Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs
Volume 6
Issue 1 2014: A Banner Year for Institutional Racism
Article 2
Spring 2017
Do #BlackLivesMatter? Implicit Bias, Institutional
Racism and Fear of the Black Body
Reshawna L. Chapple
University of Central Florida, rchapple@ucf.edu
George A. Jacinto
University of Central Florida
Tameca N. Harris-Jackson
University of Central Florida, tameca.harris-jackson@ucf.edu
Michelle Vance
University of Central Florida
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalscholarship.tsu.edu/rbjpa
Part of the Inequality and Stratification Commons, Public Affairs Commons, Race and Ethnicity
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Recommended Citation
Chapple, Reshawna L.; Jacinto, George A.; Harris-Jackson, Tameca N.; and Vance, Michelle (2017) "Do #BlackLivesMatter? Implicit
Bias, Institutional Racism and Fear of the Black Body," Ralph Bunche Journal of Public Affairs: Vol. 6 : Iss. 1 , Article 2.
Available at: http://digitalscholarship.tsu.edu/rbjpa/vol6/iss1/2
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Digital Scholarship @ Texas Southern University. It has been accepted for
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Chapple et al.: Do #BlackLivesMatter? Implicit Bias, Institutional Racism and Fear of the Black Body
In the past several years, especially after the election of President Barack Obama, the
Nation’s first Black1 president, the resurgence of racism, civil unrest and police violence in
the United States has become the focus of national attention. Dialogue has changed as it
applies to issues of social (in)justice, to include institutional racism and implicit bias. The
likes of both can be seen in a variety of ways and range in intensity and presentation. The
current mood of the country appears to range from tolerance of racial microaggressions
launched at individuals on social media (e.g., the 2015 Twitter post by Nancy Lee Grahn
regarding Emmy-winner Viola Davis’ acceptance speech), to discriminatory hiring practices
at the institutional level (e.g., study by Bertrand and Mullainathan [2003] related to
differences in employer callbacks based on “Black names”). Both are staunch realities in this
country and are largely reflected and enforced by a pervasively negative view of people of
color, in what continues to be a White (male) dominated U.S. culture (Bonilla-Silva 2006;
Cashin 2011; Richardson and Goff 2012)
Currently, the widely held erroneous belief by many Americans is the idea that we
should not be as concerned with racial issues because we live in a color-blind, post-racial
society. Although many Americans believe that race is no longer an issue, racism, structural
inequalities and implicit bias continue have real consequences in the lives of Black
Americans. Research demonstrates that most, if not all people, possess some sort of implicit
bias (Project Implicit 2008). Implicit bias “is unintended bias that operates without our
conscious awareness” (Lee 2013, 105). More specifically, implicit bias relates to the attitudes
and stereotypes within our subconscious that impact our understanding of our environment
and our subsequent actions (Kirwan Institute 2015). The awareness of implicit bias is
imperative in understanding the influence that race and racism has on the perception of and
interactions with Black individuals.
Given the aforementioned, the purpose of this article is twofold. First, the authors
aim to provide a cultural analysis of the ways in which implicit bias, and subsequently,
institutional racism, have placed a negative cloud over Black bodies in the US. Second, using
this cultural analysis, the goal is to then provide an overview of the current framing of “Black
Lives” in this country. Using the cases in Sanford, Florida, Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore,
Maryland as exemplars, the authors present ways in which implicit bias, institutional racism,
and fear of the Black body may have contributed to the notorious killings of these three,
unarmed Black men and cast national spotlight on the social justice framework of the Nation,
to include the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
Understanding the Impact of Institutional Racism and Implicit Bias
Racism is defined as any action, intentional or unintentional, that is based on race or
skin color and subordinates a group or individual based on their skin color or race (Sue 2005).
Institutional racism is defined as institutional inequality based upon race (Hardie and Tyson
2013). More specifically, Sue (2006) indicates that institutional racism refers to a policy by
an entity, organization, school or business that makes decisions unfairly based on race.
Examples of these practices include red lining, school segregation and unfair lending laws.
1
The term Black is used to identity individuals who are U.S. born and descending from the
African Diaspora.
