Do Blacks Speak with one Voice? Immigrants, Public Opinions, and Perceptions of Criminal Injustices

Abstract

This paper tests core tenets of the theory of African-American offending proposed by Unnever and Gabbidon. Their theory posits that African-Americans have a common worldview on matters of race that is related to their offending. However, Unnever and Gabbidon further hypothesize that immigrant blacks do not fully embrace the worldview shared by US-born blacks. Using a 2008 national Gallup poll, we examine whether US-born blacks share a common worldview and whether foreign-born blacks differ in their opinions on key issues including: criminal injustices, the state of American race relations, attitudes towards immigration and illegal immigrants, and the perception of mobility within American society. The results partially confirm their two key hypotheses; there are no entrenched differences in the public opinions of US-born blacks on race-related matters while immigrant blacks do not wholly endorse their worldview. We discuss the implications of these two findings in relation to how scholars conceptualize offending among blacks.Keywords African American offending; immigrant blacks; perceptions of criminal injustice; race and crime In their recent theoretical work, Unnever and Gabbidon (2011) assert that nearly all blacks share a distinctive worldview that is grounded and centered in James D. Unnever is professor of criminology at the University of South Florida-Sarasota Manatee. He has published extensively on race and crime, most notably in his recent A Theory of African American Offending: Race, Racism, and Crime. His research areas also include public opinion about crime-related issues, the impact of religion on punitiveness, testing theories of crime, and school bullying. He was the 2009 recipient of the Donal A. J. MacNamara Award of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. Shaun L. Gabbidon is distinguished professor of criminal justice at Penn State Harrisburg. He has served as a fellow at Harvard University's W. E. B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, and has taught at the Center for Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. The author of more than 100 scholarly publications including 60 peer-reviewed articles and 11 books, his most recent books include Race and Crime (3rd edition; 2013, SAGE) and, A Theory of African American Offending (2011; Routledge). Professor Gabbidon is the Founding

Does procedural justice influence general satisfaction with police? A study from a hard-to-reach population of immigrants in the United States

“…One out of five Blacks in metropolitan areas of the United States is an immigrant (Unnever and Gabbidon 2013). Compared to Caribbean and Latin American Blacks, African immigrants have been immigrating to the United States at a much higher rate, accounting for as much as one-fifth of the US Black population between 2001 and 2006 (Unnever and Gabbidon 2013; see also Benson 2006;Kent 2007).…”

Microaggressions, Injustices, and Racial Identity

“…These relationships, in turn, are conditioned by racial socialization. Unnever and Gabbidon (2013) test the existence of a shared worldview using a 2008 national Gallup poll. Specifically, they assessed for individual differences in public opinions on the criminal justice system, racial issues, economic mobility, and immigration issues in America between U.S.-born and foreign-born Black Americans.…”

The Perceptions of Police-Black Civilian Deadly Encounters in North America among Black Immigrants in a Western Canadian City

“…Those who disagreed believed that some black victims in deadly encounters contributed to their own victimization by involving in criminal activities. Unnever and Gabbidon [52] have argued that the opinions among members of racial (minority) groups about the CJS depended on the quality of experience each member has had with the agents of the law.…”