Assignment: History, Perception, and Treatment of Victims/Student Replies

STUDENT REPLY #1 Amber Summerise

After reviewing the case of Michael Brown Jr., an African American man who was shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, I noticed that I might have an unconscious or implicit bias (Dukes & Gaither, 2017). The implicit bias relates to people having preconceived stereotypes about others or a group. One may attribute specific traits to a specific social group and potentially impair them from seeing things as they are. People associate some groups with different activities unconsciously because they have continuously seen such events or have trained their minds to see the people in that manner.

Question 2

My perception, in this case, is a bias toward the offender. I have continuously witnessed white police officers mistreating African American males in the streets for no reason. Besides, I have seen many news broadcasts about white police officers involved in unlawful shootings with black people being victims (Harrell, 2011). Therefore, I believe that this is the typical behavior of white racist police officers, who use their power and weapons to terrorize the black race. Thus, I may have had a hard time believing that Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot Brown, acted in self-defense. I believe he intentionally assaulted Brown and shot him when he resisted. He shot him dead afterward.

Question 3

The media coverage of an incident is what mainly informs public opinion. If the media portrays one as a criminal, the public, including the jury, will already begin to think of them as criminals. However, if they portray one as a victim of a crime, then that is what the world will treat them to be. The way the media portrays cases contributes to the jury’s perception and is most likely the direction they take when making a verdict (Dukes & Gaither, 2017). In Michael Brown Jr.’s case, the media portrayed the witnesses as unreliable, making their claim that Wilson murdered Brown dismissed by the jury.

References

Dukes, K. N., & Gaither, S. E. (2017). Black racial stereotypes and victim-blaming: Implications for media coverage and criminal proceedings in cases of police violence against racial and ethnic minorities. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 789-807.

Harrell, E. (2011). Black victims of violent crime. DIANE Publishing

STUDENT REPLY #2 Lydia Kelly

I live in Minnesota. Roughly 2 hours from Minneapolis, MN; the site where George Floyd was handcuffed and held down on the ground by. D Chauvin’s knee and murdered (The New York Times, 2021). This was video tapped, shared and viewed by millions around the world. It also started riots all over the world. The call for the officers to be charged, the call to end racial injustice everywhere. The amount of media coverage on this case has shown bias for the victim as well as bias toward the offender. I took my children to the site where Mr. Floyd passed. We walked with others in memory, we cried and left flowers, I signed petitions, I put up signs outside my house, on my car, and bought clothing supporting black business owners. As you can see my bias is to side with Mr. Floyd. He was not an innocent man; I am not arguing that. However, he did not deserve to die the way he did, and I am happy with the outcome in his case. Does it bring justice, I do not believe so, a man lost his life, families are directly affected on both sides, and officers’ lives are forever changed. So, my bias lies with the victim.

The union head Bob Kroll, of the Minneapolis department was interviewed and made it clear that we all had to be reminded that George Floyd had a violent past, calling out the media for being bias and not sharing about the criminal history (Sheehy, 2020). He is clearing trying to victim blame. He is trying to say the victim holds some responsibilities for his death (Karmen, 2020).

Unfortunately, this happens more often than not though. Dukes & Gaither, 2017). I could go on, Eric Garner, an unarmed black man killed by New York Police in 2014, and Alton Sterling another unarmed black man killed by Baton Rouge Louisiana officers; all shamed in the media for their past as a reason to why it is ok, they are dead (Dukes & Gaither, 2017). It seems that you mostly see the negative bias in the media, unarmed black men being killed, yet the focus is on these victims’ criminal behavior, the disadvantaged places they are being killed/live, and their appearances (Dukes & Gaither, 2017).

Media can shape the publics views in several ways; how much crime is actually covered in news, the support of sanctions or distorted views of the individual, and how crime may be affected by media viewing, like violent crimes (Bjornstrom, Kaufman, Peterson & Slater, 2007). This can cause issues with jury selection. Access to information comes from everywhere. Thankfully the jury looked past all the bias and convicted D. Chauvin in April of 2nd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter (The New York Times, 2021).

References:

The New York Times. (November 1, 2021). How George Floyd Died, and What Happened Next. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd.html

Sheehy, Kate. (June 2, 2020). George Floyd had ‘Violent Criminal History’: Minneapolis Police Chief. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2020/06/02/george-floyd-had-violent-criminal-history-minneapolis-union-chief/

Karmen, A. (2020). Crime Victims: An Introduction to Victimology (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Dukes, K. N., & Gaither, S. E. (2017). Black Racial Stereotypes and Victim Blaming: Implications for Media Coverage and Criminal Proceedings in Cases of Police Violence against Racial and Ethnic Minorities. Journal of Social Issues, 73(4), 789–807. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12248

Bjornstrom, E., Kaufman, R., Peterson, R., & Slater, M. (2007). Race and Ethnic Representations of Lawbreakers and Victims in Crime News: A National Study of Television Coverage. Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association.