Some believe in love at first sight, even though a first impression rarely gives them enough time to get to know someone. Prejudice, I would argue, works much the same way, prompting snap judgments based on how someone looks, only this time it’s for the worse. Gordon Allport, a social psychologist, suggested that while “open-mindedness is considered to be a virtue… a new experience must be redacted into old categories.” He theorized that the human mind uses previously established categories as “the basis for normal prejudgment.” Given that many communities in America remain de facto segregated by race and class, and interracial contact is limited, racial stereotypes persist. Black people are often placed in a category associated with criminality, which has real-world consequences. For instance, a Duke University study found that “all-white jury pools convict Black defendants 16% more often than Whites.” Anti-Black prejudice is not harmless.
Just last month, a North Carolina police officer, identified as Andrew Dimberg, was fired after a viral doorbell video showed him assaulting 34-year-old Black woman, Cherrie Moore, punching her repeatedly. The conflict began after officers responded to reports of a “suspicious female in the area,” but that assessment is subjective and, as a result, potentially influenced by racial prejudice. Authorities turned this case over to the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation for an independent review of potential criminal violations.
While it’s unclear whether any officer will face criminal charges, we do know that police often wrongfully suspect Black people of criminal behavior. A Nature Human Behavior study suggested that police search Black drivers at nearly twice the rate as white drivers, despite them being “less likely to be carrying drugs, guns, and other illegal contraband.” Others found that Black people are often racially profiled without just cause.
Beyond law enforcement, civilians often endorse this perception that Black people are guilty at first sight. For instance, on February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman in Sanford, Florida, fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Black teenager. After buying an Arizona Tea and Skittles at a convenience store, Martin, who was wearing a hoodie, walked home while talking on the phone with his friend. Zimmerman called the police to report Martin, whom he described as “a suspicious person,” and said he planned to follow him. The non-emergency operator responded, “We don’t need you to do that,” but he continued to follow him anyway, initiating a deadly altercation with an unarmed teenager. While Zimmerman claimed he acted in self-defense and a jury found him “not guilty,” Martin’s death sparked national protests, as many mourned the tragedy of his death and denounced what they saw as the failure of the justice system.
In another case, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man, was fatally shot in 2020 after jogging through Satilla Shores, a Georgia neighborhood.
Three white men, father and son, Gregory and Travis McMichael, who were armed, and William ‘Roddie” Bryan, their neighbor, who would film the encounter, confronted Arbery and accused him of breaking into homes in the area. They claimed he looked “suspicious,” as if a Black man could have no legitimate reason to be running or jogging up the street. While the defense legal team argued these men were motivated by “honest, though erroneous, suspicion,” they presented no evidence that Arbery ever broke into homes in the area. In the end, all three men were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This tragedy serves as a lasting reminder of the heavy price of prejudice.
“In the United States, race has always played a central role in constructing presumptions of criminality,” said Angela Davis.
The trial of Karmelo Anthony, a Black teenager charged with first-degree murder, began this week. Reports suggest he fatally stabbed Austin Metcalf, a white teenager, at a high school track meet in Frisco, Texas. Witnesses suggest Metcalf and his twin brother tried to forcibly remove him from their team’s tent, pushing him and grabbing him. Anthony claimed he acted in self-defense, saying Metcalf “put his hands on me,” a phrase which in the black community indicates someone caused serious bodily harm, though outside of it may be misconstrued as simply touching someone.
Many assumed Karmelo was the aggressor simply because he was Black. Jeff Metcalf, the father of the victim, took a mic at a “Protect White Americans” rally, and accused organizers of “trying to create more race divide than bridging the gap.” Beyond division, the black community shared another concern, that prejudice and misinformation could muddy the jury pool and deprive Karmelo Anthony of a fair trial. As Gordon Allport noted, “prejudice, unlike a simple misconception, is actively resistant to all evidence that would unseat it.”
Civil rights legislation facilitated positive social change in America by ending racial segregation, but Black people continue to endure racism. They are more likely to be stopped, searched, arrested, convicted of crimes, and serve longer sentences relative to their White counterparts. While racists claim that Black people are more likely to commit violent crimes, they often ignore their high rate of exoneration, for instance, that they are 7.5 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than white people. What happens when Black people are presumed guilty at first sight, when various news reports, social commentators, and politicians refer to Black people as “thugs,” or “welfare queens,” or “gang bangers,” who steal things, behave violently, and violate social decorum simply for the hell of it? Those who see Black people as guilty at first sight deprive them of justice. Discussions about prejudice may cause discomfort, particularly in this political climate. Yet, it’s essential to address the harmful impact of anti-Black prejudice.