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Following the Leader? Elite Leadership and Perceptions of Racism in a Police Confrontation
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Abstract
We report on an experimental study about perceptions of racism in the criminal justice
system. Some of the most controversial racial incidents in recent years have involvedaccusations of racially-motivated police misconduct. We believe that an important aspect of thepublic’s attitudes toward these incidents—and toward the criminal justice system—involveswhether or not individuals perceive incidents to be racially motivated. We examine the effect ofelite communication on perceptions of racism with an experimental study, using communityparticipants and an over sample of African American participants. The study presentsrespondents with a mockup of a news story of an incident of alleged police misconduct. The keymanipulation of the study is the inclusion of information that the incident has been condemnedby a local politician as “racist.” We manipulate the race and party designation of this individual.We find that there is a “race gap” in terms of perceiving racial motivations in police-citizenencounters, with Blacks being much more likely than Whites to believe that racial concerns loombehind police activities. We also find that Blacks and Whites react in somewhat surprising waysto the racial and party designations of the speaker.
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| | Authors: Nelson, Thomas., Sanbonmatsu, Kira. and McClerking, Harwood. |
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2
Abstract
We report on an experimental study about perceptions of racism in the criminal justice
system. Some of the most controversial racial incidents in recent years have involved
accusations of racially-motivated police misconduct. We believe that an important aspect of the
public’s attitudes toward these incidents—and toward the criminal justice system—involves
whether or not individuals perceive incidents to be racially motivated. We examine the effect of
elite communication on perceptions of racism with an experimental study, using community
participants and an over sample of African American participants. The study presents
respondents with a mockup of a news story of an incident of alleged police misconduct. The key
manipulation of the study is the inclusion of information that the incident has been condemned
by a local politician as “racist.” We manipulate the race and party designation of this individual.
We find that there is a “race gap” in terms of perceiving racial motivations in police-citizen
encounters, with Blacks being much more likely than Whites to believe that racial concerns loom
behind police activities. We also find that Blacks and Whites react in somewhat surprising ways
to the racial and party designations of the speaker.
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