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Because institutional racism requires some form of action (e.g., policy implementation) based
upon a belief system (e.g., stereotypes), institutional racism can be viewed as one of many
products borne from implicit bias. For instance, according to the American Civil Liberties
Union ([ACLU] n.d.), both implicit and explicit bias can be attributed to the racial disparities
observed in the criminal justice system. The ACLU notes that Blacks are 10 times more likely
to be put in jail for drug charges than Whites, and “three times more likely to be arrested for
marijuana use than White people are” (n.d.); although, there is no statistical difference
between the rates at which Blacks and Whites use drugs. As noted by Greenwald and Krieger
(2006), when we are able to determine that there are no inherent differences in behavior based
on race, and other forms of explicit bias can be explained away, then we must consider the
role of implicit bias in actions and policies that result in discriminatory behaviors.
Implicit Bias and Fear of the Black Body
Fear is a factor associated with the implicit racial reactions of Whites against Blacks
(Banks and Hicks 2015). For instance, a majority of Americans associate Black men with
criminality and violence, even if they do not always acknowledge it (Hannon 2004). Young
Black men in particular are subjects of this “Black-as-criminal” stereotype, especially when
wearing baggy clothes or a hoodie (Lee 2013, 127). This typecast of the Black male body
can result in society viewing non-violent acts performed by Black males as being violent and
aggressive, while viewing violent acts performed by White males as unintentional or a result
of uncontrolled consequence (i.e. mental health) (Lawson 2012; Lee 2013; Richardson and
Goff 2012). Take for example Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old White male who killed nine
people in a Black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Following his apprehension, it was
reported that he was taken to Burger King to get a meal because he indicated he was hungry
(DeBerry 2015). The post-homicide treatment of Dylann Roof by police is in stark contrast
to that of Freddie Gray, the 25-year-old Black male in Baltimore, Maryland who died in police
custody as a result of spinal injuries following a foot-chase with police (Hermann and Cox
2015). While it was alleged that Freddie Gray had a switchblade when apprehended, he was
actually not arrested as a result of assault or homicidal behavior. On the contrary, records of
the arrest indicate that Gray, while walking in a neighborhood, simply made eye contact with
a police officer, ran (for unknown reasons), and shortly after, gave himself up with no threat
to police or others (Ford 2015). Gray, however, was then dragged by police and placed in the
back of a van. One week later, he was dead as a result of spinal injuries that are (allegedly)
linked back to police misconduct. Roof, on the other hand, was pulled over by police one day
following the mass shooting of individuals in a church. An article in CBS News (2015) notes:
“Police dash cam videos show the moment that North Carolina officers pulled over Dylann
Roof…In the footage, two officers can be seen drawing their guns as they approach the car.
One of the officers puts his gun back in his holster as he approaches the driver's window...
The accused gunman is frisked and placed in handcuffs.”
What leads officers in a non-violent case (Freddie Gray) to arrest and allegedly harm
one man in custody to the point of death, yet holster their firearm and peacefully detain a
known mass-shooter (Dylann Roof) – and even take him for a bite to eat? Some might suggest
that it is the implicit fear of the Black body to blame. Specifically, the perception of “Blackas-criminal” can be said to result from a pervasive fear of the Black body that often influences
malicious actions of racial discrimination (Lee 2013). The biased belief that a Black person
is suspicious, threatening and dangerous can produce deleterious consequences when
interacting with law enforcement, and specifically deadly outcomes for those stereotyped
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individuals. And this is not germane to Black men only, but to the fullness of the Black body.
Take for instance Sandra Bland, the 28-year-old Black woman who died in police custody of
reported suicide just a few days after her arrest. At the time of her arrest, Bland was pulled
over on a Texas road for failure to use her turn signal. Video from the police dashcam shows
verbal exchanges between the officer and Bland, which eventually escalate to the White male
officer pulling Bland facedown to the ground (Sanchez 2015). While some insinuate, based
upon the video, that Bland’s “attitude”, or willingness to engage verbally with the officer, at
times to verbal aggression, was the impetus for her subsequent arrest, statistically, Blacks are
disproportionality stopped, questioned, and arrested more often than Whites, yet percentage
wise, Whites are more likely to have committed violent crimes as compared to Blacks
(Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] 2013). Although all Black bodies are associated with
the disproportionate outcomes of fear related to implicit bias, the Black male body is, by-inlarge, the most significantly impacted.
