Attitudes of HBCU Students Towards the Police

Ashlynn Ureste

Florida Memorial University

Senior Project

1/4/2022

Introduction

The study aims to investigate the attitudes towards the police among Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Students. Specifically, the research will focus on the existing perceptions using a quantitative method and attitudes of the HBCU students from an African American perspective towards law enforcement and the source of the prevailing attitudes. The study will also investigate how the media influences these attitudes and how these attitudes and perceptions influence the police interaction with the HBCU students. It is conjectured that the HBCU African American student population has unique attitudes and perceptions towards the police, which are a function of various factors, including the media. These attitudes lead to straining the quality of interaction between the police and students.

This section provides a review of the various studies that have attempted to address the perceptions of the HBCU students towards police by grounding them to established theories. An initial step in this section is to analyze various theories essential to understanding some of the findings obtained by other researchers. Because most of the attitudes are characterized by racial identities, the theory addressed is the social labeling theory and its key tenets of how labeling reinforces the behavior, strains, relationships, leading to the confirmation of the social labelsADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISBN”:”042949811X”,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Short”,”given”:”James F”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2018″]]},”publisher”:”Routledge”,”title”:”Poverty, ethnicity, and violent crime”,”type”:”book”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=5c7d8c54-a207-4715-9932-8df2aa06fe58”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”2153-3687″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Rocque”,”given”:”Michael”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Race and justice”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issue”:”3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2011″]]},”page”:”292-315″,”publisher”:”SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA”,”title”:”Racial disparities in the criminal justice system and perceptions of legitimacy: A theoretical linkage”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”1″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=b2724f60-61a7-414a-b0a1-3d95548ea14b”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Rocque, 2011; Short, 2018)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Rocque, 2011; Short, 2018)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Rocque, 2011; Short, 2018)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Rocque, 2011; Short, 2018). Socially labeling is discussed from two perspectives. The first perspective pertains to the history of the HBCU institutions being designed to give African Americans equal opportunities to higher education and the role of HBCU institutions to the identity of the progress of African AmericansADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1537-7938″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Webb”,”given”:”Patrick”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Frame”,”given”:”Kimberly”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Marshall”,”given”:”Pam”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of ethnicity in criminal justice”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2018″]]},”page”:”137-155″,”publisher”:”Taylor & Francis”,”title”:”Correlates of campus crime: An exploration of minority attitudes at an HBCU”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”16″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=7d3cacc1-c500-4963-9f43-46307a72a8c7”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1082-8354″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Murty”,”given”:”Komanduri S”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Roebuck”,”given”:”Julian B”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Race, Gender & Class”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issue”:”3-4″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2015″]]},”page”:”136-153″,”publisher”:”JSTOR”,”title”:”African American HBCU students’ attitudes and actions toward interracial dating & marriage: A survey analysis”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”22″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=d717ecf4-5cc4-4c74-b996-4d5275e67092″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Murty & Roebuck, 2015; Webb et al., 2018)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Murty & Roebuck, 2015; Webb et al., 2018)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Murty & Roebuck, 2015; Webb et al., 2018)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Murty & Roebuck, 2015; Webb et al., 2018). Regarding the criminal justice system, the African American population has been overrepresented, which has led to the criminal justice system labeling African Americans as more likely to commit crimes. However, various incidents highlighting the interaction between law enforcement have depicted law enforcement officers as racially biased against African AmericansADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1043-9862″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Cochran”,”given”:”Joshua C”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Warren”,”given”:”Patricia Y”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of contemporary criminal justice”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2012″]]},”page”:”206-227″,”publisher”:”Sage Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA”,”title”:”Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in perceptions of the police: The salience of officer race within the context of racial profiling”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”28″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=ebb97614-ed41-49c8-8669-8c750cd7210a”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lewis”,”given”:”Lisa Marie”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2016″]]},”title”:”Attitudes Toward Police among College Students: Differences among Race, Social Work Status, and University History”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=68b816ab-8496-4e27-80b5-a51d9d52c4c1″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Cochran & Warren, 2012; Lisa Marie Lewis, 2016)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Cochran & Warren, 2012; Lisa Marie Lewis, 2016)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Cochran & Warren, 2012; Lisa Marie Lewis, 2016)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Cochran & Warren, 2012; Lisa Marie Lewis, 2016). Therefore, the social labeling theory is discussed from law enforcement and the African American HBCU students’ perspectives.

