Description
Dr. Harmon's bio:
Dana K. Harmon, PhD, MSW, LICSW is faculty in the School of Social Work. Dr. Harmon’s research interests include Black males and families, police brutality against Black boys and men, spirituality and religiosity among Black Americans, parental loss, and social work education. She has published peer-reviewed articles and presented at local and national conferences. Dr. Harmon has almost 23 years of direct social work practice with couples, families, adults and adolescents, has co-led various court-ordered programs, and has done mitigation work for capital murder cases. She earned her bachelor’s and PhD degree from the University of Alabama and is a proud 1997 MSW graduate from Loyola University Chicago. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and a Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Graduate Scholar.
Abstract:
With this newly found embrace of anti-Black racism, Black males in this country have been and still are repeatedly brutalized, killed, and negatively stereotyped. Thus, police shootings and killings of unarmed Black males is not a new phenomenon. On August 28, 1955, White men in Money, MS murdered 14-year-old Emmett Till for allegedly whistling at a White woman. February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. November 23, 2012, 17-year-old Jordan Davis was fatally shot by a White man for playing loud music in his car. November 23, 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was fatally shot by a White Cleveland police officer within two seconds of the officer approaching him. After August 9, 2014 when 18-year-old Michael Brown was gunned down in the middle of the street in Ferguson, MO by a White police officer the words “Black Lives Matter” resonated on social media sites and national and international news. Then in 2020, there was George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks.
Black males’ interactions with police, underscores the reality that Black males are particularly accused. Even though they have the same constitutional and civil rights as all citizens, their rights often are violated and denied. he negative stereotype of Black males is problematic especially because it creates an environment and negative perception of them that causes some police to claim that they feared for their life before shooting them (Park & Kim, 2015). Why does Black male life matter when they are killed, when it has always mattered?
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The Dehumanization of Black Males by Police
Dr. Harmon's bio:
Dana K. Harmon, PhD, MSW, LICSW is faculty in the School of Social Work. Dr. Harmon’s research interests include Black males and families, police brutality against Black boys and men, spirituality and religiosity among Black Americans, parental loss, and social work education. She has published peer-reviewed articles and presented at local and national conferences. Dr. Harmon has almost 23 years of direct social work practice with couples, families, adults and adolescents, has co-led various court-ordered programs, and has done mitigation work for capital murder cases. She earned her bachelor’s and PhD degree from the University of Alabama and is a proud 1997 MSW graduate from Loyola University Chicago. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and a Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Graduate Scholar.
Abstract:
With this newly found embrace of anti-Black racism, Black males in this country have been and still are repeatedly brutalized, killed, and negatively stereotyped. Thus, police shootings and killings of unarmed Black males is not a new phenomenon. On August 28, 1955, White men in Money, MS murdered 14-year-old Emmett Till for allegedly whistling at a White woman. February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. November 23, 2012, 17-year-old Jordan Davis was fatally shot by a White man for playing loud music in his car. November 23, 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was fatally shot by a White Cleveland police officer within two seconds of the officer approaching him. After August 9, 2014 when 18-year-old Michael Brown was gunned down in the middle of the street in Ferguson, MO by a White police officer the words “Black Lives Matter” resonated on social media sites and national and international news. Then in 2020, there was George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Rayshard Brooks.
Black males’ interactions with police, underscores the reality that Black males are particularly accused. Even though they have the same constitutional and civil rights as all citizens, their rights often are violated and denied. he negative stereotype of Black males is problematic especially because it creates an environment and negative perception of them that causes some police to claim that they feared for their life before shooting them (Park & Kim, 2015). Why does Black male life matter when they are killed, when it has always mattered?
