Re-Centering Racism As a Factor That Contributes to Socioeconomic Inequities Against Blacks/African Americans and Their Interactions with Law Enforcement Agents

Background and Purpose:

The intersectionality framework used in social work education and practice exposes the interconnectedness of oppressive institutions. Although this framework has utility, the assertion, however, that these oppressive institutions cannot be examined separately from one another, creates a metanarrative that stifles authentic conversations about racism’s contribution to socioeconomic inequities against Blacks/African Americans and their interactions with law enforcement agents. This study was conducted to examine attitudes towards Blacks/African Americans, specifically with regard to socioeconomic inequities, incarceration history, and police aggression. The research question was: Are there race differences in opinions about the reasons for socioeconomic inequities against Blacks/African Americans and attitudes towards police aggression? The hypothesis was: Race predicts attitudes towards Blacks/African Americans and police aggression.

Methods: 

Cross sectional data from the 2012 General Social Survey (GSS) were analyzed to assess the influence of race and predictors of attitudes towards Blacks/African Americans and police aggression among a nationally representative sample of 1, 974 participants obtained through multi-stage probability sampling. The GSS, as part of the National Data Program for the Social Sciences, is conducted by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. GSS data are collected bi-annually through standardized interviews with English and Spanish-speaking American adults aged 18 and older, living in non-institutional settings in the United States. Chi-square and stepwise multiple regression analysis were used to test our study hypothesis.

Results:

Results showed that 50% (n= 619) of Americans think that Blacks/African Americans have worse jobs, income and housing than White people because they lack motivation or will power (χ²= 7.722, df= 2, p= .021) and 9.8% (n= 125) believe these inequities exist because “most African Americans/Blacks have less in-born ability to learn” (χ²= 21.028, df= 2, p< .001). Only 36% (n= 445) think the inequities are due to discrimination (χ²= 25.603, df= 2, p< .001). Twenty one percent of Blacks and 13% of Whites reported a history of incarceration (χ²= 9.620, df= 2, p<.008), and 75% of Whites approved of police aggression against adult males (χ²= 65.415, df= 2, p<.001). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that even after controlling for gender, education, income, age, and region of residence, race remained a key predictor (R²= .219, R²adj= .201, ΔR²= .099, F(10, 436)= 11.949, p<.001) of attitudes favoring police aggression.   

Conclusions and Implications:

            Americans attribute individual-level characteristics rather than racism to the existence of socioeconomic inequities between Blacks/African Americans and Whites. A context within which Blacks/African Americans are essentially seen as being lazy and stupid, doesn’t auger well for interactions with law enforcement agents when police aggression is sanctioned by the general public. Today’s heightened attention to police killings of Black and African American people requires theoretical frameworks that center race and racism and prepare social workers to assess for the presence of systemic racism when engaging Blacks/African Americans and clients of color.