Good Question: What's The Harm In Using Racial Descriptions?
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The University of Minnesota announced Wednesday it will reduce the number of incidents it uses race to describe criminals.
The UMPD will now decide on a case by case basis if it will use identifiers like black, Hispanic, white or Asian in its crime alerts.
According to UMN Vice President for University Services Pamela Wheelock, the university will only use a suspect description where there is sufficient detail, like height, weight, clothing, or tattoos, that would help identify a specific individual or group.
"We want to have useful information that helps you reason, as you're walking down the street, 'Am I approaching someone who fits that description or not? Is it a risk or not?'" Wheelock said. "Just saying 'it's a white male' or 'a black male' is probably not enough given the millions of people who live in this urban area."
So, what's the harm in using racial identifiers? Good Question.
Katrice Albert, the university's vice president of diversity, said Wednesday's announcement is part of an 18-month larger discussion about "improving campus climate." She said when crime alerts don't have sufficient information, people of color, especially black men, feel unsafe.
"[If] it's a very narrow description, anyone could see themselves reflected," Albert said. "There is a level of feeling as if you're a threat whenever you walk into a classroom."
Imani Townsend of Minneapolis put it more succinctly, "People are just going to look at every black male they see and say, 'That's him.'"
Albert said the U, like many other colleges and universities, is trying to find that balance between protecting the community and making sure the campus is as inclusive as possible.
But some say this is political correctness gone too far.
On Facebook, Curtis Nelson wrote, "This is crazy, people need to know what to look out for."
Experts who have examined this topic say there's another good reason to avoid race descriptors. Research shows people are not very good identifying people across racial groups.
"Add to that what we know about adrenaline and emotion and stress, and when you see someone in the aftermath of an incident you weren't expecting, that tends to make these accounts more wildly inaccurate," said Scott Libin, a Hubbard Senior fellow in the University of Minnesota School of Journalism.
Libin said a very thorough description that included height, clothing, earrings or scars might make race a more legitimate way to describe someone.
"The harm in getting the clothing wrong is not as great as the harm in contributing to reinforce terms like 'black male suspect walked in brandishing a handgun,'" he said. "It doesn't tell you anything."