Suspicion Heuristic and (Over)reaction to The Black Male Body
As coined by Richardson and Goff “suspicion heuristic” was developed to explain
“the predictable errors in perception, decision making, and action that can occur when
individuals make judgments of criminality” (2012, 296). In other words, suspicion heuristic
theorizes that if we believe/perceive someone as being bad (enter implicit bias), then we
act/react based on those preconceptions (i.e. institutional racism). Utilizing Richardson and
Goff’s theory, it makes sense then that the perceptions of fear and reasonableness are both
underlying principles used to rationalize the decision-making process and actions of
individuals in making judgment calls in perceived criminal behaviors (Richardson and Goff
2012) “Suspicion heuristic” can be used when examining stop-and-frisk incidents and the use
of self-defense claims in the shooting deaths of unarmed people of color, especially Black
men. For instance, a self-defense claim is used to protect a person who uses deadly force from
prosecution by implying that the force was justified because there was a reasonable fear of
the person’s life (Walker, Spohn, and Delone 2012).
According to the law, the belief in the need to use deadly force must be honest and
reasonable (reasonableness requirement); this often allows an individual who harms, or in the
worst case kills someone, to evade arrest or prosecution (Richardson and Goff 2012) This
leads to the notion of “shooter bias”, another concept that is used to provide context to fear
and subsequent overreaction of the Black male body. According to Lee, “Shooter bias”
occurs when individuals are quicker to identify weapons and slower to recognize harmless
objects, like tools, in the hands of Black persons than in the hands of White persons” (2013,
27). Several studies reveal that people are more likely to see weapons in the hands of unarmed
Black men than unarmed White men, and to more quickly shoot them as a result (Amodio et
al. 2004; Richardson and Goff 2012).
Implicit racial bias is influential to all aspects of Black lives. Beginning with the
racial caste system and slavery, negative stereotypes about Black people were formed. This
resulted in the development of Black codes and Jim Crow laws that led to state sanctioned
discrimination. Implicit bias is problematic in that it automatically associates Black men with
suspicious or criminal behavior. This automatic assumption has been most recently noted in
the more prominent police-shooting deaths of Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and, as
mentioned above, Freddie Gray.
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Framing of Black Lives Matter and the Black Body
Institutional racism and implicit bias perpetuate a cycle of criminality of Black men
in our society. More Black Americans are under the control of the criminal justice system
today than were enslaved in 1850 (Alexander 2012). They are either in prison, jail or under
community supervision (i.e. probation or parole). In the state of California, since 1980, 22
prisons have been built, compared to only one university (Gilmore 2006). Currently, it is
estimated that at of the end of 2014, Black males accounted for 516,900 of the state and
federal prison population. Thus, accounting for 37% of the male prison population (Carson
2015).
The recent rash of fatal shootings of unarmed Black teenagers by law enforcement
(or a person who has taken on the role of law enforcement) has sparked civil unrest and
protests calling for the ending of police brutality and increasing the value of Black lives.
“Black Lives Matter” protests focus largely on seeking justice and awareness of institutional
racism and policing in our culture. In the more notable cases that lead to the
#BlackLivesMatter movement, implicit bias, institutional racism, and fear of the Black body
were clear and inextricably linked. Take for instance Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old
unarmed Black male from Sanford, Florida. Trayvon was shot and killed by George
Zimmerman, a Sanford resident and a volunteer member of the neighborhood watch (Lee
2013; Yankah 2013)
The Florida judge in the George Zimmerman trial instructed the jury to focus only
on the moment when George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin interacted in order to
determine if Zimmerman was justified in use of deadly force (i.e. stand your ground) (State
of Florida v. Zimmerman 2013). Some suggest that such a directive allowed jury members to
rely on their conscious and subconscious perceptions of a young, Black male body that is
often presented in media images as a big, scary Black man who is capable of, and often does,
perpetuate violent crime; this, conversely, turns the “neighborhood watchman” into the
potential victim instead of the adult male who admittedly stalked the teen through the
neighborhood with a loaded gun in anticipation of a crime that was never committed (Lawson
2012; Lee 2013).
