How a democracy killed tamir rice: White racial frame, racial ideology, and racial structural ignorance in the united states

Abstract

The systemic killing of unarmed black women and men by law enforcement has made black death a normative part of the United States social structure.Historically, during the Civil Rights Movement video footage of unjustified violence towards black bodies was used as a tool to awaken the moral conscience of America. This research examines how video footage of 12-year old Tamir Rice being killed by police officers has influenced the narrative on race and racism. Technological innovation does not exist neutrally, but rather operates within the current racial structure. An exploratory research design that incorporated 20 in-depth interviews was used to examine contemporary racialized discourse around video footage of police brutality. The results indicate that white Americans did not use colorblind rhetoric to explain the murder of Tamir Rice, given all the participants contend that race played a factor in the shooting, but rather explained racism as a product of individual actors and not a social structure. The term epistemology of racial structural ignorance is developed to explain white Americans’ ability to admit that Tamir Rice’s race played a factor in his death, but inability to link racism with the way in which society is organized.