Backing the blue as a person of color: examining divergent minority attitudes toward local police

ABSTRACT

Even before heightened racial tensions boiled over into a national movement for greater oversight of police officers in 2020, there existed a wide racial gap in attitudes toward local police. While this racial gap in views toward local law enforcement has often been characterized as one between non-Hispanic whites and minorities, the literature has not fully examined the degree to which Latino and Black attitudes toward police officers differ. Using a nationally representative survey, this paper finds significant differences in minority attitudes toward local law enforcement. Results suggest that racial resentment and colorblind racism are positively associated with attitudes toward local police for Latino and Black Americans, while acculturation is negatively associated with attitudes toward police. We posit a glass half full framework to explain why Latino and Black immigrants have more favorable attitudes toward the police than their native-born counterparts.