The Relationship Between Structural Racism and Black-White Disparities in Fatal Police Shootings

[SummerMadness]

Police Shootings Reflect Structural Racism

The deaths of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, Michael Brown, and other unarmed Black victims at the hands of police sparked a national conversation about racism and policing, from the Black Lives Matter movement to kneeling NFL players. Critics of these protests have attributed police shootings to “bad apples” within police departments, or argued more Black victims die at the hands of police because higher rates of violent crime in Black communities lead to more interactions with police.

But a new study led by School of Public Health researchers finds states with a greater degree of structural racism, particularly residential segregation, have higher racial disparities in fatal police shootings of unarmed victims.

Published in the Journal of the National Medical Association, this is the first study to examine the relationship between structural racism and racial disparities in fatal police shootings at the state level. Even controlling for rates of arrest, the researchers found a strong association between the racial disparity in unarmed fatal police shootings and a range of structural racism indicators, with residential segregation showing the most pronounced association.

"The problem of police killings of unarmed Black victims should not be viewed merely as a problem of flawed action on the part of individual police officers, but more as a consequence of the broader problem of structural racism," says senior author Michael Siegel, professor of community health sciences. "Unjustified homicide by police should be added to the long list of the public health consequences of societal racism."

The Relationship Between Structural Racism and Black-White Disparities in Fatal Police Shootings at the State Level (In press)

Objective
The objective of this study was to discern the relationship between state-level structural racism and Black-White disparities in police shootings of victims not known to be armed.

Methods
Using a Poisson regression, we evaluated the effect of structural racism on differences between states in Black-White disparities in fatal police shootings involving victims not known to be armed during the period from January 1, 2013 through June 30, 2017. We created a state racism index, which was comprised of five dimensions: (1) residential segregation; and gaps in (2) incarceration rates; (3) educational attainment; (4) economic indicators; and (5) employment status.

Results
After controlling for numerous state-level factors and for the underlying rate of fatal shootings of black victims in each state, the state racism index was a significant predictor of the Black-White disparity in police shooting rates of victims not known to be armed (incidence rate ratio: 1.24; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-1.50). For every 10-point increase in the state racism index, the Black-White disparity ratio of police shooting rates of people not known to be armed increased by 24%.

Conclusion
These findings suggest that structural racism is an important predictor of the Black-White disparity in rates of police shootings of unarmed victims across states.

 

[A_Thinker]

[Staff edit].

I think that we're focussing on non-aggressive and non-violent persons who have been become victims of over-aggressive policing.

Is it so hard to correlate disparities in policing with overall racist tendencies ... when blacks have only been free for 150 years in America ... and have had anything approaching equal rights for 50 years ?

 

[Redac]

Trayvon Martin was killed by the police? That's news.

 

[SummerMadness]

Trayvon Martin was killed by the police? That's news.

Yes, that is incorrect, but it is also not the topic of this research article.

 

[Hank77]

Police Shootings Reflect Structural Racism



The Relationship Between Structural Racism and Black-White Disparities in Fatal Police Shootings at the State Level (In press)

Why do you think this is so.
But a new study led by School of Public Health researchers finds states with a greater degree of structural racism, particularly residential segregation, have higher racial disparities in fatal police shootings of unarmed victims.

 

[Saucy]

I think that we're focussing on non-aggressive and non-violent persons who have been become victims of over-aggressive policing.

Is it so hard to correlate disparities in policing with overall racist tendencies ... when blacks have only been free for 150 years in America ... and have had anything approaching equal rights for 50 years ?

Yes. It's much harder than anyone is willing to admit. Especially if you're white. No, I'm not saying that's proof of racism, but we just don't see it. Even when I lived in the inner city of Flint, I did not see racism. Of course, a black person could tell me that everything I saw around me, from the blight and crime, is a result of racism, but I see it as a result of an industry that went bad and bankrupted a town.

Michael Brown became a hero to many, but to most people not in the BLM movement? He was a thug. He's on tape robbing a store the night of his death. He had a weapon. The whole "hands up, don't shoot" thing was a hoax revealed later. In ANY circumstance, unless you have reasons to cry racism, you'd think that shooting was because Michael Brown was violent and aggressive towards the cop. He wasn't 'unarmed' as the article says. He was very much armed and was said to have pulled his weapon. I would've shot the guy too. Race nor skin color played a role in that.

