The Influence of the Trayvon Martin Shooting on Racial Socialization Practices of African American Parents

Many perceived the death of Trayvon Martin as racially motivated. We hypothesized that hearing about the death of Trayvon Martin also had an effect on African American parents. This qualitative investigation explored African American parents’ perceptions of the death of Trayvon Martin and how it aff...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of black psychology 2015-02, Vol.41 (1), p.75-89
Main Authors: Thomas, Anita Jones, Blackmon, Sha’Kema M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
African Americans
African art
Child Mortality
Children
Death
Framing
Gender
Males
Martin, Trayvon
Parents
Parents & parenting
Perception
Perceptions
Racial stereotypes
Racism
Social psychology
Socialization
U.S.A
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Summary:Many perceived the death of Trayvon Martin as racially motivated. We hypothesized that hearing about the death of Trayvon Martin also had an effect on African American parents. This qualitative investigation explored African American parents’ perceptions of the death of Trayvon Martin and how it affected the provision of racial socialization. The analysis indicated that a number of parents felt that Trayvon Martin’s death was a form of racial profiling and that young Black men needed to be protected. Participants were also worried about their children after the shooting and took approaches to explaining the shooting that involved discussing the presence of racism, framing it as an individual violent incident, as well as engaging in emotional processing with their children. Finally, parents also provided suggestions on what their children should do if they were placed in a similar situation. These included obtaining help, getting away from the perpetrator, being respectful to the perpetrator, and engaging in self-defense.
ISSN:0095-7984
1552-4558
DOI:10.1177/0095798414563610