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Being black shouldn't mean a longer prison sentence: Column
The Supreme Court can strike a blow against the false belief that black people are inherently more dangerous than others.
One of the most destructive stereotypes in the history of our country is once again in the headlines. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Buck v. Davis, a death penalty case that turned on the pernicious myth that black people are inherently more dangerous because they are black.
Almost 20 years ago, Texan Duane Buck was sentenced to die after his own attorney presented to the Court an "expert" who testified that he was more likely to be a future danger because he is black. Buck’s conviction for the murder of two people is not the legal question before the Supreme Court. At issue is the effectiveness of his counsel. In order to secure a death sentence, the prosecution had to prove the "future dangerousness" of Buck. After his deficient court-appointed counsel presented the defense “expert” who testified that Buck was more likely to commit acts of violence in the future because he is black, the prosecutor returned to the topic in cross-examination. In deliberation, the jury asked to see the expert's report, and then unanimously voted for death.
That his own attorney — who was constitutionally mandated to provide the best defense for Buck — provided “expert” testimony, reinforcing damaging prejudices that too many Americans harbor about African Americans, underscores the wide-spread acceptance of these myths.
Leaders in our country attempted to justify slavery through the argument that black people possess inherent, immutable characteristics that make us dangerous, violent, less intelligent, and less self-controlled. This inaccurate stereotype had devastating effects: it was used to validate the Black Codes, Jim Crow and segregation, and to posit white supremacy as an expression of the natural, organic order of the world.
The false belief that black people are inherently more dangerous than other races has obvious and injurious implications in criminal justice proceedings. Large segments of society, our economy and countless individuals are harmed when this myth of black dangerousness is validated. The idea of an innate black tendency to violence is a malignant, centuries-old belief that continues to impact America, undermining freedom, individuality and opportunity.
Academics today call these assumptions “implicit racial bias,” and they remain disturbingly widespread, subconsciously warping perspectives about black Americans. Studies indicate that 70% of Americans harbor implicit racial bias against black people.
This narrative of black dangerousness starts early, with studies showing that black children as young as 10 years old are seen through its lens. Recent data from the U.S. Department of Education highlights this travesty. Black toddlers account for only about 19% of all preschoolers in America, but are nearly half of those who are suspended.
Unfortunately, research also shows that exposure to any racial stereotype can lead the American mind back to the myth of black dangerousness. White television viewers who watch a stereotypical comic portrayal of African Americans are later more likely to judge a black defendant as guilty of an assault. Moreover, implicit racial bias is continually reinforced by media. A 2014 study of every major New York news affiliate found that although 51% of people arrested by the New York Police Department for violent crime are black; in evening news coverage, blacks are represented as suspects in 75% of cases shown. A 2008 study showed people feel more threatened by black people than by white people.
This implicit bias affects African Americans no matter who they are or what they have achieved. In the wake of the Travyon Martin murder, the musician Questlove wrote a powerful essay, revealing that even in his own building, he faces neighbors showing fear towards him. He wrote that in order to handle the “hurt” this implicit bias causes, he is “75% robot, 25% human being.”
POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media
That all blacks continually encounter unspoken negative assumptions about their character is a sad state of affairs. Countless opportunities for individuals, cities and society are lost to this myth of black dangerousness.
When Duane Buck went on trial in Houston in 1997, America was in a period of — hyberbolic public expression about the danger black men pose to society — to which Buck fell victim.
Our Constitution and Bill of Rights enshrine the rights of individuals to be judged based on our own actions, not according to the prejudices others may have against us. Our growth as a country towards a more perfect union is an active, living challenge from the framers to each generation. The U.S. Supreme Court should repudiate the idea of black dangerousness by ensuring Buck is sentenced in a proceeding where race is not a basis for the sentence.
Marc H. Morial is the CEO of the National Urban League.
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