After discussing the theory, the paper will attempt to discuss and integrate studies that have attempted to identify the prevailing perceptions of the HBCU students towards the police. Because the perceptions influence the interactions between the students and the police, a limited discussion of the perspectives of the police will also be doneADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”0888-6601″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lewis”,”given”:”Lisa M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Wilks”,”given”:”Scott E”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Geiger”,”given”:”Jennifer R”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Barthelemy”,”given”:”Juan J”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Livermore”,”given”:”Michelle M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of Pan African Studies”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2017″]]},”title”:”A Racial Divide: College Student Attitudes Concerning Police in South Louisiana.”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”10″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=09d5aecb-4373-47fd-a014-452c3fe5fcd2”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”2153-3687″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Posick”,”given”:”Chad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Rocque”,”given”:”Michael”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”McDevitt”,”given”:”Jack”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Race and Justice”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issue”:”3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2013″]]},”page”:”190-209″,”publisher”:”SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA”,”title”:”One scale fits all? Assessing racial differences in the measurement of attitudes toward the police”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”3″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=39c3cdd3-d84c-44a3-bf55-a794dbaad57a”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017; Posick et al., 2013)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017; Posick et al., 2013)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017; Posick et al., 2013)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017; Posick et al., 2013). The origin of the prevailing perceptions will also be discussed to understand how they have been sustained. This will facilitate the discussion of how these perceptions have changed and are continuing to change.

The next section will discuss the role of the media in influencing perceptions. The focus will be on how the media reports the interactions between law enforcement and African Americans. Since the HBCU students identify with a culture of diversity and inclusivity, they see it as their duty to shun injustices beginning with racial discrimination since it is the single most injustice that directly affects the history and identity of the HBCU institutions. The section will focus on how media coverage of police brutality leads to the internalization of the discrimination of the police against African Americans and the formation of negative perceptions towards the policing institutionADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISBN”:”1473910919″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Davies”,”given”:”Pamela”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Francis”,”given”:”Peter”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Greer”,”given”:”Chris”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2017″]]},”publisher”:”Sage”,”title”:”Victims, crime and society: An introduction”,”type”:”book”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=81c266ab-c135-4768-a45d-b5cae0a1f67a”]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Davies et al., 2017)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Davies et al., 2017)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Davies et al., 2017)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Davies et al., 2017). The literature review will conclude by showing how the negative perceptions of the police are self-reinforcing. When the HBCU students perceive law enforcement agencies as racially biased, they are unlikely to cooperate with the police officers. This will lead to antagonistic interactions between the police and the students in various settings, such as campus protests and demonstrations. These antagonistic interactions may, in turn, be accompanied by violence which further confirms the negative perceptions. Since such incidences can be recorded and shared rapidly through social media, it spreads negative perceptions about police to other HBCU institutions.

Literature Review

Social Labelling Theory

Social labeling is a concept used to explain how different groups in society develop differential identifications with negative labels that are less often used to distinguish between the groups. It is one mechanism that buttresses group inequality and oppressionADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISBN”:”1315864258″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lynch”,”given”:”Michael J”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Race, Gender, and Class in Criminology the Intersections”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2019″]]},”page”:”3-28″,”publisher”:”Routledge”,”title”:”Class, Race, Gender and Criminology: Structured Choices and the Life Course.”,”type”:”chapter”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=551438eb-f752-458e-acb2-557bbafa4d82″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Lynch, 2019)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Lynch, 2019)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Lynch, 2019)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Lynch, 2019). Social labeling refers to how different groups of people attach different labels to different types of people based on whether they are perceived as acceptable or unacceptable.

The social labeling theory can be applied to several different aspects of life. It is applied in the different types of research conducted, including intergroup relations, social cognition, and intercultural communication. One area of research that the social labeling theory applies to is a student’s perspective of law enforcementADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1572-8315″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Rosenbaum”,”given”:”Dennis P”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lawrence”,”given”:”Daniel S”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hartnett”,”given”:”Susan M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”McDevitt”,”given”:”Jack”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Posick”,”given”:”Chad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of Experimental Criminology”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2015″]]},”page”:”335-366″,”publisher”:”Springer”,”title”:”Measuring procedural justice and legitimacy at the local level: the police–community interaction survey”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”11″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=3ed10a08-d43d-49e5-b025-543b6a2c71a7”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1043-9862″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Cochran”,”given”:”Joshua C”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Warren”,”given”:”Patricia Y”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of contemporary criminal justice”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issue”:”2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2012″]]},”page”:”206-227″,”publisher”:”Sage Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA”,”title”:”Racial, ethnic, and gender differences in perceptions of the police: The salience of officer race within the context of racial profiling”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”28″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=ebb97614-ed41-49c8-8669-8c750cd7210a”]},{“id”:”ITEM-3″,”itemData”:{“author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lewis”,”given”:”Lisa Marie”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”id”:”ITEM-3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2016″]]},”title”:”Attitudes Toward Police among College Students: Differences among Race, Social Work Status, and University History”,”type”:”article-journal”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=68b816ab-8496-4e27-80b5-a51d9d52c4c1″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Cochran & Warren, 2012; Lisa Marie Lewis, 2016; Rosenbaum et al., 2015)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Cochran & Warren, 2012; Lisa Marie Lewis, 2016; Rosenbaum et al., 2015)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Cochran & Warren, 2012; Lisa Marie Lewis, 2016; Rosenbaum et al., 2015)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Cochran & Warren, 2012; Lisa Marie Lewis, 2016; Rosenbaum et al., 2015). This perspective begins with the idea that being African American will place some African Americans in a disadvantageous position when dealing with law enforcement officers. This disadvantage can come from discrimination by the police based on race discrimination or from interactions with police officers where students may feel uncomfortable due to negative beliefs within society.

Social labeling theory has been applied to African American HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) students in their interactions with law enforcement and the police. The theory states that different racial groups develop differential identifications with different social labels, such as “criminal. African Americans are usually more likely to be socially labeled as criminals by law enforcement agencies than WhitesADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISBN”:”1392244838″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Harris-Wyatt”,”given”:”Georgetta A”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2019″]]},”publisher”:”Tennessee State University”,”title”:”An Analysis of Factors that Impact Civilian Attitudes Toward Police Treatment of Minority Males”,”type”:”article”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=04037b4e-fef5-41a5-912f-53cb8c316a3a”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1572-8315″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Rosenbaum”,”given”:”Dennis P”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lawrence”,”given”:”Daniel S”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Hartnett”,”given”:”Susan M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”McDevitt”,”given”:”Jack”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Posick”,”given”:”Chad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of Experimental Criminology”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issue”:”3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2015″]]},”page”:”335-366″,”publisher”:”Springer”,”title”:”Measuring procedural justice and legitimacy at the local level: the police–community interaction survey”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”11″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=3ed10a08-d43d-49e5-b025-543b6a2c71a7″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Harris-Wyatt, 2019; Rosenbaum et al., 2015)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Harris-Wyatt, 2019; Rosenbaum et al., 2015)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Harris-Wyatt, 2019; Rosenbaum et al., 2015)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Harris-Wyatt, 2019; Rosenbaum et al., 2015). Blacks and Whites differ in their use of social labeling to create differential identifications with what is labeled as good or bad. Whites used social labeling more often to assign positive labels, whereas Blacks used it more frequently to assign negative labels. African American students use higher levels of social labeling than White students, and that these differences exist throughout the lifecycle of their academic experiences at college.

