Skin tone predicts police stops for Latinos as well as Blacks

Evidence

The effect of skin tone on one’s treatment within the CJS is not just restricted to African Americans but extends to Latinos as well. For example, using a nationally representative sample, and after controlling for an array of legally relevant factors—for example, delinquency record—White (2015) found that the darker the skin tone of Blacks and Latinos, the more likely one was to be stopped and arrested by the police (see also Alcalá & Montoya, 2016). The empirical evidence presented by these data not only attest to the presence of a racial hierarchy, but also one’s position within a pigmentocracy (see also Eberhardt, Davies, Purdie-Vaughns, & Johnson, 2006; Kahn et al., 2017; Gyimah-Brempong & Price, 2006). Also, often underappreciated and under theorized in the criminal justice literature, is the fact that discriminatory treatment of Blacks and Latinos within the United States is a special case of a much more general and crossculturally consistent phenomenon: namely, the oppression that the CJS metes out to those of subordinate social status compared to the relatively benign and disproportionately helpful treatment given to those of dominant social status. According to social dominance theory (SDT) (Sidanius & Pratto, 2001; 2012), this disparate treatment of dominants (e.g., Whites) and subordinates (e.g., Blacks and Latinos) within the CJS is a phenomenon which is inherent within all stratified and hierarchically organized societies. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 53 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Surveillance of Beauty The surveillance of beauty is another way that Muslim American women who wear the hijab are surveilled for their cultural practices. Whiteness has become a marker of beauty and privilege both in the United States as well as in countries that make up the southern hemisphere, such as India (Hunter 2011). This is evidenced by the increased interest and use of skin lightening creams both in the United States and internationally. Hunter (2011) refers to “racial capital” as a material benefit people possess based on their skin tone. In a racialized society, the lighter one’s skin tone, the more access one has to economic resources such as jobs or social networks (Glenn 2009; Hunter 2011). Muslim women who wear the hijab were told wearing it made them ugly; they are also racialized for their beauty. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 403 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Darker-skinned Blacks and Latinos face higher risks of police stops and arrests. — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 53; Within-race skin tone predicts sentence length independent of legal factors — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 52; Racial disparity in police stops widens when officers can visually ascertain the driver’s race — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law: A Definitive Look at…, 363 (+11 more)

Broader Connections

• Darker-skinned Blacks and Latinos face higher risks of police stops and arrests. #corroborates (1.00) — Joseph Avery, Jim Sidanius, Joel Cooper, Gregory Davis, Amanda N., Bias in the Law, 53
• Skin tone confers material economic benefits through racial capital #complicates (0.72) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 403