Grave Acts: The Relationship between Contextual Exposure to Police Killings and Black Political Participation

There has been growing scholarly attention to the relationship between contextual exposure to police killings and political engagement. Recent studies offer mixed findings. Some studies show local exposure to police killings increase both voting and protest activity, while other work suggests such exposure represses political activity. In this study, we contend that the relationship of police killings to Black political activity varies depending on the cumulative effect of police killings within citizens’ communities. Most existing studies rely upon a single event of police violence or a limited time range to evaluate the influence of contextual exposure. Our focus on the cumulative effects of police killings is important given many African Americans live in communities where such violence has been prevalent for years. Using the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey in combination with data from the Census Bureau, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and “Mapping Police Violence” project, we discover contextual exposure to police killings serves as a mobilizing force for Black citizens.