Further, consider the criminalization of Michael Brown, the 18-year-old unarmed
Black male from Ferguson, Missouri who was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a White
male police officer. As Michael’s body lay lifeless in the street for four hours, he was left
uncovered and without the aid of emergency services. In the weeks and months that followed,
Michael’s character was assassinated; he was portrayed as an unstoppable beast-like creature
that deserved to die (Keene 2015). During Officer Wilson’s grand jury testimony, he stated
that at the time of the encounter, he “felt like a five-year-old, holding onto Hulk-Hogan”
(McCoy 2014, 12) and he described Michael as having an intense aggressive face that made
him look like a demon (McCoy, 2014). After Michael’s death, the Ferguson Police
Department proceeded to rationalize the killing of Michael Brown by highlighting his
appearance and his past engagement in criminal behavior (Keene 2015), thus perpetuating
and supporting the image of the Black male body as something to be feared in anticipation.
In this regard, the Black male body is never innocent until proven guilty; instead, it has
become a symbol of violence and aggression and the barometer against which we now must
measure social (in)justice injustice as now the question has become, when will Black Lives
Matter? Because until then, we cannot, as a society, authentically state that #AllLivesMatter.
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Chapple et al.: Do #BlackLivesMatter? Implicit Bias, Institutional Racism and Fear of the Black Body
Perceptions to Protests: Moving toward the Black Lives Matter Movement
Darren Wilson’s remarks regarding Michael Brown’s “feel” and presentation as a
“Hulk” “aggressive” and “demon” are, unfortunately, scientifically documented as common
ideas among the US population. For instance, as recently as 2015, a study was published by
the UCLA Center for Behavior, Evolution and Culture regarding the correlation of Blacksounding names on adult perceptions of danger (Holbrook, Fessler, and Navarrete 2015).
Using a sample of over 1,500 mostly White participants, the researchers found that when
presented with a Black-sounding name, participants identified characters in a story as a large,
aggressive, lower class, and lower educated, and when that same story used a character with
a White-sounding name, participants perceived the character as much less aggressive, and
thoughts of lower education or economic status were not considered (Holbrook, Fessler, and
Navarrete 2015). The authors note that the results of the study reveal a sad but simple truth
about society’s implicit bias: boiled down, when society merely hears a Black-sounding
name, it connotes thoughts of danger and feelings of fear – period (Howard 2015). Hence, the
impact that the Black face and/or Black body is even more likely to yield visceral responses
that result in abject and violent discriminatory behavior (e.g., shoot first, ask questions later).
What is more, because of the implicit nature of the bias that weaves its way into the
institutional policies and laws that govern society, there is a silent but real permissiveness of
such behavior.
It is this consistent and persistent permissiveness of institutionalized racism, the false
yet perpetuated negative impression of the Black male body, and the silent and seemingly
daily injustices against the full Black body that have resulted in fatigue, anguish and anger
among the Black community. This fatigue manifests in a variety of ways, including the visible
up swell of people in form of verbal and physical protests. Examples can be seen from the
historic 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, to the 1995 Million Man March
in Washington, DC, to the 2014 protests in Ferguson, Missouri and to the current social media
moniker of #BlackLivesMatter.
Next Steps: Moving Toward Justice
What is #BlackLivesMatter? #BlackLivesMatter is a movement that was created in
2012, after the homicide of Trayvon Martin and the subsequent acquittal of George
Zimmerman with the goal of reframing Black lives and broadening the conversation around
institutional racism, implicit bias and police violence (Black Lives Matter n.d.). The
#BlackLivesMatter movement considers all of the ways Black people are intentionally and
unintentionally deprived of basic human rights and dignity. According to their website,
#BlackLivesMatter is “a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that
permeates our society” (Black Lives Matter n.d.). This is different from the media portrayal
that #BlackLivesMatter is a passing fad, a “hate group” or a group that advocates violence
against the police.
