Compounded Punishment — Legal Stereotypes of Black American Protesters
- WULR Team
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
An analysis of how systemic biases and legal stereotypes of Black criminality intersect within the justice system.
Published May 31st, 2026
Written by Farrah Shawki
Black stereotypes are not a novel concept. Born through the development of slavery and followed by racist cartoons during reconstruction, they persist into modern times through the Black criminality stereotypes leading to disparities in the justice system, coined “The New Jim Crow.” Modern technology has increased rhetoric perpetuating misleading and biased information against Black American protesters as they are often depicted with violence, leading to more efficient spreading of stereotypes. As a result, the perception of Black American protesters as inherently violent is compounded with the longstanding stereotypes of Black criminality, transforming protest as a path to incarceration.
Black American protesters are seen as inherently violent in comparison to other groups. A survey experiment published by the Cambridge University Press and conducted by Devorah Manekin and Tamar Mitts tested how race shapes public perceptions of a protest. Perceptions were assessed through two studies, one conducted in 2018 and the other in 2020 to account for changes in political climate. In both studies groups were shown articles about a protest, varying in the race of the protesters and violence level. The second study then included protest goals. Participants were then asked to reflect on how violent they perceived the protest. The results revealed that Black protesters marching in the street were 75% more likely to be “recalled as…more violent than whites engaging in the same activity.” This evidence supports the idea that violent stereotypes of Black American protesters are common and readily amplified through individual perceptions.
This stereotype has been translated into institutionalized bias against Black American protesters. For example, as explained by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, in Black Lives Matter v. City of Seattle (2020) the American Civil Liberties Union sued the City of Seattle for excessive force against black protesters during a peaceful protest against the killing of George Floyd. They claimed officers relied on racial stereotyping instead of logical discretion. Blast balls, tear gas and other weapons were administered during the peaceful protest, resulting in extensive injuries, seizures and comas. As reported by news channel KRCR, while a verdict was never concluded, the City of Seattle agreed to settle the case for $10 million dollars. This case broadcasts the racialization of police procedures towards Black protesters, revealing an infiltration of stereotypes into the criminal justice institution.
In addition to Black Americans being seen as inherently violent, there are also stereotypes that assume Black Americans are criminals, leading to large racial disparities in the legal system. This is established and reinforced through sentencing laws, policing policies and prosecutorial misconduct. For example, in Brown v. City of Oneonta (1999) a police in search of a suspect conducted mass investigative sweeps of Black American male college students on campus on the basis of race, as explained by Justia Law. Numerous Black students had their first encounter with the criminal justice system without legitimate cause or wrongdoing, but rather based on the assumption of black criminality. Treating all Black Americans as possible suspects without further evidence other than race is a concrete example of officers acting on the assumption of Black criminality.
Racial profiling occurs at the federal level as well. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 directly targeted the Black population under the guise of eliminating cocaine usage. This law developed a 100:1 ratio of how much of each type of cocaine (crack vs. powder) would trigger a mandatory minimum prison sentence.Because of the law, powder cocaine users had a 100 fold leeway than crack cocaine users. As explained by the American Civil Liberties Union, crack cocaine was typically used by Black Americans while powder cocaine was more common among white upper-class citizens. This inequity demonstrates the process of racializing crimes and caused a disparity against Black American users of the same substance, effectively institutionalizing racialized criminality biases.
Investigating whether law enforcement activity differs between white-led and Black-led protests is also crucial. This can be traced back to 1969, where police presence and intervention were about 35% higher at Black protests than at white protests, as published by the American Sociological Association. This pattern continues into the present, visibly during the Black Lives Matter movement which targeted systemic and police violence against Black Americans. Despite utilizing peaceful tactics, law enforcement frequently attacked participants indiscriminately by pushing, tasing and causing bleeding in students, elderly, and other peaceful protesters, reported in the University of North Carolina Law Journal. Because these extreme responses majorly occur in Black-led protests, it reveals an abuse of discretion on the grounds of racial bias.
Why is this an abuse of discretion? The differences in how Black and white protests are policed reveal that law enforcement responses are shaped less by protest behavior and more by bias. When combined with stereotypes of Black criminality and assumptions that Black protesters are inherently violent, these biases create a perfect storm that converts constitutionally protected protest into a gateway to incarceration; compounding stereotypes against Black Americans lead to mass arrests and increased contact with the courts, as published in the South Carolina Law Review. This transformation is furthered by prosecutorial bias — when protest related arrests involving Black Americans are more likely to be escalated into full prosecutions over other cases with similar charges. Altogether, while not outright, free speech and the right to protest becomes only guaranteed based on one’s race through the biases that corrupt discretion.
Stereotypes of Black violence in protest combined with assumptions of Black criminality converts protected expression into crimes. Historical data reveals racist policing has occurred since the Civil Rights era, continuing to mass arrests during the BLM Movement. These disparities have become exacerbated through prosecutorial bias, where political expression becomes truly fixed as a path to the legal system, leading to a never ending cycle of national systemic racism.
