Anti-Blackness is the American Way: Assessing the Relationship Between Chattel Slavery, Lynchings, & Police Violence During the Civil Rights Movement

Abstract

Research finds that historical anti-Black violence helps to explain the spatial distribution of contemporary conflict, inequality, and violence in the U.S. Building on this research, the current study examined the spatial relationship between chattel slavery in 1860, lynchings of Black individuals between 1882 and 1930, and anti-Black violence during the Civil Rights Movement era in which police or other legal authorities were implicated. I draw on an original dataset of over 300 events of police violence that occurred between 1954 and 1974 in the sample state of Louisiana, and that was compiled from a number of primary and secondary source documents that were themselves culled from archival research conducted in the state. Path analysis was then employed using negative binomial generalized structural equation modeling in order to assess the direct and indirect effects of these racially violent histories. The implications for social justice, public policy, and future research are also discussed. Keywords Slavery, lynchings, anti-Black violence, civil rights movement, police

Anti-Black Political Violence and the Historical Legacy of the Great Replacement Conspiracy

“…Black slaves, along with Native Americans, were pushed to the bottom of the racial hierarchy in the United States through a series of institutional means. In one pertinent example, chattel slavery worked to set forth the racial hierarchy system in the United States that persisted in a series of informal ways immediately following the eradication of the institution of slavery (Cunliffe 2008;Echols 2022). U.S. democracy has long been described as "The White Man's Republic," which Jardina and Mickey describe as being threatened by Black encroachment on white power: "Rather than rehearsing claims about Blacks' racial inferiority, adherents to this vision instead argued that Black political equality betrayed America's purpose at the expense of White group interests" (Jardina and Mickey 2022, 82).…”

Anti-Black Political Violence and the Historical Legacy of the Great Replacement Conspiracy

“…There is a strong history of threat felt from mostly White Americans about Black Americans' status that begins as an outgrowth of the racial system in the U.S. Black slaves, along with Native Americans, were pushed to the bottom of the racial hierarchy in the U.S. Chattel slavery which set forth the racial hierarchy system in the U.S. that persisted in a series of informal ways immediately following the eradication of the institution of slavery (Cunliffe 2008;Echols 2022). U.S. democracy additionally has long been described as "The White Man's Republic," which Jardina and Mickey describe as being threatened by Black encroachment on White power: "Rather than rehearsing claims about Blacks' racial inferiority, adherents to this vision instead argued that Black political equality betrayed America's purpose at the expense of White group interests" (Jardina and Mickey 2022).…”

The Lynching Era and Contemporary Lethal Police Shootings in the South

“…These inquiries make compelling assertions as to the enduring force of historical racial violence on present racial inequality. Although a recent study links histories of lynching and slavery to civil rights movement violence committed by police (Echols, 2022), to our knowledge, no research to date has examined quantitatively the historical roots of police killings today.…”