Why Police Kill Black Males with Impunity: Applying Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP) to Address the Determinants of Policing Behaviors and “Justifiable” Homicides in the USA

Abstract

Widespread awareness of the recent deaths of several black males at the hands of police has revealed an unaddressed public health challenge-determining the root causes of excessive use of force by police applied to black males that may result in "justifiable homicides." The criminalization of black males has a long history in the USA, which has resulted in an increase in policing behaviors by legal authorities and created inequitable life chances for black males. Currently, the discipline of public health has not applied an intersectional approach that investigates the intersection of race and gender to understanding police behaviors that lead to "justifiable homicides" for black males. This article applies the core tenets and processes of Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP) to develop a framework that can improve research and interventions to address the disparities observed in recent trend analyses of "justifiable homicides." Accordingly, we use PHCRP to offer an alternative framework on the social, legal, and health implications of violence-related incidents. We aim to move the literature in this area forward to help scholars, policymakers, and activists build the capacity of communities to address the excessive use of force by police to reduce mortality rates from "justifiable homicides."

Objective reports versus subjective perceptions of crime and their relationships to accelerometer-measured physical activity in Hispanic caretaker-child dyads

“…Further, Hispanic families are more likely than non-Latino whites to live in low-income urban neighborhoods with higher crime and worse environmental conditions [1] likely exacerbating barriers to being physically active. Related research also suggests that perceptions of safety are rooted in sociohistorical factors related to prejudice and racism, particularly among minority males – an often underexplored issue of criminality in relation to PA in outdoor environments [33]. Characterizing the association between crime and PA, especially among low-income Hispanic populations may therefore be an important contribution to combating the rising levels of physical inactivity.…”

Teacher Discrimination Reduces School Performance of African American Youth: Role of Gender

“…Systems such as school, police, and correctional settings need to introduce new trainings in their system to reduce blunt reactions toward African American youth, particularly those with larger body sizes and darker skin colors [ 94 ]. The same may apply to schools, teachers, and principals, who can discriminate against African American youth [ 115 , 116 , 117 ]. Teacher discrimination may increase the risk of drop out and suspension [ 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 ], as well as school performance.…”

Restructuring Civilian Payouts for Police Misconduct

“…Black Americans are 3.5 times more likely to be killed by the police when they are not attacking or when they do not have a weapon (Gilbert and Ray 2016; Gilbert et al 2016; Krieger et al 2015). Despite this gap, there are only data at the federal level from about 16 states (Parks et al 2014).…”

“…Spiking to over 450 justifiable homicides by law enforcement, 2014 saw the highest total in the past 30 years. This meant that about every 20 hours a person was killed by the police (Gilbert and Ray 2016).…”