Black Children More Likely to Be Perceived as Adults
A UCLA psychological study confirms what the nation witnessed with the November death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland by police officer Timothy Loehmann. Tamir, the unarmed Black boy who was playing with a toy gun, was fatally shot by the officer. When Loehmann and his partner called for help, they reported that the suspect was 20 years old. The UCLA study confirmed that this perception is a part of the “prejudice and unconscious dehumanization of black people” that comes from racial biases. The study also revealed that white female college students saw Black and white children as equally innocent until the age of 9. At that point, Black boys were perceived as much older by roughly 4 1/2 years and assumed to be far less innocent than their white peers.
Black Children Often Tried as Adults
The perception of Black children as older and less innocent often results in much harsher sentences for Black youths because they are both perceived and tried as adults. A Stanford University study found that when white respondents believed the child on trial was Black they were far more likely to support “sentencing all juveniles to life without parole when they have committed serious violent crimes.” This study is also supported by the sheer demographics of juveniles being targeted by the justice system. Reports revealed that more than 90 percent of juveniles who have been sentenced to life without parole were male and roughly 60 percent were Black.
