Notions divided on killing of Brown

More than 80 percent of blacks in Little Rock say police shootings -- especially the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. -- raise concerns about racial discrimination, according to a recent survey.

Researchers surveyed some 1,826 Arkansas residents across five geographical/racial groups: Little Rock whites, outside-of-Little Rock whites, Little Rock blacks, outside-of-Little Rock blacks and Hispanics. The 12th annual survey -- conducted by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Institute on Race and Ethnicity and Institute of Government -- gauged responses from the groups on basic values, contemporary trends and community issues.

The university held a forum Monday to review and discuss the survey's results. The forum kicked off UALR's first Diversity Week.

Among the survey results, researchers found a stark racial divide on opinions about the shooting death of the 18-year-old Brown. As with the blacks in Little Rock, 80 percent of surveyed blacks outside the city thought the Ferguson killing brought on racial concerns, while only 35 percent of Little Rock whites and 28 percent of whites outside of Little Rock believed so.

Some 55 percent of Little Rock whites and 62 percent of whites outside of Little Rock said the shooting received more attention than it deserved, according to the survey.

Panelist Keesa Smith, a state Department of Human Services deputy director, said she would be interested in gauging opinions regarding other high-profile deaths, including those of Eric Garner, who was choked to death by a New York policeman, and Walter Scott, who was seen in a video being shot in the back eight times as he ran away from a South Carolina police officer. In each of the cases, a white police officer used deadly force against a black man.

"You get more and more stories that are coming out now that media attention is on this subject matter," she said. "I think that it is critically important, but it is a very, very hard discussion to have."

There is a significant amount of anger when blacks discuss the issue, said Smith, who is black.

"It's hard for me to discuss it without getting a little bit emotional thinking about those lives," she said. "So there's some anger that exists on our part and wanting explanations from individuals that didn't do the shooting, didn't participate and didn't necessarily hold those same types of beliefs."

Smith stressed the importance of increasing dialogue on the matter, especially with those whose views are similar to the survey respondents who said the Ferguson shooting got too much attention.

Panelist Paul Kelly, a senior policy analyst for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, surmised that the public tires of hearing about racial disparities because no one knows what to do about it.

"The answers escape people, even people who want to do something about it. I don't think there's easy answers," he said. "Please tell me what we do as a society. What kind of policies can we create at schools, at prison, in the courtroom and in our criminal justice system that would end that?"

Survey results also showed that nearly half of whites outside of Little Rock and all surveyed blacks believed that same-sex marriage is a bad thing for society. Some 34 percent of whites in Little Rock agreed, while a quarter of whites in Little Rock said gay marriage was a good thing.

Smith said perceptions about gay marriage are based on exposure.

"It's based on whether or not you actually have met individuals and are exposed to individuals that have a different belief than you do," she said. "A lot of times you see that the perceptions that individuals have are based on what they have developed, what they have been told by other people around them, but not necessarily on what type of real experiences that they've had themselves."

After the two-hour forum, Little Rock resident Joyce Williams said it isn't enough to just do a survey. Williams, 79, said she had hoped the forum would address steps that can be taken to improve social justice.

"We have to redesign how we address social justice," she said. "We need to be moving in a direction to bring fairness, recognition, worth and dignity for all of mankind."

Metro on 04/14/2015

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