In 2015, #BlackLivesMatter serves for the country what upheld closed Black fist
symbolized in the 1960s and 70s. With more than 50 years since the passage of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, there continues to be a huge divide between the lives of Black and White
Americans. Along a variety of quality of life indicators, Blacks are disproportionately
impacted with respect to community development, educational attainment, the criminal
justice system, and health outcomes. The cumulative effects of social, economic,
environmental, and political disadvantage as experienced by Black Americans have
contributed to the rapidly escalating social unrest that was seen in places like Ferguson,
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Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland. If the U.S. looks to retain its competitive edge, it is critical
to create systems that promote equality of opportunity.
Consequently, we argue the identification of implicit bias and, more specifically,
institutional racism as a critical first step towards reducing risks and improving outcomes.
Further, it is necessary to move beyond fear, to become willing, as a society, to acknowledge
the historic, consistent, and perpetual discriminatory practices that have resulted in the
#BlackLivesMatter movement. It is necessary to recognize that by giving support to this
movement does not negate the value of all lives, but instead, recognizes the power and
strength of the collective to dismantle social injustice and move toward a true place of justice
for all.
Implications for Further Research and Policy Changes
Addressing implicit bias and fear of the Black body must be a foremost issue of
concern, however, the elephant in the room is long standing institutional racism first
experienced by indigenous people and then resulting from the slave system that continues to
have hold on the national consciousness. Deconstructing racism must finally include an
understanding that Blacks are human beings and as such deserve the same rights and
privileges as other racial groups in America. This requires changes to current laws and
policies pertaining to education, employment, healthcare, housing, the criminal justice system
and the environment and reviewing all the ways that Blacks are disproportionately
disadvantaged in society.
In summary, the challenges that lay ahead include a balanced dialogue about the
long held perceptions of Blacks, especially Black young in the United States. The immediate
concerns should be to address the multiple levels of implicit bias deeply entrenched in our
society. The structure of institutional racism must be deconstructed and centuries long
practices treating Blacks as objects cease to exist. The suspicion heuristic and fearful reaction
to the Black body must be exposed and addressed in all areas of our society.
Authors’ Biographies
Dr. Chapple is an assistant professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Central
Florida. Dr. Chapple received her BSW, MSW and PhD in Justice Studies from Arizona
State University. Her dissertation was titled: Being a Deaf Woman in College is Hard. Being
Black Just Adds: Understanding the Complexities of Intersectionality. She has worked as a
social worker in the areas of mental health, crisis intervention, education and disabilities. Her
areas of teaching and scholarship include critical race feminism and social justice,
d/Deafness, disability studies and cultural competent social work practice. Dr. Chapple
serves on the CSWE Council on Disability and Persons with Disabilities.
Dr. Jacinto is an Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida School of Social
Work. His research interests focus on caregiver issues, spirituality in clinical practice, and
community development. He has worked with the City of Sanford after the Trayvon Martin
murder and has supervised two field placement students with the City Manager’s Office. He
is interested in the use of the labyrinth in psychotherapy practice. He has published 15 peerreviewed articles, 12 book chapters, and is co-editor on textbook.
Dr. Harris-Jackson is a Lecturer at the University of Central Florida. She is a graduate of
Widener University’s doctoral program in Human Sexuality and University of Maryland-8-
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Chapple et al.: Do #BlackLivesMatter? Implicit Bias, Institutional Racism and Fear of the Black Body
Baltimore’s Master of Social Work program. Dr. Harris-Jackson has worked in the field of
social work as clinician, supervisor, consultant, and researcher. Her research interests include
Women's Sexuality, HIV/AIDS, Black American Women's Sexual and Mental Health, Health
Disparities, and Social Justice.
Michelle M. Vance is an adjunct instructor at the School of Social Work at the University of
Central Florida where she is also currently enrolled in the Public Affairs Ph.D. program. Ms.
Vance holds a masters of social work degree from the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte. She currently teaches courses in human development, social work practice and
field education. Her research interests include addressing social injustices and discriminatory
policies that impact criminal justice populations, including formerly incarcerated prisoners
and their families.
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