The way we most often picture racism happening in our minds is at the flash point of life-changing experiences: A police officer in action makes a snap decision in a situational situation. life-and-death… a real estate agent decides which house to own… a manager decides which candidate to hire for a role.
But another way to formulate the concept of racism is that people, over time, form views and opinions about the world around them that heavily influence the outcome of quick moments. there. The entire life experience of the cop and the suspect in Black intersect in that brief moment. The same is true of the real estate agent and the Black family, and the manager chooses between white and black applicants.
That crossover is what this study is about. As part of our first CityView series, Suffolk University and USA TODAY teamed up to poll residents of major US cities about the issues they face — with The focus is on racial awareness in the United States. Over the past few months, we’ve polled residents of Milwaukee, Detroit, Los Angeles, Louisville, and Oklahoma City — cities that are geographically, politically, economically, and racially diverse, but whose residents share similar views, especially along racial divisions.
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Across all 5 cities surveyed, Black respondents tended to rate their city lower than other races, saying they were stopped by police more often, and believing that police use force even when unnecessary.
Each city has its own dark superlative. Worst place to live: Milwaukee, WI. 80% of Black residents rate Milwaukee as a “fair” or “poor” place to live while only 28% rate it as a “great” or “good” place to live. Strongest Police Department: Los Angeles, CA. 69% of Black respondents said police use force unnecessarily, and 71% said they would like to divert some police funding to mental health and social services. Treating Black Residents Most Differently: Louisville, KY. 60% of black respondents felt they were treated differently because of race – significantly higher than respondents who identified as white (39%), Hispanic (21%) or “Other”. ” (29%). Furthermore, of those who felt they were treated differently because of their race, 92% of Black respondents felt they were treated worse, not better, compared with 16% of whites.
The black residents of Louisville, KY are not alone. Among those who feel treated differently because of their race, Black respondents often feel worse treated: over 80% feel that they have been treated worse simply because they identified as Black.
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However, while many Black respondents consistently felt they were treated worse because they were Black, few white respondents felt that they were treated better because they were white. In Milwaukee, 60% of black respondents felt treated worse while 44% of white respondents felt treated better because of their race. In Louisville, that split of 55% is more drastic than 29%. In Oklahoma City, the split was 48% Black being treated worse than 22% White being treated better.
Perhaps this dichotomy is at the heart of the debate surrounding Americans’ race relations: Black Americans may feel more clearly the disadvantages of being Black, while white Americans I don’t feel I have an advantage in any noticeable way. Bridging this division of experience can go a long way.
Despite the disappointment, most Black residents in these cities are not in favor of “shaming the police,” as many activists and progressive Democrats have called for. Not only was the majority opposed to the slogan “take down the police,” but the percentage of Black residents who opposed was roughly equal to the percentage of the population who opposed it overall in all five cities.
Another annoyance from these polls is that often, the views of Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial respondents align with white respondents more than Black respondents. Thus, CityView points out that if interracial marriages increase, American views on these issues are likely to converge as our many different life experiences collide. Indeed, according to Pew Research, the long-term increase in intermarriages — especially among those with college degrees — will accelerate as more Americans identify as multiracial.
I believe that localization research, exemplified in the Suffolk-US TODAY CityView project, is underutilized as a tool to help understand and address racial issues in the United States. Statistics from cities like this are essential to help educate local mayors, police chiefs, school administrators, students, and the public about the real problems that exist today and how they can be. can be resolved. Local media can be a stakeholder by replicating the University of Suffolk/USA TODAY model to provide individual stories that emerge from the research and how they can further improve the relationship race in every city.
