The World Is Not Black And White : Racial Bias

The way in which a police officer reacts to a situation relies on the characteristics of the suspect and location, and the personal beliefs of the police officer. The characteristics of a suspect include the individual’s race, ethnicity, gender, economic status, and behavior. These aspects play a single role in a law enforcement officer’s behavior under a nerve-wracking situation. People will argue that an officer judging by a suspect’s characteristics is sexist, racist, etc., but, truth is, everyone judges by

— Some researchers say that, “Race triggers shooting by white police officers because whites feel more threatened by black faces than white faces.”

The movie Crash, a film that follows the individual lives of several people and how they all intertwine with one another, hints at the underlying issue of race and the unconscious bias that are hard wired in us. It also shows that racism is not a one way street, but that it travels in both directions and because of this many film critics gave it a high praise. In this paper I will examine how it relates back to the topics we have covered in class, like unconscious bias, racism, and police interactions.

Parents usually take their newborn baby in car rides when they won’t fall asleep, because the car ride is tranquilizing for them. I love traveling in planes and cars, I like the noise, it’s soothing. I’ve traveled to numerous places that are all magnificent. Some of them being cold, warm, sunny and humid areas. The most memorable places in the world, I’ve been to, include Monclova, Coahuila, Arlington, Texas and Bar Harbor, Maine.

Besides enacting racial bias screening and training requirements, police departments need to change the way they operate, by changing poor police protocol currently in place. In other words, in some cases, this issue of racial profiling can stem from police chiefs who provide their officers with patrol assignments targeting minority neighborhoods due to implicit biases which they have. In Driving While Black: Racial Profiling On Our Nation's Highways, David Harris suggests, “Because police look for drugs primarily among African Americans and Latinos, they find a disproportionate number of them with contraband” (Harris). Certain police chiefs intentionally target minority neighborhoods and put a greater effort on catching the people living there for their wrongdoings, thus making those minority groups appear as higher threats to society. The picture of crime would be reversed if the police targeted White people rather than minorities.

Over the years, there have been numerous cases of African-American men being shot and killed by white police officers. According to many of these police officers, it was just a rapid decision to pull the trigger. Correspondingly, implicit biases have resulted in these ideologies, making African-American men seem more violent than white men. In fact, there are many studies that demonstrate how police officers are affected by implicit biases. For example, a study had college students play a computer game where the objective was to shoot dangerous armed

Implicit biases can lead to race-based policing even without making a conscious decision to do so. Evidence proves that African Americans and Latinos are stopped for traffic offenses more frequently than Whites even though they do not commit more traffic offenses than Whites. (Richardson, 2015) One study revealed that police “officers were more likely to see weapons in the hands of unarmed Black individuals than in the hands of unarmed White individuals as a result of implicit bias” (Richardson). These discoveries mirror studies indicating that racial biases lead people to interpret the actions of Black individuals more suspiciously than they would interpret the same actions if they were performed by White individuals. (Richardson)

When faced with a threat human instinct is to kill first instead of to be killed. Police are trained to disable a threat and as a last resort, kill. What does it say about America’s law enforcement when an officers’ victim is a person of colour who is unarmed? A recent and well known case of unjust demise by police is 22-year-old Oscar Grant. A young black man gunned down, whilst handcuffed, by a white police officer. Grant was unarmed and posed no threat to the officer. Similarly, 23-year-old Robert Tolan Jr. was given the same fate by an officer who allegedly received inaccurate information about a stolen vehicle. Like Grant, Tolan happened to be a black man shot by a white police officer while unarmed. No

Black people comprise 40% of the U.S. prison population, despite the fact that only black people are only 13% of the total U.S. population (Sakala, 2014). This disparity is influenced by numerous factors, one being implicit bias. The racial discrepancy in criminal justice is an indirect reflection of implicit bias in criminal justice practices at multiple levels of the system. Implicit bias refers to the unconscious assumptions and prejudices held by individuals. As law enforcement officials are required to make quick decisions in situations with potential offenders, their individual bias can motivate their subconscious actions (Borgida & Miller, 2013, pg. 532).

One of the most polarizing policy issues in the United States is the process of using race, ethnicity, and/or national origin by law enforcement as a chief predictor of criminal behavior. In the presence of social media and modern technological innovation, there has been increased documentation on the very problematic ways in which police officers use their position of authority against minorities. The countless cases of murder and police brutality have prompted national dialogue regarding to what extent race should be used in methods of policing. Against a troubled backdrop of incessant clashes with minorities and law enforcement, navigating the situation requires a degree of care that does not diminish the

Social psychologists have studied the cause and effect of biases, specifically by white police officers towards minorities. Implicit bias, specifically racial bias, describes a psychological process in which a person’s unconscious racial belief (stereotypes) and attitudes (prejudices) affect his or her behaviors, perceptions, and judgments in ways that they are largely unaware of and typically, unable to control (Graham).

Almost everyone has heard the famous hymn, “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” but not all understand the true meaning when it says, “Red, and yellow, black, and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” The moment sin entered into the world, perfection no longer existed. This loss of perfection changed the way humans viewed each other. It made one ethnicity view another ethnicity as inferior, and in doing so, created what people now know of as racism. For centuries, racism has been a part of society, shaping the way humans view each other, but with the aid of Young Women 's Christian Association (YWCA) - Stand Against Racism, racial discrimination and injustice can be eliminated.

Race is a social construct used to categorize people who share biological traits that a society thinks are important. It is commonly used to organize people and distribute power within society. As Cornel West implies, “it is an important factor in determining the life chances of certain groups of people in the United States” (West, 358). Race plays a huge role in how people are perceived, and therefore the opportunities that are available to them. A person’s race influences a whole host of social outcomes, from their education, to their income and their experiences with the criminal justice system. Just like race, minorities are categorized and distinguished by physical or cultural difference, that a society sets apart and subordinates. Typically, minorities occupy a lower status in society and have less access to the levels of societal power. Non-Hispanic white Americans, which is the majority group in United States society, have higher incomes, live in better neighborhoods, and are more likely to have more prestigious jobs and better educations than racial and ethnic minorities. Because of these disparities, minorities often face prejudice, a rigid and unfair generalization about an entire category of people. Prejudice often takes the form of stereotypes, which are exaggerated and simplified descriptions that are applied to every person in a category. Negative stereotypes enforce racism, or beliefs, thoughts, and actions based on the idea that one race is innately superior to another race. These thoughts can lead to harmful actions, or discrimination, towards different groups of people. Some people believe that race is tied up in structures of power and that races with less societal power are inferior. For example, it’s not unknown that black men are seen as violent in today’s society. Because of this stereotype, African-American people are more likely to fall victim to police brutality. An analysis of the available FBI data by Vox's Dara Lind found that US police kill black people at disproportionate rates: “Black people accounted for 31 percent of police killing victims in 2012, even though they made up just 13 percent of the US population”. In an effort to end this injustice, people of all races

Racial bias is still a very active issue in society today. This paper explores the understanding of racial bias in business hiring. This is critical because racial bias continually uniforms businesses in hiring decisions. The prevalence of racial bias in business hiring, potential interventions, and explanations of why this occurs will be explored. How prevalent is racial bias in business hiring today and how can it be mediated?

Racial Bias are a direct correlation to police violence against African Americans, stereotypes perpetuated by social constructions and media representation along with individual prejudice help by police officers view African Americans as a threat especially African American men. Police trust this ideology of “threat” to assist in their use of excessive force against African Americans to comply. (Tyler, 2011; Tyler et al., 2015, Skinner, Haas,2016).