The World Is Not Black and White: Racial Bias in the Decision to Shoot in a Multiethnic Context

Abstract

We examined implicit race biases in the decision to shoot potentially hostile targets in a multiethnic context. Results of two studies showed that college-aged participants and police officers showed anti-Black racial bias in their response times: they were quicker to correctly shoot armed Black targets and to indicate "don't shoot" for unarmed Latino, Asian, and White targets. In addition, police officers showed racial biases in response times toward Latinos versus Asians or Whites, and surprisingly, toward Whites versus Asians. Results also showed that the accuracy of decisions to shoot was higher for Black and Latino targets than for White and Asian targets. Finally, the degree of bias shown by police officers toward Blacks was related to contact, attitudes, and stereotypes. Overestimation of community violent crime correlated with greater bias toward Latinos but less toward Whites. Implications for police training to ameliorate biases are discussed.As the country becomes increasingly diverse, attempts to address overt and subtle forms of prejudice and discrimination based on race and/or ethnicity take on a new importance. The U.S. Census Bureau (2008) projects that by 2050, racial and ethnic minorities combined will constitute 54% of the population, the numerical

A Probation Profanation

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“…According to a national survey, 54% of all Latino participants reported discrimination as a major problem of residing in the United States (Pew Hispanic Center, 2007). Additional research suggests that negative attitudes and beliefs about Latinos are often expressed indirectly and symbolically (Ramirez, 1988;Sadler, Correll, Park, & Judd, 2011), potentially resulting in higher levels of micro-aggressions. For example, few policies in the past decade have been as contentiously debated as the rights of undocumented Latinos and immigration reform.…”

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