Then I look at statistics, which say that MORE whites are killed by the police than blacks are. In fact, the number is DOUBLE for whites. I know, I know. Blacks are only 13% of the population. But 13% of the population also commits 52% of the murders! Blacks lead nearly every statistical criminal category in this country. They mostly live in the inner cities, where the majority of the crime happens.

No one wants to talk about black-on-black crime. That's the REAL major tragedy. No, when BLM marches, they do it against cops. Cops are there, in 99.9% of the circumstances, to protect. They rush headlong into these dangerous neighborhoods to keep everyone safe.

Us white folks know that. Then we see BLM protests against cops. Most of us know a cop or are related to one. I have one in my family and three of my close friends have cops/paramedics in their family. To us, these are our heroes. Maybe to a black family in the inner city, cops are to be feared, but to us, they aren't.

Then we get together and watch football on Sunday and see players kneeling, and we're sick of politics and work and just want to watch football, not be forced to watch a protest we don't care about or think is necessary. We think it's crapping on our flag and our military. But, we're racist for thinking that way. We're racist because we don't march with a group we see on TV acting like violent thugs.

I don't see the problem being aggressive cops. In fact, I sort of like that cops are aggressive in high crime areas. Instead of kneeling on TV and protesting cops, whom the majority of are good and decent, maybe put all the effort into making their own communities better? Help clean up blight, take out the trash, remodel homes for the poor, stock food kitchens, create a whole movement of being a positive force in the community. That's a BLM I could easily get behind and support. Not the group they have today.

 

[Johnny4ChristJesus]

Police Shootings Reflect Structural Racism



The Relationship Between Structural Racism and Black-White Disparities in Fatal Police Shootings at the State Level (In press)

Problem is you have over-aggressive police and some of them are racists. You have racists of every race. You have racists who start riots in unrelated cities and kill unrelated police officers by being able to claim the police, in general, are racists. There are police of all races.

When an African American Asst Police Chief in Fayetteville, NC talked to boys I am privileged to work with, he lamented about how many blacks killed blacks. That isn't the only city that I have heard that in. We should be more concerned about why this is the only race you routinely here that about.

When I taught school, I heard more than one African American put down another African American who cared about school saying: "Stop being white!" I never heard that from another race. So if we are going to grossly exaggerate, and generalize, then a bigger question is why do they try to pull each other down--even to the point of killing each other?

Some of my best friends are African Americans and some police are abusive. Some of my best mannered and best behaved boys are African Americans and yet most of my worst behaved and most openly rebellious boys---have also been African Americans. Why?

 

[Zoii]

Police Shootings Reflect Structural Racism



The Relationship Between Structural Racism and Black-White Disparities in Fatal Police Shootings at the State Level (In press)

Gee that was an interesting article. In Australia shootings are rare and makes the headlines if it occurs. We had 13 mass shooting events in the 18 year period leading to 1996. But after 1996 we have had none. So the things you describe are jaw dropping to Australians. I feel for the police who must be influenced by the severity of danger they face. The dangers faced and the defensiveness that goes with it, permeates to all members of the force and thus you have a whole cultural change in police. That cultural change is so strong it is an offensive approach rather than defensive and power abuses result. So you have a real problem

In Australia we were saddened when a really lovely woman went to live in the USA. She heard screaming for help outside her home. She called the police and informed them. When the police arrived and she saw the flashing lights outside her home, she came out in her pyjamas to liaise with the policeman but as she approached he shot her dead. - She was in her pyjamas unarmed and the video shows her doing nothing that would profile her as a threat. The officer was not charged. It was deemed regrettable but a reasonable course of action.

Race doesnt come into this - she was young middle class, nice neighbourhood, Caucasian female. So when profiling is an important part of surveillance, I can imagine how blacks fall into the profile and get targeted time and time again and even when their actions are totally innocent, and the culture of abuse kicks in with pathetically severe outcomes.

