Hey,
I had an interesting 'conversation' with a waitress at my local diner. To give it context, I'm a 44-year old, 6'2" 250+ pound Black guy (for those who don't know me) and she is a White woman around my age. She was basically upset about all the negative coverage about the police's actions, seeming to imply that Michael Brown was in the wrong and deserved to be killed. My response was that she would never understand, to which she replied "I don't want to." My reply was, "You'll never have to." Given (a) the reported facts of the case (e.g., the victim was holding his hands up in surrender when he was shot and he was not armed), (b) the police department's response to the incident, and (c) my personal experiences, it's not difficult to think that Michael Brown was killed wrongfully.
So, I start from the above cross-racial (and gender) conversation, which typifies the general disconnect (with exceptions, of course) between Black and White cultures in the U.S. My premise on this follows from social psychological research on stereotyping. Generally speaking, stereotypes against Blacks (especially males) are negative (e.g., lazy, violent, criminal, unintelligent), with more positive stereotypic subtyping occurring for Black athletes (to an extent) and Black professionals. From this frame of reference, the not-so-obvious point to Whites in general is that upon sight (particularly to police), a given Black male will be viewed with malcontent. Couple this with occasional rude and uncivil behavior from police toward Black males (owing to the negative stereotypes about them), it breeds negative social interactions that can easily escalate into violence (e.g., the 'suspect' forcefully asserting his innocence of wrongdoing, getting upset about being racially profiled, etc.). Typically, the behaviors associated with aversion to Blacks are emitted unconsciously, so the perpetrators don't realize they're behaving negatively toward members of the group (for more on this topic see Dovidio, Gaertner, Kawakami, & Hodson, 2002; Dovidio et al., 1997; and Dovidio, Kawakami, & Gaertner, 2002) . This might explain why in cases like Brown's, police fire shots almost reflexively without any thought at all.
Dovidio, J. F., Gaertner, S. L., Kawakami, K., & Hodson, G. (2002). Why canÔÇÖt we just get along? Interpersonal biases and interracial distrust. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 8, 88-102.
Dovidio, J. F., Kawakami, K., & Gaertner, S. L. (2002). Implicit and explicit prejudice and interracial interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 62-68.
Dovidio, J. F., Kawakami, K., Johnson, C., Johnson, B., & Howard, A. (1997). The nature of prejudice: Automatic and controlled processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 33, 510-540.
To give more context about me, I have a doctorate degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology and I am a Full Professor at a top university in the U.S. Yet a month ago, when my wife and I were in Hawaii (Maui and Kauai) for two weeks, and staying at 5-star hotels, White folks were physically avoiding and grimacing at us like we were the scourge of the earth! I'm walking around in linen slacks or shorts, knit (or silk) shirts, and sandals, yet I had White folks leaning away from me in the elevator like I'm a leper. I would assume that the wherewithal to book such accommodations means you don't have to attack and steal from people! This typifies how subconscious the aversion to Blacks can be, since simple logic contradicts the very fear responses those particular White guests displayed toward us. In the past, I was questioned by cops in my own (gated) community when living in Milwaukee, WI despite wearing a suit and tie having come from teaching an evening master's class at the university. I made the mistake of asking why 10 police cars were at the complex, and he informed me I was Black and articulate like a bank robbery suspect in the area. He went on to demand (authoritatively) to see my ID, and this was AFTER I showed him my business card! My wife was stopped by cops at gunpoint in front of the business school where I worked in Milwaukee while on her way to work (wearing Scooby-Doo lab scrubs because she's lab tech). Apparently, the police thought her car was used in a robbery. I say all this to say that even when we fully pursue (by working our asses off) and realize (for the most part) the American Dream, Black folks still get treated like niggers! This pretty much sums up the seemingly, relative hopelessness of widespread and congenial race relations in America. It's really sad.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak