May 29th, 2014 at 8:38PM
Our cultural attitudes are unconsciously shaped by our collective history as much as they are consciously shaped by our current context. When you consider the death penalty as a tool of racial control—a way for whites to “defend” themselves from blacks—then Pew’s poll results make sense. What we’re looking at is the inevitable result of that history expressed through public opinion, and influenced by racialized ideas on crime and criminality. If you’re still skeptical, consider this: In 2007, two researchers tried to gauge racial differences on capital punishment and assess how blacks and whites responded to arguments against the practice. Their core findings with black Americans weren’t a surprise—in general, blacks were receptive to any argument against the death penalty. Their findings with whites, on the other hand, were disturbing. Not only where whites immune to persuasion on the death penalty, but when researchers told them of the racial disparity—that blacks faced unfair treatment—many increased their support. It sounds glib, but if you needed a one-word answer to why whites are so supportive of the death penalty, “racism” isn’t a bad choice. — Pew Research death penalty poll: Why whites support capital punishment more than blacks. (via candidlycara)

(via carazelaya)
  1. sarcasticglasses-blog reblogged this from give-my-regards-to-broadway
  2. give-my-regards-to-broadway reblogged this from lumen-in-caelo
  3. lumen-in-caelo reblogged this from fuckmywholeactuallife
  4. fuckmywholeactuallife reblogged this from mmmaraa
  5. mmmaraa reblogged this from dendroica
  6. kukusabzi-blog reblogged this from dendroica
  7. ineedarendezvous reblogged this from dangercupcakemurdericing
  8. cantsleep-monsters reblogged this from bastardplanet
  9. mel-wut reblogged this from bloodofancients
  10. bloodofancients reblogged this from usernameoops
  11. translesbiantheo reblogged this from dangercupcakemurdericing
  12. usernameoops reblogged this from theomenroom
  13. fancysweater reblogged this from bastardplanet
  14. theomenroom reblogged this from dangercupcakemurdericing
  15. cosmixoracle reblogged this from dangercupcakemurdericing
  16. cynthias-gaychomp reblogged this from dangercupcakemurdericing
  17. dangercupcakemurdericing reblogged this from bastardplanet
  18. bastardplanet reblogged this from amazinghowyoulove
  19. hollyandvice reblogged this from wildunknownmen
  20. amazinghowyoulove reblogged this from dangercupcakemurdericing
  21. heathenkweer reblogged this from formerlyprotectresses-blog
  22. formerlyprotectresses-blog reblogged this from dangercupcakemurdericing
  23. hamster-run-faster reblogged this from theanneswer
  24. theanneswer reblogged this from dangercupcakemurdericing
  25. dendroica posted this
1,388 notes Source: Slate #yeah :/
Short URL for this post: https://tmblr.co/ZFlf2t1HGZMPa