Skin Color, Power, and Politics in America

“They Say We’re Violent”: The Multidimensionality of Race in Perceptions of Police Brutality and BLM

“…A variety of sources—including prominent explorers, political philosophers, religious leaders, and scholars—have perpetuated the denigration of darker-skinned people for centuries. In turn, color has been used to determine who should and should not have access to basic rights and protections (Banks 1999; Fanon 1952; Jablonski 2021; Ostfeld and Yadon 2022). Even in the present day, darker skin and more Afrocentric features are associated with greater perceptions of being threatening, aggressive, and less competent (Maddox 2004; Maddox and Gray 2002).…”

“…Recent conceptualizations argue that these various components are not all equally meaningful towards understanding race and racialized experiences. In this view, components that are “stickier” and more visible will more powerfully inform how race is experienced because these components serve as clearer markers for institutions and institutional actors to use in exerting power (Ostfeld and Yadon 2022). The complexity of race suggests that institutional actors like police can use skin color as a highly visible cue that powerfully signals information about how to interact with an individual.…”

“…First, significant sociodemographic shifts in the last several decades—namely, growing levels of immigration; incorporation of new and sizable ethnoracial groups into the United States (e.g., Latinos, Asian Americans); and increased levels of multiracial identification—have contributed to a reshaping of the American racial hierarchy (Davenport 2018; Masuoka 2017; Monk 2021; Reece 2021). These sociodemographic shifts have increased the number of categories included within the racial hierarchy and contributed to a blurring of boundaries around many of these groups (Ostfeld and Yadon 2022). If there is greater variance in experiences among members of a shared racial group due to factors such as color, this has the potential to influence the salience of color on lived experiences and corresponding political views.…”

“…Drawing from interdisciplinary literatures, I argue that Black Americans, particularly those with darker skin, view skin color as informative for police interactions and may support incorporating skin color into anti-police brutality movements like BLM. Skin color is one of many factors influencing how race is experienced and serves as an especially important marker given its salience and visibility (Ostfeld and Yadon 2022). Color can be a consequential cue among institutional actors, like police, to inform their interactions with civilians (Lee 1993).…”

“…Machine-ratings can provide a precise measurement of the light-reflectance from one’s skin absent the social influences involved with human-assessments. Yet machine ratings do not shed light on meaningful factors associated with color, require expensive technology, are invasive (requiring physical contact), and can raise ethical concerns harkening back to the use of pseudo-scientific physical “measures” by eugenicists (Ostfeld and Yadon 2022). Thus, scholars must carefully consider which measure is appropriate for their purposes.…”