Are Non-U.S. Citizens Color-Blind? The Racialization of Violent Crimes

• Author: Donald C. Hummer,Daniela Barberi,Shaun L. Gabbidon,Eileen M. Ahlin
• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Date: 01 October 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/2153368718808342
• Subject Matter: Articles

Are Non-U.S. Citizens

Color-Blind? The Racialization

of Violent Crimes

Daniela Barberi

1

, Eileen M. Ahlin

2

,

Donald C. Hummer

2

, and Shaun L. Gabbidon

2

Abstract

The present study aims to investigate whether U.S. citizenship status influences the

racialization of offenders engaged in homicide, sexual violence, and terrorism. The

role of social media exposure and interracial contact are explored as additional

proximal factors that may explain racialization across citizenship status. The cross-

sectional online survey consisted of 729 participants enrolled at a culturally diverse

northeastern university. Results suggest that non-U.S. citizens have a more color-blind

perspective and are less likely to racialize crime when associating a particular race/

ethnicity with violent crimes. Surprisingly, social media exposure and interracial

contact were not significant contributors to racialization. Suggestions for future

research and policy implications are discussed.

Keywords

race/ethnicity, racialization, color-blind, prejudices, citizenship

Introduction

Extensive scholarly evidence within the field of criminology reveals consistent and

reliable findings related to violence, such as males commit more violent crimes than

females (Lauritsen, Heimer, & Lynch, 2009; Steffensmeier, Schwartz, Zhong, &

Ackerman, 2005), violence is largely perpetrated by youth (Elliott, 1994; Loeber,

Jennings, Ahonen, Piquero, & Farrington, 2017), and the United States has higher

1

George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

2

Penn State Harrisburg, Middletown, PA, USA

Corresponding Author:

Daniela Barberi, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Enterprise Hall, Room 354, Fairfax,

VA 22030, USA.

Email: dbarberi@gmu.edu

Race and Justice

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DOI: 10.1177/2153368718808342

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2021, Vol. 11(4) 454–\ 474

Article

rates of violent crime than other first-world countries (Grinshteyn & Hemenway,

2016). Findings of this nature have been widely corroborated by scholars across the

United States and throughout the world among different races and ethnicities.

Equally important is what the research cannot definitively tell us about violent

crime. Despite the common perception that violent crime might be related to certain

racial or ethnic groups, this belief, referred to as racialization of crime, has not been

empirically supported. Even though research has shown that arrest, conviction, and

incarceration rates for violent crimes do vary by race/ethnicity (Federal Bureau of

Investigation [FBI], 2016), violent crime cannot be wholly attributed to one racial or

ethnic group. While data fail to show that members of one race or ethnicity are more

prone to criminal behavior (Higgins & Gabbidon, 2015; King, 2015), the Uniform

Crime Reports indicate that the proportion of Blacks and Latinos charged with violent

crimes is higher than their prevalence in the U.S. population, which may contribute to

racialized perceptions (FBI, 2016).

Such incongruence suggests there are underlying differences in criminal activity,

discrepancies in case processing by the criminal justice system (CJS), or both. Despite

evidence refuting a racial/ethnic basis for violence, it is possible that discriminatory

practices in policing, court, and/or corrections explain higher rates of criminal justice

involvement among Blacks (see Russell-Brown, 2009; Tonry, 2011; Walker, Spohn,

& DeLone, 2018). There is evidence to suggest disparities may reflect established

systemic biases at the macro level, but less is known about how individuals perceive

who is committing violent offenses (Katz, 2016). Interestingly, there is some evidence

to suggest that exposure to systemic biases could influence citizen stereotypes and

opinions at large (see Hetey & Eberhardt, 2018).

Public opinion research is among the most published scholarship across the social

sciences. It is typically used as a barometer of the views that ordinary citizens have on

specific topics. One stream of this research suggests that views on the disproportionate

involvement of racial/ethnic minorities in the CJS continue to be racialized (see

Nelson, Gabbidon, & Boisvert, 2015; Unnever, 2008). Official crime data and media

coverage of the CJS processing can influence citizens’ perceptions about violent

offenders and which racial/ethnic groups are more likely to engage in violent crimes.

Such reports are often accompanied by racial or ethnic descriptors, which might

influence the perceptions of minorities being more involved in such crimes (Pelfrey,

Keener, & Perkins, 2018). The racialization of crime can also develop from a lack of

interracial/interethnic relationships. Positive, frequent, and meaningful interracial

contact can reduce negative racial attitudes (Bohmert & DeMaris, 2015; Sigelman &

Welch, 1993) and may influence ordinary citizens’ ideas about which group is more

prone to commit violent crimes.

Less explored in the public opinion literature devoted to crime is whether one’s

citizenship status influences respondents’ views on who commits violent crime.

Recent political and media attention on issues related to immigration and ethnicity,

particularly on individuals of Middle Eastern and Latin-American origins, heightens

the need to understand whether racialized perceptions of criminality are imported

or represent a United States phenomenon (Hughey, 2017; Nakamura, 2017). With

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