Recognizing racism in George Floyd's death

Toosi, N. R., Layous, K., & Reevy, G. M.

The first formal statements made by members of the US Congress relating to the murder of George Floyd and subsequent protests were coded on whether racism was identified as a cause. We also coded the number of victims of police or racial violence mentioned, and word usage relating to historical and systemic discrimination. We tested the predictive effect of congressperson's race, gender, US geographic region, political party, percentage of the congressperson's jurisdiction that was African American, and state support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Democratic politicians were more likely than Republicans to identify racism as a causal factor, to name more victims of police or racial violence, and to mention systemic discrimination in their statements. Region and constituent demographics also predicted mentions of systemic discrimination, but the model did not predict mentions of historical discrimination. Findings are interpreted in light of the Marley Hypothesis, motivation to identify racism, and consequences of political discourse. Published in 2021 in Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy.