-as-they-make-their-way-news-photo/1242649140?adppopup=true">Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>While much of the world was sheltering in place in the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans’ undivided attention was focused squarely on Minneapolis, Minnesota, where <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html">George Floyd was killed at the hands – and knees – of the police</a>. </p>
<p>Floyd’s murder evoked memories of other murders by the police, including those of Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Philando Castile and Samuel DuBose. Most recently, another unarmed Black man, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/23/kenosha-police-shooting-video-wisconsin/">Jacob Blake, was shot seven times in the back in Kenosha, Wisconsin</a>. </p>
<p>We are a <a href="https://sociology.utk.edu/faculty/williams.php">sociologist</a> and a <a href="https://louisville.edu/kent/about/faculty-1/bios/dr.-armon-perry">social worker</a> who study racism, inequality and families, including a focus on Black men and their interactions with law enforcement. Each of these killings serves as confirmation that concerns about those interactions are warranted. </p>
<p>The problem isn’t just that Black men get killed – it’s that Black families are stressed and strained by Black men’s daily encounters with police.</p>
<p>Studies show Black and Hispanic drivers, compared to white drivers, experience a disproportionate number of <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo17322831.html">police stops</a> and that officers show <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/25/6521">less respect</a> to Black drivers. </p>
<p>Racial inequality in contact with the police may influence the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/06/03/10-things-we-know-about-race-and-policing-in-the-u-s/">lack of trust in police</a> among Black Americans. In a recent <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/163523/one-four-young-black-men-say-police-dealings-unfair.aspx">Gallup survey</a>, one in four Black men ages 18 to 34 reported they have been treated unfairly by police within the last month.</p>
<p>In our research on these interactions, we found that they have far-reaching implications for Black families. Law enforcement encounters for Black Americans stretch beyond the streets of our cities and into Black Americans’ homes, where they have a negative effect on <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0002716216633447">family life</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man helping a woman during a street protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355160/original/file-20200827-22-c1qrds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The shooting of another Black man, Jacob Blake, by police on August 23 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, led to days of street protests.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-helps-a-woman-during-a-clash-with-law-enforcement-in-news-photo/1228208322?adppopup=true">Brandon Bell/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Families suffer</h2>
<p>Studies show that <a href="https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/media/publications/Parents%20Behind%20Bars%20-%20What%20Happens%20to%20Their%20Children%2C%20Murohey%20%26%20Cooper%2C%202015.pdf">one in nine</a> Black children has had a parent in prison. Having an incarcerated parent is <a href="https://sociologicalscience.com/download/volume%201/april/unintended-consequences-effects-of-paternal-incarceration.pdf">associated with a host of social problems</a> for children, including behavioral problems and academic failure. </p>
<p>Former inmates have to navigate many barriers to reintegrate and reconnect with their communities and families. A recent <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jomf.12174">study</a> shows that if fathers were previously incarcerated, they were more likely to report having a strained and unsupportive relationship with their child’s mother, a major factor which negatively impacts fathers’ involvement and harms their connection and relationship with their children. </p>
<p>Although a growing number of studies focus on incarceration and families, there is less empirical research that includes whether police stops experienced by Black fathers affect family life.</p>
<p>In our research, we have found the obstacles that come with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2156869315616258">economic hardship</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/fare.12308">mental illness</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/pere.12301">parenting stress</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19371918.2011.629856?casa_token=6lDgv0oMiYkAAAAA%3AT3lOWktmXPdV8SJxDstX6s5jNbVoCPREOnhItbCZiFZW7Klm8k4YsEgWY6gfKYW9XwzJ0IUfju20">incarceration</a> can hurt how well parents work together and the well-being of their children. </p>
<p>We wanted to extend our work by examining whether experiencing a traffic stop for Black fathers affected their relationship with their child’s mother. This is important because the mother-father relationship plays a large role in fathers’ involvement with their children. </p>
<p>In 2019, we co-authored a <a href="https://ucincinnatipress.manifoldapp.org/system/actioncallout/1c94db82-0fd5-4eb8-b8e1-8edc494ce22d/attachment/original-4520e76d4bb77e5bf041670673ac1588.pdf#page=86">study</a> that examined how Black fathers’ contacts with police affects their relationships with their children’s mother. </p>
<p>We analyzed data from the <a href="https://fragilefamilies.princeton.edu/about">Fragile Families and Child Well-being study</a>, a study surveying nearly 5,000 families from urban cities. In conducting our analysis, we focused on 967 Black families that included both fathers’ and mothers’ reports of relationship quality and cooperative parenting.</p>
<p>We found that fathers who reported experiencing a police stop were more likely to report conflict or lack of cooperation in their relationships with their children’s mother. They also reported the same relationship problem if they had been previously incarcerated.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man and a boy sitting on the stairs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355161/original/file-20200827-14-t8yfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/355161/original/file-20200827-14-t8yfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355161/original/file-20200827-14-t8yfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355161/original/file-20200827-14-t8yfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355161/original/file-20200827-14-t8yfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355161/original/file-20200827-14-t8yfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/355161/original/file-20200827-14-t8yfii.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Being stopped by police can hurt a Black man’s relationship with his family.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/father-sitting-with-son-on-the-stairs-royalty-free-image/85756520?adppopup=true">Jose Luis Pelaez/Getty</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Anger and frustration</h2>
<p>Encountering law enforcement can affect family relationships in a number of ways. </p>
<p>In many cities, the <a href="https://www.urban.org/research/publication/how-do-people-high-crime-low-income-communities-view-police">police presence is heaviest in low-income communities where Black men are more likely to live</a>. These communities and their residents are often economically disadvantaged with very few viable prospects for gainful employment. </p>
<p>For the Black fathers in these communities, not being able to fulfill the financial provider role can contribute to relationship tension with their children’s mother. </p>
<p>Family researchers suggest that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167203255984">stressful events</a> such as law enforcement contact may also reduce individuals’ ability to manage family problems. </p>
<p>Family members are <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.psych.48.1.243">inextricably linked</a>, so when Black fathers experience a police stop, it may generate feelings of uncertainty and agitation on the part of the mother and affect the way that she views the relationship, leading to <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo17322831.html">anger and frustration</a> that negatively impacts the relationship.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<h2>Reinforcing racial oppression</h2>
<p>The disproportionate number of Black men who have contact with law enforcement does not happen within a vacuum. Some <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11524-015-0005-x.pdf">researchers</a> underscore the historical origins of policing and criminalizing of Black males since the Civil War that continues into the present. This includes negative stereotypes of Black men as dangerous, which led to <a href="https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/report/">more than 150 years of lynchings</a>, <a href="https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/color-of-justice-racial-and-ethnic-disparity-in-state-prisons/">mass incarceration of Black men</a> and more recent <a href="https://ccrjustice.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/08/the-human-impact-report.pdf">stop-and-frisk policies that disproportionately target Blacks</a>. </p>
<p>Given the prevalence of both incarceration and police stops for Black men, law enforcement contact of any kind can become a source of additional stress and may <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo17322831.html">reinforce racial oppression</a>.</p>
<p>As the results of our study indicate, these experiences may carry over into their day-to-day lives, including harming their family relationships.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the country reels from a series of killings of Black men by the police, two scholars report that their research shows that stops by police of Black men can hurt their families.Deadric T. Williams, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of TennesseeArmon Perry, Professor of Social Work, University of LouisvilleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1410272020-07-21T12:09:50Z2020-07-21T12:09:50ZBlack men face high discrimination and depression, even as their education and incomes rise<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345679/original/file-20200705-33913-11gs847.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Six of the author's studies show health disparities due to both race and gender.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/sad-afro-american-man-royalty-free-image/1058529756?adppopup=true">Getty Images / Juanmonino</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Are you a highly educated and relatively wealthy Black man in the U.S.? <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40615-016-0239-7">Studies</a> that we have done and also those by <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22707995/">others</a> show that you are at increased risk of discrimination and depression. Our <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/ncid/people/diversity-scholars-directory/shervin-assari.html">research</a> on the intersection of race and gender in the U.S. shows that while education and income reduce the risk of discrimination and depression for whites and Black women, this is not so for <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29671796/">Black men</a>. This underscores other research we have done that suggests Black men are especially singled out as dangerous, threatening and inferior.</p>
<p>The first author, Shervin Assari, is a physician and an associate <a href="http://profiles.cdrewu.edu/ProfileDetails.aspx?From=Pinfo&Person=509">professor</a> of family medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science. Many of his studies have documented that black men still face depression, which could stem from discrimination, even when they achieve traditional measures of success.</p>
<p>The second author, Tommy J. Curry, is a philosopher and holds a <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/profile/tommy-jermaine-curry">personal chair</a> of Africana philosophy and Black male studies at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of “<a href="http://tupress.temple.edu/book/20000000009481">The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre, and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood</a>,” which won the American Book Award. The findings of his work show that Black men and boys not only experience racism, but are targets of extreme levels of dehumanization and violence because of their maleness. </p>
<p>First, we briefly summarize the results of six studies. Then, we discuss their meanings and implications – and the difficulty of Black men escaping the effects of racism with the added layer of gender, known as racial misandry, gendered or sexualized racism. </p>
<h2>Study 1</h2>
<p>In the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-017-0426-1">National Survey of American Life study</a>, Black boys from the wealthiest families were the most depressed. </p>
<h2>Study 2</h2>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0239-7">study</a> that followed 1,200 Black and white people for 25 years, for Black men, the highest educational credentials were associated with an increase, rather than a decrease, in depressive symptoms. </p>
<p>[<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=experts">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get expert takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em>]</p>
<h2>Study 3</h2>
<p>In a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, Black men with the highest income have the highest risk of depression, specifically major depressive <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-016-0239-7">disorder</a>. We also found that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/bs8040040">interpersonal discrimination</a>, or people discriminating one-on-one, was not a reason.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345681/original/file-20200705-33943-166jees.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345681/original/file-20200705-33943-166jees.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345681/original/file-20200705-33943-166jees.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345681/original/file-20200705-33943-166jees.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345681/original/file-20200705-33943-166jees.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345681/original/file-20200705-33943-166jees.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345681/original/file-20200705-33943-166jees.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">For Black boys, discrimination during adolescence leads to depression two decades later when they are adults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-man-royalty-free-image/172724427?adppopup=true">Getty Images / Casarsa</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Study 4</h2>
<p>In another study, 700 Black adolescents <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00104">were followed</a> for two decades in Flint, Michigan. Perceived racial discrimination was measured in 1999 and 2002. We found discrimination during adolescence was a predictor of depressive symptoms as individuals transitioned to young adulthood a decade later. But this was the case for Black males, not Black females. </p>
<h2>Study 5</h2>
<p>In that same study in <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00104">Flint</a>, we found that an increase in perceived neighborhood fear, defined as being scared of the crime and violence in the neighborhood, was associated with an increase in depressive symptoms for Black males – but not Black females. </p>
<h2>Study 6</h2>
<p>Our final research was studying implicit bias, or when people, without their conscious knowledge, hold stereotypes about others. Our <a href="http://doi.org/10.15171/IJER.2018.10">study</a> applied data of the Implicit Association Test (IAT), which measures how our brain struggles to match Black faces with positive terms, of nearly 450,000 individuals. We found that white men hold higher implicit bias against Black people than white women do. This is troubling because white men have the highest level of political power and make up the majority of police, judges, lawyers and people who make hiring and promotion decisions. White men are also most likely to be the ones who write the rules and the laws. Implicit bias is still bias, and it too could be a factor in Black men’s depression.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345682/original/file-20200705-33913-c1qtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/345682/original/file-20200705-33913-c1qtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345682/original/file-20200705-33913-c1qtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345682/original/file-20200705-33913-c1qtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=812&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345682/original/file-20200705-33913-c1qtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345682/original/file-20200705-33913-c1qtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/345682/original/file-20200705-33913-c1qtn2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1020&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Black Americans make up approximately one-third of the prison population.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/mugshot-of-a-young-man-royalty-free-image/148350925?adppopup=true&uiloc=thumbnail_same_series_adp">Getty Images / RichLegg</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Black men singled out</h2>
<p><a href="https://daphnewatkins.com/portfolio/black-men-and-masculinity/">Many other studies</a> show similar findings. </p>
<p>Black men are disproportionately <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-013-9246-5">shot</a> and killed by police more than Black women. Black men are stopped, arrested, jailed more, and significantly overrepresented in U.S. prisons. <a href="https://www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/">Black men</a> are six times more likely than white men to spend time in prison. This increased risk for black men is highest when they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1714454115">tall</a> and large.</p>
<p>One study deserves particular attention – the famous “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2008-05171-002">Gender Matters Too</a>.” It shows Black boys and girls in eighth and 11th grades differed in their perception of peer and classroom discrimination. For boys, discrimination harmed their grades, attitudes and their regard for the importance of school. For girls, however, the effects generally had a positive impact.</p>
<p>In other words, race alone may not be the issue here. Instead, it is an issue of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41341106?seq=1">race and gender</a>, that may stem from hopelessness, inequality and blocked opportunities. </p>
<p>Together, these studies provide a disturbing picture of the challenges that Black males face. And, they show the burden that Black men bear when some whites wonder “What’s the big deal? Racism was 150 years ago.” </p>
<p>What ended 150 years ago was slavery, not racism, and our research suggests that Black men experience this racism in distinct ways. Many of the racist ideas white Americans have of Black people are driven by the <a href="https://polisci.osu.edu/sites/polisci.osu.edu/files/mcconnaughy_white.pdf">negative stereotypes white Americans have of Black men</a> being more violent, sexual promiscuous and dangerous than other race/sex groups. This dynamic is so strong that even hearing the names of Black men can lead to a <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151007110735.htm">fight-or-flight response</a> in white males. A <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.848.1523&rep=rep1&type=pdf">recent study</a> found that even armed Black and white women were less threatening than unarmed Black males to white Americans.</p>
<p>The reality of racism in the U.S. makes Black males peculiarly targeted by <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.452.6288&rep=rep1&type=pdf">lethal violence</a>, <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/116/34/16793">police homicide</a> and <a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w24441">economic downward mobility</a>. </p>
<p>And, according to our studies, regardless of their economic success and personal ambitions, Black males are still perceived as more threatening and dangerous than their female counterparts.</p>
<h2>Black men’s issues overlooked</h2>
<p>Unfortunately for us all, it has primarily been the dead Black male
body that drives our understandings of racism against Black men and
boys in the United States.</p>
<p>Yet racism stalks Black men every day of their lives, dehumanizing them, decreasing their quality of life and even shortening their lives; Black men live, on average, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/2017/015.pdf">four fewer years</a> than white men. Efforts to escape racism’s effects, such as gaining education and earning more money, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2784232?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">force them to question their own worth</a>. </p>
<p>We believe solutions are based not just on renaming streets but to acknowledge, without blaming Black men, how discrimination contributes to blocked opportunities, the lack of jobs and the use of lethal aggression against their group.</p>
<p>Although this piece focused on highly educated and high-income Black men, this problem is not only a problem of the most elite and most successful Black men. The disproportionate struggles that successful Black men have with depression does not indicate their weakness, but instead their vulnerability, and how racism has vastly different consequences for them compared to black women and other groups. Said differently, the consequences of the higher rates of homicide, incarceration and unemployment against the Black male group has existential consequences for many Black men and boys as individuals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141027/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The issues facing Black Americans are not confined to only racial discrimination. Gender plays a part too.Shervin Assari, Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and ScienceT.J. Curry, Professor of Philosophy, Personal Chair of Africana Philosophy & Black Male Studies, The University of EdinburghLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1405232020-06-18T12:18:06Z2020-06-18T12:18:06Z5 reasons police officers should have college degrees<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/342557/original/file-20200617-94060-jq2gzv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does college hold the answer to police violence?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/new-police-officers-take-oath-during-new-york-police-news-photo/1175954210?adppopup=true">Pacific Press/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following several deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police, President Donald J. Trump issued an <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-safe-policing-safe-communities/">executive order</a> on June 16 that calls for increased training and credentialing to reduce the use of excessive force by police.</p>
<p>The order did not mention the need for police to get a college education, even though higher education was identified in the 2015 <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/blog/president-s-task-force-21st-century-policing-recommendations-print-action">President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing</a> as one of six effective ways to reduce crime and build better relations between police and the communities they serve.</p>
<p>As researchers who specialize in <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IcyJ9IEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">crime</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vREZA8gAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">punishment</a>, we see five reasons why police officers should be encouraged to pursue a college degree.</p>
<h2>1. Less likely to use violence</h2>
<p>Research shows that, overall, college-educated officers generate fewer citizen complaints. They are also terminated less frequently for misconduct and less likely to use force.</p>
<p>Regarding the use of force, officers who’ve graduated from college are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611109357325">almost 40% less likely to use force</a>. Use of force is defined as actions that range from verbal threats to use force to actually using force that could cause physical harm.</p>
<p>College-educated officers are also less likely to shoot their guns. A study of officer-involved shootings from 1990 to 2004 found that college-educated police officers were <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854807313995">almost 30% less likely to fire their weapons in the line of duty</a>. Additionally, one study found that police departments that required at least a two-year degree for officers had a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611115604449">lower rate of officers assaulted by civilians</a> compared to departments that did not require college degrees.</p>
<p>Studies have found that a small proportion of police officers – about 5% – produce most citizen complaints, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.01.003">officers with a two-year degree</a> are about half as likely to be in the high-rate complaint group. Similarly, researchers have found that officers with at least a two-year degree <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854813486269">were 40% less likely to lose their jobs</a> due to misconduct. </p>
<h2>2. More problem-oriented</h2>
<p>The 2015 <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/blog/president-s-task-force-21st-century-policing-recommendations-print-action">task force</a> recommended community and problem-oriented policing strategies as ways to strengthen police-community relations and better respond to crime and other social problems. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/cl2.1089">Problem-oriented policing</a> is a proactive strategy to identify crime problems in communities. The strategy also calls for officers to analyze the underlying causes of crime, develop appropriate responses, and assess whether those responses are working. Similarly, community-oriented policing emphasizes building relationships with citizens to identify and respond to community crime problems. Research has found that when police departments use community-policing strategies, people are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2017.1303771">more satisfied with how police serve their community</a> and view them as more legitimate. </p>
<p>Community policing and problem-oriented policing require problem solving and creative thinking – skills that the college experience helps develop.</p>
<p>For example, internships and service-learning opportunities in college provide future police officers a chance to develop civic engagement skills. It also gives them the chance to get to know the communities they will police. Among students who participated in a criminal justice service-learning course working with young people in the community, <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1016537.pdf">80% reported a change</a> from stereotypical assumptions that all of them would be criminals to a better understanding of them as individuals with goals and potential - some not so different from the students’ own dreams. Almost 90% said they had come to understand the community, which they believed would serve them in their criminal justice careers.</p>
<p>Among street-level officers who have the most interaction with the public, having a bachelor’s degree significantly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/PIJPSM-04-2019-0044">increases commitment to community policing</a>. These officers tend to work more proactively with community members to resolve issues and prevent problems rather than only reacting to incidents when called.</p>
<h2>3. Enables officers to better relate to the community</h2>
<p>Higher education has been shown to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15614263.2011.563969">enhance</a> the technical training that police get in the academy or on the job.</p>
<p>For instance, as college students, aspiring or current police officers participate in internships, do community service or study abroad. All of these things have been shown to increase <a href="https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654315605917">critical thinking</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00091380903449060">moral reasoning and openness to diversity</a>. College also leads to more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/24732850.2018.1510274">intercultural awareness</a>. Taken together, all of these skills are <a href="https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1041&context=sociologypub">essential for successful policework</a>.</p>
<p>Research has also shown that police officers themselves recognize the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510710833893">value of a college degree</a>. Among other things, they say a college education improves <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10511253.2016.1172650">ethical decision-making skills</a>, knowledge and understanding of the law and the courts, openness to diversity, and communication skills. In one study, officers with criminal justice degrees said their education helped them gain <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/13639510710833893">managerial skills</a>.</p>
<h2>4. Helps officers identify best practices</h2>
<p>A college education helps officers become better at <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00459">identifying quality information and scientific evidence</a>. This in turn better enables them to more <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paw019">rigorously and regularly evaluate</a> policies and practices adopted by their departments. </p>
<p>For example, many departments employ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1098611118784007">de-escalation tactics</a> that aim to reduce use of force. A critical step in knowing whether an approach is achieving its intended goal is evaluating its impact. Officers who have an understanding of scientific methods, as taught in college, are better positioned to adjust their department’s policies.</p>
<h2>5. Builds better leaders</h2>
<p>Bringing about meaningful police reform requires <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11896-016-9204-y">transformational leadership</a>. Higher education, including graduate degrees, can enhance the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/police/pav045">leadership potential</a> of criminal justice professionals and support their promotion through the ranks. </p>
<p>Police officers with at least some college experience are more focused on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0093854812458426">promotion</a> and expect to retire at a higher rank compared to officers with no college. It should come as little surprise, then, that police administrators, including police chiefs, are more likely to hold <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/police/paz029">college and post-graduate degrees</a>. Leaders with a graduate degree are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128716642253">twice as likely</a> to be familiar with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716220902073">evidence-based policing</a>, which uses research to guide effective policy and practice. </p>
<p>Higher education and police reform efforts are at a critical juncture.</p>
<p>Educated law enforcement professionals will be better equipped to lead much-needed reform efforts. State and local agencies and governments can do more to encourage officers to seek a college degree, including through incentives, like the <a href="https://www.unomaha.edu/college-of-public-affairs-and-community-service/criminology-and-criminal-justice/about-us/news-and-events/tuition-waiver-law-enforcement.php">Nebraska Law Enforcement Education Act</a>, which allows for a partial tuition waiver or the <a href="https://www.mass.edu/osfa/initiatives/pcipp.asp">Quinn Bill in Massachusetts</a>, which provides scaled bonuses depending on the degree an officer holds or <a href="https://www.fop.net/CmsPage.aspx?id=81">tuition reimbursement scholarships</a> like those offered by the Fraternal Order of Police. Colleges and universities can help officers acquire the skills needed to help to reestablish trust between our communities and those who are sworn to protect and serve.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140523/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gaylene Armstrong receives funding from various state and federal granting agencies in support of criminal justice research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leana Bouffard does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When it comes to making law enforcement professionals less likely to resort to use of force, higher education goes a long way, research shows.Leana Bouffard, Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology, Iowa State UniversityGaylene Armstrong, Director, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice; Co-Director, Nebraska Collaborative for Violence Intervention and Prevention, University of Nebraska OmahaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/999852018-09-25T21:05:25Z2018-09-25T21:05:25ZBarbershop Talks: A safe place to discuss Black masculinity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237803/original/file-20180924-85767-5b77ix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Barbershop Talks creates a place for Black men and boys to meet and discuss ideas about masculinity.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edgar Chaparro/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many Black men have a special relationship with their barbers. This unique connection has resulted in a series of events called the Barbershop Talks, where the “neighbourhood barbershop” is used to <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/listen/shows/all-in-a-day/segment/15555888">create a safe space for Black community members to meet.</a></p>
<p>In these informal meetings, participants are encouraged to openly discuss Black masculinity and critical <a href="http://bit.ly/2KZCjnM">issues that affect Black men and boys in Canada</a>. Besides stimulating conversations, the idea is to brainstorm about solutions to some of the significant stresses Black men and boys face. </p>
<p>The first Barbershop Talks was held Feb. 28, 2018, in a local Ottawa barbershop called The Rite Cut. It was scheduled for two hours but ran for three.</p>
<p>Based on the positive response, francophone communities were invited to the second discussion, which took place on July 11 <a href="https://www.thedrvibeshow.com/the-dr-vibe-show-warren-clarke-barber-shop-talk-series-vol-2-black-masculinity/">simultaneously in three cities: Ottawa, Montréal and Toronto</a>. Although it is likely that some of these conversations already occur in small interpersonal, informal or accidental spaces, we wanted to host a formal discussion with the community.</p>
<p>Both francophone and anglophone attendees of the July events said they experienced similar racially charged micro-aggressions in Canada. Common among those experiences was the feeling that Black Canadian men and boys were associated with negative stereotypes that demonized their existence. </p>
<p>Why hold them at barbershops? One participant said his barber was his “therapist, coach and his everything.” He also mentioned that going to visit his barber for a haircut on a regular basis helped build his identity as a “Black man” and as he got older “it was a necessity” for him to visit his barber. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236340/original/file-20180914-177962-v1gs1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236340/original/file-20180914-177962-v1gs1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236340/original/file-20180914-177962-v1gs1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236340/original/file-20180914-177962-v1gs1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236340/original/file-20180914-177962-v1gs1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236340/original/file-20180914-177962-v1gs1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236340/original/file-20180914-177962-v1gs1o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The organizers chose barbershops because they felt they were important institutions. One participant said that his barber was his ‘therapist, coach and his everything.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Knight / Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We felt it was important to focus on issues facing Canadian Black men because there are many misconceptions <a href="https://theconversation.com/dear-white-people-wake-up-canada-is-racist-83124">that racial discrimination does not exist in Canada</a>. </p>
<p>In particular, misconceptions about Black men — both anglophone and francophone — can grow and fester. Stereotypes of Black men and boys can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1069072705283761">hinder their autonomy and dampen their ability to cultivate healthy self-perceptions.</a> This denial of racism also robs people and communities of places where they can talk freely about the real issues they are dealing with as Black men.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dear-white-people-wake-up-canada-is-racist-83124">Dear white people, wake up: Canada is racist</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As Black men and boys respond to and resist the false identities that are superimposed upon them, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2003-02034-001">they wrestle with their identities</a> as they struggle to process racist misconceptions of themselves. For young men <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00957984940202005">trying to develop a healthy understanding of themselves, this is especially challenging.</a></p>
<h2>Perceived as threats and not allies</h2>
<p>Scholars like <a href="https://groveatlantic.com/book/black-skin-white-masks/">Franz Fanon</a> and <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/292303/the-souls-of-black-folk-by-w-e-b-du-bois/9780140189988/">W.E.B. Du Bois</a> documented these issues in their work published decades ago. More recently, critical race theorists like <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/stuart-hall-and-the-rise-of-cultural-studies">Stuart Hall</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/207369.Belonging">bell hooks</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/bungatuffie">Paul Gilroy</a>, <a href="https://btlbooks.com/book/black-geographies-and-the-politics-of-place">Katherine McKittrick</a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/344652.Critical_Race_Theory">Kimberlé Crenshaw</a> and <a href="https://tvo.org/video/archive/studio-2/george-elliott-clarke-on-his-book-george-and-rue">George Elliott Clarke</a>) have continued to discuss questions of Black consciousness in North America. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uPtz8TiATJY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Kimberlé Crenshaw discusses the intersectional questions of Black consciousness in North America.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This sample of writers and scholars represents a range of expertise. While they may not agree on every issue concerning Blackness or racialized males, their diversity of thought and scholarship showcases the range of ideas within historical-political contexts.</p>
<p>Philosopher Tommy Curry looks at deconstructing Black masculinity in his 2017 book,<a href="http://tupress.temple.edu/book/20000000009481"><em>The Man-Not: Race, Class, Genre and the Dilemmas of Black Manhood</em></a>. Curry argues: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“…because Black men are not subjects of, or in theories emanating from their own experience, they are often conceptualized as the threats others fear them to be.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This general understanding that Black men and their social position in a North American context are perceived as threats and not allies complicates their lived experiences. </p>
<h2>A community effort</h2>
<p>We are two PhD students, but we see the Barbershop Talks as a community event rather than an academic endeavour. One of us, Warren Clarke, the primary co-ordinator of the event, focuses on race, youth and masculinity in Canada. The other, Nadine Powell, focuses on race and ethnicity in Canada, migration and gender. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228953/original/file-20180724-189316-i6dazv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228953/original/file-20180724-189316-i6dazv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228953/original/file-20180724-189316-i6dazv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228953/original/file-20180724-189316-i6dazv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228953/original/file-20180724-189316-i6dazv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228953/original/file-20180724-189316-i6dazv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228953/original/file-20180724-189316-i6dazv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A photo from the Barbershop Talks in Montréal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We both agreed that we did not want to perpetuate the colonial style of knowledge-gathering that operates from a hierarchical, top-down approach. Instead, the Barbershop Talks encourage community members to speak about the issues that concern them and not merely answer questions generated by the co-ordinators. </p>
<p>To achieve this, we involved people from various parts of the community in the planning, co-ordination and generation of discussion topics. People who helped us includes: Jan van Huezen, Arnold Tabaro, John Wambombo, Eldon Holder, Stephan Spence-Clarke and the facilitators: L.A. Wade, Salina Berhane and Mitchell McLarnon.</p>
<p>The relationship between academics and communities sometimes does not allow for knowledge to flow freely between the two sets of people. In most cases, the knowledge flows in one direction; institutions have a claim on constructing the information that is useful for the community. This doesn’t allow for a reciprocal relationship to develop in which community members are empowered to speak about their needs, desires and solutions. </p>
<h2>Defining Blackness</h2>
<p>The first talks held in Ottawa primarily dealt with unpacking how we define Blackness. It was an insightful discussion about the depth and complexity of the label Blackness and Black as people within the Black community were expressing what the label means to them. </p>
<p>There were many interpretations of Blackness. Understanding the complexities of Blackness helps to dispel the commonly held misconception that any Black individual is representative of all Black people and all Black histories or all Black stereotypes. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236350/original/file-20180914-177947-12v0nca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/236350/original/file-20180914-177947-12v0nca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236350/original/file-20180914-177947-12v0nca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236350/original/file-20180914-177947-12v0nca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236350/original/file-20180914-177947-12v0nca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236350/original/file-20180914-177947-12v0nca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/236350/original/file-20180914-177947-12v0nca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the concepts discussed at the event was the misconception that Black individuals are representative of all Black people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brunel Johnson/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The community also discussed perceptions of women’s roles (mothers, grandmothers, aunts and cousins) in constructing images of young Black men from society at large, and within the African- and Caribbean-Canadian communities. </p>
<p>Issues were raised at the event to help prompt discussion in the second Barbershop Talks. At the core is the question: “What is Black masculinity?” We intend to visit other Canadian communities as a way to understand what Black masculinity represents across different places in Canada. </p>
<p>Barbershop Talks is meant to engage the community to talk, but also to encourage people to listen to one another and to raise awareness from within the Black Canadian community about the negative perceptions that work against Black men and boys.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99985/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Warren Clarke is affiliated with Carleton University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nadine Powell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Barbershop Talks use the idea of the “barbershop around the corner” as a place to meet and discuss ideas and create a safe space for Black men and boys to talk openly about masculinity.Warren Clarke, Ph.D., Carleton UniversityNadine Powell, PhD Student Department of Sociology; RA - Migration and Diaspora Studies, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/828982017-08-25T01:47:18Z2017-08-25T01:47:18ZFair Game? The audacity of Héritier Lumumba<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183382/original/file-20170824-27655-1sobzz8.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Heritier Lumumba describes his experience of racism at Collingwood Football Club in Fair Game.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">SBS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In what’s been labelled a “<a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/collingwood/heritier-lumumba-slams-collingwood-culture-in-controversial-new-documentary/news-story/ad629518506d37d91543673445289b1f">controversial new documentary</a>”, SBS’s forthcoming series Fair Game provides a firsthand account of former AFL player Héritier Lumumba’s search for identity as a Black man, and how he confronted racism and prejudice at the Collingwood Football Club. </p>
<p>Lumumba, along with his family, former teammates and sports journalists, sheds new light on his personal and professional journey, including the reason behind his name change from Harry O'Brien to Héritier Lumumba. We learn that his name Héritier, given to him by his Black father at birth, means “the prince who is gifted”. It’s in stark contrast to the dehumanising nickname of “Chimp” assigned to him by his teammates. </p>
<p>I’ve never really understood the game of AFL. Before watching Fair Game, I didn’t know all that much about Héritier Lumumba. But Lumumba’s story of how race plays out in predominantly White male workplaces was all too familiar to me as the daughter of a Black truck driver and the wife of a Black police officer.</p>
<p>My dad worked many jobs, from the meatworks in Bowen, to killing water buffalo in the Territory, to digging ditches for the local council. On settling down to family life in the outer suburbs of Brisbane, he worked in the foundry across the road from where we lived. Not content with digging ditches or working on the foundry floor, Dad taught himself to drive a backhoe in his lunch breaks and worked his way up to crane operator. </p>
<p>I was a small child when he achieved his dream of being an owner-driver truck driver. It was the mid-’80s, times were tough financially and the job itself was physically challenging. But dad put on his boots each day and went to work.</p>
<p>He would sit down at the wharf waiting for his truck to be loaded, only for it to be left until last, only to be called a stupid, silly, or lazy “Black bastard”. It was all in good fun, just a joke, the other truck drivers would say. </p>
<p>I remember when he got a second truck and other truckies would joke about his “ATSIC-funded” (the now-defunct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission) truck and the special benefits he got being Black; because of course that second truck wasn’t a result of hard work, but a product of imagined White charity. </p>
<p>Being Black is special alright. I still remember as a child being able to discern from the revs of the truck coming down the road whether or not dad got special treatment on that day. </p>
<h2>Special treatment</h2>
<p>A few decades later, as the wife of a Black man who worked in the Queensland Police Service, I would see my husband off to work, only to experience that same apprehension upon his return about what kind of day he had - what kind of special treatment he received from his work “mates”, what kind of demeaning banter he had to tolerate in order to put food on our kitchen table. </p>
<p>My husband’s experience of racism in the police service and the effect upon his mental health have been documented on <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2016/s4690940.htm">ABC’s Foreign Correspondent</a>. In the final moments of the interview, he was asked about the aspirations he had for our children. </p>
<p>He replied:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My hope for my children is that they just grow up to be good people, to have an understanding of people with different cultures and to be treated just like another human being.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Being treated like a human being remains an aspirational goal for Black men in Australia. In the opening scene of Fair Game, Lumumba explains why he didn’t challenge team mates who nicknamed him “Chimp”. </p>
<p>He says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You want to feel the sense of inclusion, so you will do anything really to show that you’re not an alien, that you are normal, that you are a human being.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The appeal from Black men here is not an appeal for special treatment, just an appeal to be treated as human. But racist banter, taunts and slurs are so much a part of White Australian male culture that Black men are required to testify to their humanness as a daily work practice. Let’s not forget our very own attorney-general, George Brandis, insisted from the floor of federal parliament that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/24/george-brandis-people-have-the-right-to-be-bigots">bigotry was a fundamental right of Australians</a>. </p>
<h2>The audacity of Lumumba</h2>
<p>In my father, in my husband and in Lumumba I witnessed a preparedness to try to withstand racism at work, to rise above, and to overcome. Even as they were in the process of being dehumanised, I witnessed Black men trying to be superhuman. </p>
<p>And, of course, why wouldn’t they? Black people from birth are conditioned to be better than and work harder than White people, in order to be seen to be just as good as them. This irreconcilable requirement takes its toll eventually. My husband medically retired as a police offer aged 36, my father died of cancer aged 62, and Lumumba was literally knocked out of the game aged 30.</p>
<p>In acknowledging this damage to Black bodies, I don’t want to sustain White mythologies about Black incapability, but I do want to acknowledge that Black men too are only human after all. </p>
<p>We are frequently subjected to narratives of Black male violence and abuse, where the only role for our men is one of perpetrator. Yet there is a steadfast refusal to acknowledge how violence and abuse at the hands of White men are killing Black men’s souls, minds and bodies every day in Australia. </p>
<p>And when Black men speak about it, no matter how considered and articulate, they are swiftly silenced by White men, demeaned as either <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/afl/sydney-swans/swans-star-adam-goodes-always-plays-the-victim-alan-jones-20150728-gimmn3.html">hyper-sensitive</a> or <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/eddie-mcguire-adam-goodes-should-have-warned-crowd-about-war-dance-20150601-ghe00g.html">hyper-aggressive</a>. Black men’s behaviours are never reasonable or rational, we are told, and Black men’s testimonies are <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-08-19/its-a-bit-sad-bucks-on-lumumba-claims">simply not reliable</a>. </p>
<p>Fair Game tells us not about the capabilities of Lumumba or even Black men in Australian sport or society. Instead it tells us about the toxicity of White masculinity, and the pervasiveness and acceptability of racism in Australian life, including within the workplace. </p>
<p>While the program is yet to air, it has been White Australian men who have been quick to dismiss the treatment dished out to Lumumba. Fellow players <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/nathan-buckley-confrontation-was-the-final-straw-at-collingwood-for-heritier-lumumba-20170818-gxz5ea.html">questioned whether he was really hurt by being called a chimp</a>, others insisted <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/nathan-buckley-feels-sad-about-heritier-lumumba-but-did-not-hear-chimp-claim-20170818-gxzmhe.html">they didn’t hear it</a>, while the club insinuates that he <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/afl/afl-news/heritier-lumumba-says-he-was-accused-of-throwing-collingwood-president-eddie-mcguire-under-the-bus-20170818-gxz433.html">brought the name upon himself</a>.</p>
<p>In the documentary, sports commentator Mark Robinson outlines some of the offences that Lumumba committed: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>When Harry starting tweeting about you know, Socrates and the refugees and the Dalai Lama I thought well, “good on him, good on him”, but after a while I thought, “Come on, Harry, ease up, righto, we know you think yourself you’re the chosen one.” I think people just don’t like being lectured all the time. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Whether it is owning two trucks, or citing Greek philosophers, Black men in Australia must be careful not to get too ahead of themselves. Should they let the world know that they even think for a moment that they are not inferior, they will be roundly put in their place. </p>
<p>Lumumba’s offence was not arrogance, it was his audacity. He had the audacity not to know his place, and the audacity not just to remember, but to reclaim both his name and its meaning. He had the audacity as a Black man to insist upon his own humanity and the humanity of others, regardless of the personal cost. </p>
<p>Sadly, there don’t appear to be too many White men in the game who have that same audacity. If only <em>they</em> were stronger, then perhaps Black men, women and children wouldn’t have to be. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Fair Game will premiere at 9.45pm on Sunday, September 3, on SBS and will be available on SBS On Demand from Sunday 27 August.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82898/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Chelsea Bond receives funding from the Department of Education and Training as an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow and is a Director of the Screen Queensland Board. </span></em></p>Héritier Lumumba played for Collingwood Football Club until 2014, where his teammates called him “Chimp”. His experience mirrors that of many other black men in Australia, particularly in the workplace.Chelsea Watego, Senior Lecturer, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit (ATSIS Unit), The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/811782017-07-30T23:31:39Z2017-07-30T23:31:39ZHip-hop’s vulnerable moment: Jay-Z sets his emotions free<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179904/original/file-20170726-7204-1eyl431.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jay Z, Beyoncé and daughter Blue Ivy sit court side at a basketball game in New Orleans in Feb. 2017. Jay Z opened up about his relationship with Beyoncé on his new album, "4:44." </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://listen.tidal.com/artist/7804">Jay-Z</a> has cemented himself as a teacher and a leader in popular culture. He sparks conversations every time he releases a project, whether a <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8425806-decoded">book</a> or an album. His 13th album, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/4-44/id1256675529"><em>4:44</em></a> (Roc Nation), an intimate collection of 10 songs, is no different. The conversational album tells the story of love and survival in a racially charged society and provides a jumping-off point for thinking and talking about Black masculinity.</p>
<p>The structures of oppressive racism have led to many Black men and women to interpret vulnerability as a sign of emotional weakness and male bravado as a sign of strength. Therefore, invulnerability has become an emotion to practise. </p>
<p>This performed masculinity runs rampant through mainstream hip-hop culture. Jay-Z and executive producer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_I.D.">No I.D</a> challenge these traditional notions of invulnerability and egocentric masculinity and confront themes of racism and Black love through their lyrics and their selection of <a href="http://ca.complex.com/music/2017/06/jay-z-444-album-samples">R&B and reggae samples</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179910/original/file-20170726-30152-sl4v2i.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The album 4:44, a collection of 10 songs and Jay-Z’s 13th studio album was released in June.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jay-Z is having a conversation with other Black male rappers on this album as he asks: “Y'all out here still takin’ advances, huh?” Here, he’s implying rappers are attached to the industry of music. By doing this, he’s asserting his independence, and consequently his ability, to take artistic chances. He’s not beholden to anyone and can therefore construct his own image and discuss issues that aren’t necessarily popular. </p>
<p>In a followup video to his album, <a href="http://www.spin.com/2017/07/jay-z-444-footnotes-video-kendrick-lamar/"><em>4:44 Footnotes</em></a>, Jay-Z unpacks his lyrics by talking about their meaning. He does this with a group of Black artists and athletes. He is not obscuring his target audience. </p>
<p>Jay-Z draws and benefits from the groundwork laid by feminist writers like <a href="https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/author/bell-hooks/">bell hooks</a>, <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/When-Chickenheads-Come-Home-to-Roost/Joan-Morgan/9780684868615">Joan Morgan</a> and <a href="http://www.triciarose.com/hip-hop-wars.html">Tricia Rose</a>. These scholars have worked to explain and uncover how corporate influences, deeply rooted racism and the long-term impact of economic, social and political disempowerment have affected Black hip-hop artists. </p>
<h2>Hip-hop: One-dimensional image of Black men</h2>
<p><em>“Like the men before me, I cut off my nose to spite my face” -4:44</em></p>
<p>Bar by bar throughout <em>4:44</em>, Jay-Z peels off his confident, invulnerable mask, revisiting Shawn (he was born Shawn Corey Carter) and revealing the moments that have defined his past in the hopes of changing his future. </p>
<p>Hip-hop is the most <a href="https://www.vibe.com/2017/07/hip-hop-popular-genre-nielsen-music/">popular genre of music in the United States</a>. At the same time, hip-hop is a microcosm of hegemonic ideals, promoting physical and financial supremacy. Within popular hip-hop imagination, the rapper has been the embodiment of Black masculinity, figured as the cis-heterosexual hero. As these images emanate throughout social discourse, they perpetuate ideas about gender, sexuality, race and identity. For this reason, Black men are not often afforded the privilege to make mistakes and rebuild or self-criticize without being scrutinized by society.</p>
<p>That means there are limited options for what the Black male can represent: “rapper,” “menacing gang member,” “hustler,” “master of (heterosexual) sex.” As these labels pervade and populate hip-hop culture, male rappers effectively get portrayed as <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02692077">machismo spectacle</a>,“ according to scholar Anthony Lamelle Jr.</p>
<p>Within the culture itself, this masculinity gets positioned in stark opposition to femininity, which is closely associated to vulnerability and emotion. But the inability to be vulnerable, according to feminist scholar <a href="https://twitter.com/bellhooks?lang=en">bell hooks</a>, means there is an inability to truly connect with other people. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179909/original/file-20170726-29425-x8301q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179909/original/file-20170726-29425-x8301q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179909/original/file-20170726-29425-x8301q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179909/original/file-20170726-29425-x8301q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=421&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179909/original/file-20170726-29425-x8301q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179909/original/file-20170726-29425-x8301q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179909/original/file-20170726-29425-x8301q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=529&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this Feb. 2016 file photo, Beyonce and Jay Z attend a basketball game in Los Angeles. The couple were married on April 4, 2008, in a private ceremony at their Tribeca apartment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Progressively, through his lyrics, Jay-Z attempts to redefine his own masculinity. But he struggles with overcoming his own egomania. In his track <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXXxUNJ23uk"><em>Bam</em></a> he explains that ego, as a survival strategy, is hard to shed. He admits to lying and cheating. He also attempts to confront his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RM7lw0Ovzq0">destructive consumption patterns</a>. </p>
<p>Though he is aware of the inherent racism and sexism woven into neoliberal capitalism, Jay-Z reveals in <em>The Story of O.J.</em> and <em>Legacy</em> that, like many, he is still attached to traditional notions of wealth and accumulation. He addresses the impact of <a href="http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2017/07/jay-z-444-footnotes-video/">toxic masculinity</a> that permeates people’s lives — especially those marginalized by their race, gender and class.</p>
<h2>Hip-hop’s cool guy pose leaves others behind</h2>
<p><em>"I promised, I cried, I couldn’t hold. I suck at love, I think I need a do-over” - 4:44</em></p>
<p>Bell hooks has been calling for the interrogation and redefinition of Black masculinity throughout her career. In her 2004 book, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52740.We_Real_Cool"><em>We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity</em></a>, she explains how Black masculinity is viewed: fearless, insensitive, egocentric and invulnerable: therefore any emotions that interfere with this “cool” pose get blocked out.</p>
<p>The cultural devaluation of vulnerability in hip-hop is damaging, because hip-hop’s common themes continue to reinforce things like dominance and sexual prowess over women instead of romantic love and relationships. Also, the “cool” pose leaves women and queer people behind.</p>
<p>Jay-Z’s surprising displays of vulnerability can be seen throughout the album. Jay-Z apologizes to his wife, Beyoncé, on the title track, <em>4:44</em>. He raps: “<a href="https://genius.com/Jay-z-4-44-lyrics">I apologize, often womanize/ Took for my child to be born/ See through a woman’s eyes …</a>.” He shows his acceptance of his mother Gloria’s sexuality on <em>Smile</em>: <a href="https://genius.com/Jay-z-smile-lyrics">“Cried tears of joy when you fell in love, don’t matter to me if it’s a him or her.”</a> Jay-Z is telling us, and especially young male consumers of his music, that the inability to be vulnerable means an inability to feel. In her book, bell hooks explains: “If we cannot feel, we cannot truly emotionally connect with one another.” Stuck in this mindset, love becomes an unknown. Jay-Z is also working to redefine himself as a rapper by imagining new spaces to exist whereby committed relationships and self-growth are also part of the “cool” pose.</p>
<p>At 47, Jay-Z has emerged as the leader in the progression of hip-hop, constantly opening up new possibilities for where rap can go.</p>
<p>As hip-hop grows into its mid-40s (its approximate birth date is 1973), hopefully there will be others who continue to re-imagine what “cool” looks like. In doing so, they might disrupt the limited notions of what Black men can represent in popular culture and society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tamar Faber does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In 4:44, his 13th album, Jay-z gets confessional and socio-political, challenging traditional notions of Black male bravado and masculinity.Tamar Faber, PhD Student, Communication and Culture, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.