Unarmed Black People Research Articles

Police-involved killings and economic sentiment of black households

ABSTRACT Using an event study design, we find that Black people became more pessimistic about their current household financial condition in response to highly publicized incidents associated with police-involved killings of unarmed black people. These effects were strongest among Black women.

Black mothers' ethnic-racial socialization one year after highly publicized anti-Black murders during the pandemic.

Although research on ethnic-racial socialization is well established, limited studies have examined the influence of specific, highly publicized anti-Black murders. We assessed Black mothers' (N = 12, mean age = 37.45) concerns and ethnic-racial socialization with adolescents aged 11-18 years old approximately 1 year following the murders of George Floyd and other unarmed Black people. Researchers generated the following themes using reflexive thematic analysis: protecting adolescents from physical harm; protecting adolescents from psychological harm; parents' emotional distress; and parents' lack of confidence in their ethnic-racial socialization practices. Black mothers exhibit exceptional amounts of strength and courage as they navigate pervasive physical and psychological threats to their adolescents while experiencing worry and low confidence in their ability to socialize their adolescents about anti-Black racism.

Officer-Involved Killings of Unarmed Black People and Racial Disparities in Sleep Health

Racial disparities in sleep health may mediate the broader health outcomes of structural racism. To assess changes in sleep duration in the Black population after officer-involved killings of unarmed Black people, a cardinal manifestation of structural racism. Two distinct difference-in-differences analyses examined the changes in sleep duration for the US non-Hispanic Black (hereafter, Black) population before vs after exposure to officer-involved killings of unarmed Black people, using data from adult respondents in the US Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS; 2013, 2014, 2016, and 2018) and the American Time Use Survey (ATUS; 2013-2019) with data on officer-involved killings from the Mapping Police Violence database. Data analyses were conducted between September 24, 2021, and September 12, 2023. Occurrence of any police killing of an unarmed Black person in the state, county, or commuting zone of the survey respondent's residence in each of the four 90-day periods prior to interview, or occurence of a highly public, nationally prominent police killing of an unarmed Black person anywhere in the US during the 90 days prior to interview. Self-reported total sleep duration (hours), short sleep (<7 hours), and very short sleep (<6 hours). Data from 181 865 Black and 1 799 757 White respondents in the BRFSS and 9858 Black and 46 532 White respondents in the ATUS were analyzed. In the larger BRFSS, the majority of Black respondents were between the ages of 35 and 64 (99 014 [weighted 51.4%]), women (115 731 [weighted 54.1%]), and college educated (100 434 [weighted 52.3%]). Black respondents in the BRFSS reported short sleep duration at a rate of 45.9%, while White respondents reported it at a rate of 32.6%; for very short sleep, the corresponding values were 18.4% vs 10.4%, respectively. Statistically significant increases in the probability of short sleep and very short sleep were found among Black respondents when officers killed an unarmed Black person in their state of residence during the first two 90-day periods prior to interview. Magnitudes were larger in models using exposure to a nationally prominent police killing occurring anywhere in the US. Estimates were equivalent to 7% to 16% of the sample disparity between Black and White individuals in short sleep and 13% to 30% of the disparity in very short sleep. Sleep health among Black adults worsened after exposure to officer-involved killings of unarmed Black individuals. These empirical findings underscore the role of structural racism in shaping racial disparities in sleep health outcomes.

Black and Blue: An integrated conceptual framework for understanding the trauma and mental impacts of police violence exposure in Black communities

ABSTRACT Because repeated incidents of police violence against unarmed Black people are increasingly visible, as a result of technological advances, there is growing need to understand their potentially traumatic mental health effects for other Black people. This narrative review provides an overview of critical race theory, the stress, appraisal, and coping theory, trauma theory, racial trauma theory, and emotional contagion theory to develop an integrated conceptual framework for understanding and explaining psychosocial processes by which exposure to police violence against unarmed Black people affect the mental health of other Black people at individual and community-levels. Black and Blue, a new conceptual framework, adds to the social science literature on police violence in historically marginalized communities. The conceptualization of this framework suggests implications for practice, policy, and research about police violence and trauma exposure in Black communities. Future research is needed to expand and subsequently test the validity and rigor of the Black and Blue framework.

“Take a Mental Break”: Examining the Coping Efforts of Black College Students Exposed to Police Killings

Given the repeated police killings of unarmed Black people and their increasing visibility because of recent technological advances, Black people are especially vulnerable to adverse mental health effects. However, little is known about how they attempt to cope with these incidents or how their efforts may affect their mental health. Informed by trauma theory and stress, appraisal, and coping theory, this study used semi-structured in-depth interviews with 30 Black male and female undergraduate college students (aged 18–28) exposed to police killings of other unarmed Black people to examine their coping efforts and the impact on their mental health. Students were recruited from four historically Black colleges and universities in South Carolina. Grounded theory analysis identified several emotion-focused coping and problem-focused coping employed by Black college students to cope with repeated police killings. Furthermore, findings suggest that proactive planning for police killings, at both individual and personal network levels, buffers students against the negative mental impacts of these events. Research and practice implications suggest the need for future studies to identify and develop culturally specific interventions that support effective coping skills to mitigate adverse health outcomes for Black people in the aftermath of police killings.

Finding Renewal and Inspiration through the Teaching and Learning of Black Education

ABSTRACT Drawing on counter-storytelling and oral history methodology, we reflect on how the teaching and learning of the past, present, and future of Black education in the Spring of 2022 both renewed and inspired us as students and a professor. Using visuals to show how students made meaning of what they were learning, we explore the dynamics, content, and lasting meaning of this educational experience that followed a “winter” characterized by a global pandemic, continued killings of unarmed Black people and reckoning with systemic racism, and the insurrection at the nation’s Capital. In total, we delineate what it means to create space for and be a part of legacies and lineages of liberatory Black education.

COVID-19, the COVID-19 response, and racial injustice: Associations with depressive and anxiety symptoms among US adults from April 2020 to March 2021

BackgroundPeople in the United States have faced numerous large and intersecting threats to their mental health since the onset of the coronavirus disease pandemic. This study aimed to understand the unique relationships between these co-occurring threats – including the police killings of unarmed Black people and the fight for racial justice – and how they affect mental health symptoms among various demographic groups. MethodsData on population mental health, state-level COVID-19 incidence rates, cases of police-involved killings, and occurrences of racial justice protests were analyzed. The primary outcome was depression or anxiety symptoms. Regression models were used to estimate prospective associations between individual-, household-, and state-level exposures to hypothesized mental health threats and subsequent depression or anxiety symptoms. ResultsData from 2,085,041 individual participants were included. Most were women (51.2%), and most were white, non-Hispanic (61.2%), with almost half (47.7%) reporting some loss of household income since March 13, 2020. Neither the killing of unarmed Black people by police, nor the above-average occurrence of Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests, were observed to be associated with anxiety or depressive symptoms in the overall population, though the BLM protests were associated with reduced depressive and anxiety symptoms among younger participants. State-level COVID-19 incidence risk was more strongly associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms among women, Black people, older people, and higher income people, compared to men, white people, younger people, and lower income people. ConclusionOur findings are relevant for anticipating and addressing the mental health consequences of social injustice and protest movements in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, as well as future pandemics. Promoting population mental health requires addressing underlying social and structural inequities and prioritizing the pursuit of social justice and health equity as a primary mental health intervention.

Post-racial unrest, #Blackintheivory and the US election: is multiculturalism still necessary?

ABSTRACT Multicultural discourse, when focusing on systemic racism/discrimination, has recently come under scrutiny. Despite the long history of multiculturalism in counselling and other helping fields, critics espouse multiculturalism does not work and increases racial problems. This criticism persists despite recent events such as the racial unrest in Summer 2020 (due to the killing of numerous unarmed Black people), #Blackintheivory movement and the racially-charged US presidential election. Opponents state these problems exacerbate partially due to an unbalanced focus on race. Proponents believe not enough emphasis on multiculturalism is a contributing factor. This conceptually-driven, dialectical article highlights evidence for and against multiculturalism by providing a critical overview of existing theoretical and empirical information for both. I conclude with the hope of an agreed-upon truth established through a systematic display of logical reasoning, utilising biology as a backdrop. Implications for the counselling field conclude the article.

Dismantling racist ideologies in nursing academia to enhance the success of students identifying as Black, Indigenous and students of colour.

Dismantling racist ideologies in nursing academia to enhance the success of students identifying as Black, Indigenous and students of colour.

“Am I Next?”: A qualitative study of Black college students’ experiences of stress, trauma, and grief from exposures to police killings

ABSTRACT There is little research that explores the experiences of Black people exposed to police killings of other unarmed Blacks, despite the fact these incidents repeatedly and disproportionately affect this population. While some quantitative studies have examined the impacts of police violence exposure on mental health in recent years, there remains a dearth of in-depth qualitative research exploring the processes through which chronic exposures to police killings contribute to traumatic and complex life experiences for Black people, particularly. Informed by theories of critical race, stress and cognitive appraisal, historical trauma, and loss and grief, this qualitative study used in-depth semi-structured interviews to explore the experiences of stress, trauma, and grief among Black undergraduate college students exposed to police killings of other unarmed Black people, and to examine the perceived impacts of these experiences in the lives of students and their close personal networks.

Invited Commentary: From Unacceptable to Intolerable

Invited Commentary: From Unacceptable to Intolerable

Enacting Antiracist Pedagogy: An Analysis of LeBron James and Doc Rivers’ Antiracist Discourse

ABSTRACT In the summer of 2020, powerful protests against police brutality took place throughout the United States in response to the unlawful deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the shooting of Jacob Blake. Though the types of protests ranged from local grassroot organizations walking the streets to athletes using their platforms to address the injustices, the protests had one goal in mind—to bring attention, awareness, and hopefully change to an unjust legal system that consistently and disproportionately affects unarmed Black people. The aim of this article is to focus on the responses of both LeBron James and Doc Rivers to the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Using Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), as informed by Black Critical Theory (BlackCrit), we argue that the dynamic words of these two Black men not only operate as an act of protest and an act of resistance, but also they provide pedagogical enactments for being and becoming antiracist.

Examining Historical and Contemporary Policing Disparities in the Black Community: Implications for Social Work.

An alarming number of unarmed Black men and women have been killed by police in the United States. Though research suggests that police violence is not a new phenomenon in Black communities in the United States, several shocking high-profile incidents of unarmed Black people killed by police in recent years have catapulted this problem more sharply into our nation's consciousness. Despite recent efforts to engage in critical discourse about police violence against unarmed Black people in mainstream media and across multiple disciplines, limited research exists on the connection between historical and contemporary acts of police violence in Black communities. This article conducts a critical analysis of the extant literature on historical and contemporary policing in the Black community and identifies linkages between these time periods using critical race theory. This article concludes with implications for social work to combat the issue of police violence in Black communities.

Ten simple rules for creating and sustaining antiracist graduate programs.

In 2020, the combination of police killings of unarmed Black people, including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic brought about public outrage over long-standing inequalities in society. The events of 2020 ignited global attention to systemic racism and racial inequalities, including the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in the academy and especially in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) fields. Racial and ethnic diversity in graduate programs in particular warrants special attention as graduate students of color report experiencing alarming rates of racism, discrimination, microaggressions, and other exclusionary behaviors. As part of the Graduate Dean’s Advisory Council on Diversity (GDACD) at the University of California Merced, the authors of this manuscript held a year-long discussion on these issues and ways to take meaningful action to address these persistent issues of injustices. We have outlined 10 rules to help graduate programs develop antiracist practices to promote racial and ethnic justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in the academy. We focus on efforts to address systemic causes of the underrepresentation and attrition of students from minoritized communities. The 10 rules are developed to allow graduate groups to formulate and implement rules and policies to address root causes of underrepresentation of minoritized students in graduate education.

Engaging Diversity

Engaging Diversity

When and How Are Allies Promoters of Social Change? An Examination of Allyship in the Workplace

Allies have played instrumental roles in efforts to address inequity in society. In the wake of civil unrest triggered by the shooting deaths of unarmed Black people, the brutalization of Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic, and state legislatures passing laws that seek to reduce voting and women’s rights, the supportive action taken by allies is gaining attention once again. This year’s Academy of Management Conference theme “Creating a Better World Together” is a call to action for scholarship that provides insight into how organizations can anticipate and solve these important societal challenges. Yet, despite management scholars suggesting allyship is an effective way to create organizational change, the literature on allyship is still quite scarce. This symposium includes a collection of papers that examines open research questions pertaining to allyship including: who or what entities are able to engage in allyship behavior, why those actors choose allyship, and when (i.e., which contexts) support allyship. Following the presentations, Denise Lewin Loyd, a major contributor to research in the field of diversity and inclusion, will serve as our symposium’s discussant. Together, we hope that this symposium will provide important insights into how to create meaningful change in organizations through allyship. LEAP at Work: Examining the Effects of Race-Based Allyship Training in the Workplace Presenter: Stephanie J. Creary; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Tianna Shari' Barnes; U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Ozias Moore; Lehigh U. Institutional Allyship, a Ritual of Recovery Presenter: Tiffany Dawn Johnson; Georgia Institute of Technology Presenter: Juanita Kimiyo Forrester; Mercer U. Presenter: Natasha Denise Reed; Georgia Institute of Technology Bursting the Bubble of Performative Allyship: How Moral Performance Compromises Inter-Group Learning Presenter: Karren Kimberly Knowlton; Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth Presenter: Rachel Arnett; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Who’s Expected to be an Ally? An Examination of Allyship and Leadership Evaluations Presenter: McKenzie Preston; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Angelica Leigh; Fuqua School of Business, Duke U. Presenter: Terrance L. Boyd; Louisiana State U. Presenter: Richard Burgess; U. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Presenter: Vic Marsh; U. of Toronto, Rotman School of Management Practice What You Preach: Performative Allyship in Organizations’ Support for Racial Equity Presenter: Roxanne Ross; James Madison U. Presenter: Horatio Traylor; U. of Houston Presenter: Enrica Nicole Ruggs; U. of Houston