While the culture of police needs to change in your community, its hard to expect that when gun ownership is so prolific. In my experience the very mention of limiting gun ownership in anyway brings a highly defensive response from Americans. Therefore you have the dilemma that on the one hand you seek justice, and fairness when dealing with police, but on the other hand American are unwilling to handover the instruments of so many deaths. And its a surprising view in some ways - When 9/11 occurred 2996 were killed and 6000 injured. The outcome of that was 3 trillion Dollars on wars in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and a further 2 Trillion of security measures. So you went to war over this number of deaths................

In 2017 there were 61485 shooting incidents resulting in 15590 deaths and 31181 injuries of which 3966 were children. This is not a one off year as in 2018 there already 1547 shooting deaths -that's 9/11 many times over each year and the response to manage this has been - well you tell me.

 

[Ana the Ist]

There's a state racism index?

 

[Rion]

Yes, that is incorrect, but it is also not the topic of this research article.

It shows the quality of said research.

There's a state racism index?

I doubt that they include groups like the Hebrew Israelites, etc. Otherwise, NY would be number one.

 

[FireDragon76]

Yes, that is incorrect, but it is also not the topic of this research article.

He was killed by a vigilante, so I think it's still relevant.

 

[Ana the Ist]

There's a state racism index?

Oh wait....here we go...

"Researchers then created an index of structural racism at the state level, which they believe is the first of its kind. Looking at measures of black-white residential segregation and disparities in economic status employment status, educational attainment and incarceration rates, the index was cross-referenced with data on police shootings."

So they literally created an "index" based upon subjective factors they decided were a result of "structural racism" and surprise....it just happens to coincide with the data they collected on police shootings.

Color me unimpressed.

 

[Ana the Ist]

As far as I can tell....they made a graph of places where blacks are doing poorly and heavily engaged in crime, and found out in those places blacks are more likely to get shot by police.

They could've just saved their time and asked me.

 

[Zoii]

Oh wait....here we go...

"Researchers then created an index of structural racism at the state level, which they believe is the first of its kind. Looking at measures of black-white residential segregation and disparities in economic status employment status, educational attainment and incarceration rates, the index was cross-referenced with data on police shootings."

So they literally created an "index" based upon subjective factors they decided were a result of "structural racism" and surprise....it just happens to coincide with the data they collected on police shootings.

Color me unimpressed.

hahaha OK fair enough but hey dont judge too quickly. The tool they created may be totally valid OR Not - if its the first tool of its kind then its worthy of others independently testing that tool for validity. But dont be too quick to dismiss their work until you read exactly how they developed and validated their tool.

 

[Zoii]

As far as I can tell....they made a graph of places where blacks are doing poorly and heavily engaged in crime, and found out in those places blacks are more likely to get shot by police.

They could've just saved their time and asked me.

Hmmm did you read the whole article? because I did and thats an unfair assessment. It sounds a little like you just read the abstract then made a pile of assumptions - am I wrong?

 

[SummerMadness]

Yes. It's much harder than anyone is willing to admit. Especially if you're white. No, I'm not saying that's proof of racism, but we just don't see it. Even when I lived in the inner city of Flint, I did not see racism. Of course, a black person could tell me that everything I saw around me, from the blight and crime, is a result of racism, but I see it as a result of an industry that went bad and bankrupted a town.

Michael Brown became a hero to many, but to most people not in the BLM movement? He was a thug. He's on tape robbing a store the night of his death. He had a weapon. The whole "hands up, don't shoot" thing was a hoax revealed later. In ANY circumstance, unless you have reasons to cry racism, you'd think that shooting was because Michael Brown was violent and aggressive towards the cop. He wasn't 'unarmed' as the article says. He was very much armed and was said to have pulled his weapon. I would've shot the guy too. Race nor skin color played a role in that.

Then I look at statistics, which say that MORE whites are killed by the police than blacks are. In fact, the number is DOUBLE for whites. I know, I know. Blacks are only 13% of the population. But 13% of the population also commits 52% of the murders! Blacks lead nearly every statistical criminal category in this country. They mostly live in the inner cities, where the majority of the crime happens.

No one wants to talk about black-on-black crime. That's the REAL major tragedy. No, when BLM marches, they do it against cops. Cops are there, in 99.9% of the circumstances, to protect. They rush headlong into these dangerous neighborhoods to keep everyone safe.