Other studies show that blacks are more likely than whites to have positive attitudes toward law enforcement officers with dark-skinned faces. This shows the effect of reciprocity and social identity. Whereas law enforcement officers sometimes victimize African Americans because of their skin color, they may have general negative perceptions about the law enforcement while having more favorable perceptions to African American law enforcement officersADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1082-8354″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Murty”,”given”:”Komanduri S”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Roebuck”,”given”:”Julian B”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Race, Gender & Class”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”3-4″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2015″]]},”page”:”136-153″,”publisher”:”JSTOR”,”title”:”African American HBCU students’ attitudes and actions toward interracial dating & marriage: A survey analysis”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”22″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=d717ecf4-5cc4-4c74-b996-4d5275e67092″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Murty & Roebuck, 2015)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Murty & Roebuck, 2015)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Murty & Roebuck, 2015)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Murty & Roebuck, 2015). On the other hand, African American law enforcement officers are perceived as less likely to discriminate against black students than light-skinned officers. The positive perceptions among African American students about these officers may result from the fact that they are viewed as having a more personal relationship with the students.

Perceptions Between Police and HBCU students

In a country where the Black population is a mere 13 percent, over 50 percent of all police killings in 2019 have been committed against black people. This staggering statistic highlights how Black Americans, both on and off-campus, are subjected to arbitrary violence at rates disproportionate to their representation in society. Furthermore, according to a 2018 study from the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, HBCU students are more likely to feel unsafe on campus than other universitiesADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”2153-3687″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Posick”,”given”:”Chad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Rocque”,”given”:”Michael”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”McDevitt”,”given”:”Jack”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Race and Justice”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2013″]]},”page”:”190-209″,”publisher”:”SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA”,”title”:”One scale fits all? Assessing racial differences in the measurement of attitudes toward the police”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”3″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=39c3cdd3-d84c-44a3-bf55-a794dbaad57a”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”0888-6601″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lewis”,”given”:”Lisa M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Wilks”,”given”:”Scott E”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Geiger”,”given”:”Jennifer R”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Barthelemy”,”given”:”Juan J”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Livermore”,”given”:”Michelle M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of Pan African Studies”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issue”:”1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2017″]]},”title”:”A Racial Divide: College Student Attitudes Concerning Police in South Louisiana.”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”10″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=09d5aecb-4373-47fd-a014-452c3fe5fcd2”]},{“id”:”ITEM-3″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”0734-0168″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Gabbidon”,”given”:”Shaun L”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Higgins”,”given”:”George E”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Potter”,”given”:”Hillary”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Criminal justice review”,”id”:”ITEM-3″,”issue”:”1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2011″]]},”page”:”5-21″,”publisher”:”SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA”,”title”:”Race, gender, and the perception of recently experiencing unfair treatment by the police: Exploratory results from an all-black sample”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”36″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=be923f59-a9e5-4d1a-8fcb-2dccda5efcc5″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Gabbidon et al., 2011; Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017; Posick et al., 2013)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Gabbidon et al., 2011; Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017; Posick et al., 2013)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Gabbidon et al., 2011; Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017; Posick et al., 2013)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Gabbidon et al., 2011; Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017; Posick et al., 2013). This fear can be linked to several factors: incarceration rates among Black teenagers have increased by 44% since 1990, while white incarcerations have only increased by 3%. In addition, according to a report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Black students are more likely to be arrested on campus. Finally, the mere presence of police on campus can cause an environment of fear and self-preservation among studentsADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”1537-7938″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Webb”,”given”:”Patrick”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Frame”,”given”:”Kimberly”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Marshall”,”given”:”Pam”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of ethnicity in criminal justice”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”2″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2018″]]},”page”:”137-155″,”publisher”:”Taylor & Francis”,”title”:”Correlates of campus crime: An exploration of minority attitudes at an HBCU”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”16″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=7d3cacc1-c500-4963-9f43-46307a72a8c7″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Webb et al., 2018)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Webb et al., 2018)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Webb et al., 2018)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Webb et al., 2018). If a student feels threatened by a police officer’s presence, there is no doubt that they will alter their behavior in some way for fear of being harmed or unjustifiably arrested.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 102 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States. Many of these schools were founded during segregation to offer education opportunities to African Americans who had been previously denied access to higher learning institutions. These colleges still retain many of their original values, including strong support for diversity and multiculturalism. HBCUs experience a very different college life than white students, which is heavily affected by their race/ethnicityADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISBN”:”1392244838″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Harris-Wyatt”,”given”:”Georgetta A”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2019″]]},”publisher”:”Tennessee State University”,”title”:”An Analysis of Factors that Impact Civilian Attitudes Toward Police Treatment of Minority Males”,”type”:”article”},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=04037b4e-fef5-41a5-912f-53cb8c316a3a”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”0888-6601″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Lewis”,”given”:”Lisa M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Wilks”,”given”:”Scott E”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Geiger”,”given”:”Jennifer R”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Barthelemy”,”given”:”Juan J”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Livermore”,”given”:”Michelle M”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Journal of Pan African Studies”,”id”:”ITEM-2″,”issue”:”1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2017″]]},”title”:”A Racial Divide: College Student Attitudes Concerning Police in South Louisiana.”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”10″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=09d5aecb-4373-47fd-a014-452c3fe5fcd2”]},{“id”:”ITEM-3″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”0734-0168″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Gabbidon”,”given”:”Shaun L”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Higgins”,”given”:”George E”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Potter”,”given”:”Hillary”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Criminal justice review”,”id”:”ITEM-3″,”issue”:”1″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2011″]]},”page”:”5-21″,”publisher”:”SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA”,”title”:”Race, gender, and the perception of recently experiencing unfair treatment by the police: Exploratory results from an all-black sample”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”36″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=be923f59-a9e5-4d1a-8fcb-2dccda5efcc5″]}],”mendeley”:{“formattedCitation”:”(Gabbidon et al., 2011; Harris-Wyatt, 2019; Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017)”,”plainTextFormattedCitation”:”(Gabbidon et al., 2011; Harris-Wyatt, 2019; Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017)”,”previouslyFormattedCitation”:”(Gabbidon et al., 2011; Harris-Wyatt, 2019; Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017)”},”properties”:{“noteIndex”:0},”schema”:”https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json”}(Gabbidon et al., 2011; Harris-Wyatt, 2019; Lisa M Lewis et al., 2017). A large body of research supports this notion. Due to the heavy racial segregation that HBCUs experienced, they are likely to attract students more concerned with race relations.

Another aspect of research surrounding the HBCU student body is that of crime and perceptions of criminality. According to a 2016’s study by Columbia University’s National Opinion Research Center (NORC), even though there is little evidence suggesting racial bias in college campus crime, Black students perceived police treatment as biased against themADDIN CSL_CITATION {“citationItems”:[{“id”:”ITEM-1″,”itemData”:{“ISSN”:”2153-3687″,”author”:[{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Posick”,”given”:”Chad”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”Rocque”,”given”:”Michael”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””},{“dropping-particle”:””,”family”:”McDevitt”,”given”:”Jack”,”non-dropping-particle”:””,”parse-names”:false,”suffix”:””}],”container-title”:”Race and Justice”,”id”:”ITEM-1″,”issue”:”3″,”issued”:{“date-parts”:[[“2013″]]},”page”:”190-209″,”publisher”:”SAGE Publications Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA”,”title”:”One scale fits all? Assessing racial differences in the measurement of attitudes toward the police”,”type”:”article-journal”,”volume”:”3″},”uris”:[“http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=39c3cdd3-d84c-44a3-bf55-a794dbaad57a”]},{“id”:”ITEM-2″,”