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Kevin Thomas
University of Texas, Austin
Kevin J.A. Thomas is a Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and Sociology, as well as the Director of the Institute for Urban Policy Research and Analysis at the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on international migration, global health, racial and ethnic inequality, children and families, as well as development and social change in Africa. Dr. Thomas has received several awards including the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship, the Ray Lombra Award for Distinction in the Social Sciences of the Pennsylvania State University, and the Outstanding Book Award of the American Sociological Association’s Peace, War, and Social Conflict section. Dr Thomas is the author of four books including - Diverse Pathways: Race and the Socioeconomic Incorporation of Black, White, and Arab-origin Africans in the US (Michigan State University Press).
Talk Information:
Black Immigrants, Police Violence, and the Black Lives Matter Movement
September 20, 2024 | 9:00 AM
The growing number of unarmed Blacks killed by the police has increased research on racial inequalities in exposure to police violence and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. This study uses data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey to examine the specific experiences of Black immigrants. It shows that Black immigrants, like Black natives, have higher risks of being treated unfairly or with excessive force by the police compared to White natives and other immigrants. The study also finds stronger support for the BLM movement among Black immigrants than among White natives that is not explained by the former’s comparatively more adverse experiences with the police. For example, African immigrants were less likely to have adverse encounters with the police compared to White natives, but consistently expressed more support the BLM movement compared to the latter. In general, the study’s findings have important implications for research, and underscore the importance of Black racial solidarity on issues associated with the killing of
unarmed Blacks.