Us white folks know that. Then we see BLM protests against cops. Most of us know a cop or are related to one. I have one in my family and three of my close friends have cops/paramedics in their family. To us, these are our heroes. Maybe to a black family in the inner city, cops are to be feared, but to us, they aren't.

Then we get together and watch football on Sunday and see players kneeling, and we're sick of politics and work and just want to watch football, not be forced to watch a protest we don't care about or think is necessary. We think it's crapping on our flag and our military. But, we're racist for thinking that way. We're racist because we don't march with a group we see on TV acting like violent thugs.

I don't see the problem being aggressive cops. In fact, I sort of like that cops are aggressive in high crime areas. Instead of kneeling on TV and protesting cops, whom the majority of are good and decent, maybe put all the effort into making their own communities better? Help clean up blight, take out the trash, remodel homes for the poor, stock food kitchens, create a whole movement of being a positive force in the community. That's a BLM I could easily get behind and support. Not the group they have today.

You've written this before, I know because you're talking about "more whites are killed by the police" (of course ignoring the rate), but then are happy to speak on rates when it comes to singling out crime committed by African Americans (but still ignore that even that factor does not explain their targeting by police). You then mention black-on-black crime while ignoring that most crime intraracial, white-on-white crime is a "problem" too, but this point is meant to silence the discussion on police brutality, which is well-documented in numerous DOJ reports. Somehow you wish to ignore such systemic problems and how those instill fear of calling the police for help. Would you call the police knowing units like the Baltimore gun task force are running rampant? And we already know such corruption is not isolated, we have direct evidence.

• Investigation of the Chicago Police Department
• Investigation of the Baltimore City Police Department
• Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department
• Investigation of Cleveland Division of Police
• Investigation of the Seattle Police Department
• Investigation of the New Orleans Police Department

We also know that most police officers (84%) have witnessed colleagues use excessive force on civilians, and most admit (61%) they don't report even serious criminal violations, how can you walk around claiming there isn't a big problem?

We also have numerous studies that speak to this issue (What the Data Really Says About Police and Racial Bias), yet we still get the same excuses (black people are more violent, it's about their level of crime, <insert dog whistle argument about black people or "black culture">). At some point it's obvious that you haven't actually read the reports. I would ask that you actually read on of the DOJ reports, then try to tell me that police corruption/misconduct/brutality/etc. is not a problem that is hurting the reputation of law enforcement.

 

[A_Thinker]

I don't see the problem being aggressive cops. In fact, I sort of like that cops are aggressive in high crime areas. Instead of kneeling on TV and protesting cops, whom the majority of are good and decent, maybe put all the effort into making their own communities better? Help clean up blight, take out the trash, remodel homes for the poor, stock food kitchens, create a whole movement of being a positive force in the community. That's a BLM I could easily get behind and support. Not the group they have today.

You do know that the latest victims of over-aggressive policing are white ?

And that another result of over-aggressive policing was the death of a 12 year old playing in the park. And that of a cooperative young man who was riding in a car with a tail-light out.

That which you care not about will often come back to bite you ...

 

[Ana the Ist]

hahaha OK fair enough but hey dont judge too quickly. The tool they created may be totally valid OR Not - if its the first tool of its kind then its worthy of others independently testing that tool for validity. But dont be too quick to dismiss their work until you read exactly how they developed and validated their tool.

Well...to test the tool for validity, one would need to...

1. Find out if the segregation is self imposed or not...because if it's self imposed, it's not racist.

2. Economic status and employment status are heavily intertwined...unless we can show this is a direct result of racism (which is basically impossible) then there's nothing structural about it.

3. Educational attainment is often connected to number 2....if it's a poor area, it's not going to have well funded schools. That's not racist, it's just life. You either pay for your kids' to get an education or you don't.

4. Incarceration rates are only racist if it can be shown they are discriminatory (also basically impossible).

 

[SummerMadness]

Hmmm did you read the whole article? because I did and thats an unfair assessment. It sounds a little like you just read the abstract then made a pile of assumptions - am I wrong?

Black people commit more crimes is the usual argument, even when numerous studies show this does not explain the discrepancy, they won't stop trotting out that argument.

 

[Rion]

Color me unimpressed.

*triggered*