Racial Rhetoric or Reality? Cautious Optimism on the Link Between Corporate #BLM Speech and Behavior

The summer of 2022 marks the two-year anniversary of the dramatic rekindling of the #BlackLivesMatter movement because of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other unarmed Black people at the hands of police. The summer of 2020 saw cities in the United States and around the world erupt in protest, with calls to dismantle racist policies and practices both in the criminal system and within the broader society, with a particular emphasis on policies and practices impacting Black people. The summer of 2022 also marks the two-year anniversary of the visible and somewhat surprising avalanche of corporate statements proclaiming solidarity with the Black community, condemning racism and bigotry, and pledging to help eradicate racist policies and practices within their own institutions. Corporations and their brands inundated the public with black squares, #BlackLivesMatter signs, and emphatic insistence that corporate leaders would “not be silent about our fight against racism and discrimination,” and that they would “do more . . . and do it now.” Most commentators viewed these corporate statements with severe skepticism, characterizing them as “cheap talk,” a “marketing ploy,” or “an outright lie.” Relying on original empirical research, this Article refutes that skepticism and demonstrates that, just one year later, many corporations followed through on their talk with actions aimed at promoting diversity and eroding racist and discriminatory practices. This Article makes three critical assertions with respect to these corporate statements. First, this Article uses original empirical research to reveal that the vast majority of the corporate statements made in the summer of 2020 embodied a commitment to actively work against racism and discrimination and actively promote diversity and inclusion. Second, this Article draws upon original empirical research to refute critics and demonstrate that, on the one-year anniversary of these commitments, many corporations followed through on their speech with concrete actions, at least with respect to their boards. Third, after examining the impact of structural limitations and other roadblocks, this Article sounds a note of caution about whether and to what extent we can expect long-term changes in corporate behavior that meaningfully moves the needle on improving racial diversity and equity in the corporate sphere.

Lethal Police Encounters and Cardiovascular Health among Black Americans.

This study uses insights from social stress theory to examine associations between exposure to police killings of Black Americans and cardiovascular health among Black women and men. Data on lethal police encounters come from the Mapping Police Violence (MPV) database, which allows for examination of total exposures to police killings of Black people and exposures to events when decedents were unarmed. MPV data are merged with the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n = 26,086) and state-level information from multiple federal databases. Four cardiovascular health outcomes are examined-hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. After adjusting for important risk factors, results from gender-stratified multilevel logistic regressions reveal a positive association between exposures to police killings of unarmed Black people and odds of hypertension among Black women and stroke among Black men. Total exposures to police killings of Black people are also associated with greater likelihood of stroke for Black men. Findings from this study demonstrate that stress exposures generated by the quantity and injustice of police killings have important implications for cardiovascular health among Black Americans. Furthermore, adverse cardiovascular health associated with exposure to police violence tends to manifest differently for Black men and women.

Meditations on Psychoanalysis, Race, and the Divided Self.

The author, an African American, reflects on what it means to be a psychoanalyst and the effectiveness of psychoanalytic thinking in response to the racial dilemma in the United States. The current climate is a result of longstanding inequality of the races and reflects the social unrest prompted by the Black Lives Matter movement and the police killings of unarmed Black people. Three poems are also presented expressing some of the ideas discussed in the meditation.

Understanding Sentiment Toward “Black Lives Matter”

AbstractA publicized series of police (and other) violence against unarmed Black people over the last decade has fueled unprecedented mass protest as well as political and policy debate in the United States, and beyond. Given this ethical dispute over whether democratic society upholds its cardinal values of freedom and equality for all, sentiment toward Black Lives Matter is suggestive of what people believe police killings, and protest against them, say about the state of democracy itself. In this review, we use the latest empirical evidence in psychology and related sociobehavioral sciences to document sentiment regarding Black Lives Matter. Because continuing racial inequity is a foundational assumption of Black Lives Matter, we will also review the most relevant studies of attention to, knowledge of, and beliefs and feelings about police violence and related acts and issues that may be viewed as indicating racial inequity. Much of this work shows a dramatic divergence of sentiment across racial and political lines, as increased social and political polarization and insulation evidences in divergent attention, cognition, affect, emotion, motivation, and action regarding relevant events and social issues. In this way, examinations of the psychology of such sentiment reveal just how deep the social and political rifts run in society.