The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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negative light, represented by blatant attitudes or acts. The Rodney King incident and the
beating of a truck driver in Los Angeles in 1991, for example, epitomize this type of
mentality or imagery. While blatant racism may bring attention to the issue of race
relations and the inequities that exist in education and employment opportunities, and in
responses to crime and the processing within the criminal and juvenile justice systems, it
prevents individuals and agencies of social control in the long run from recognizing the
need to address the more hidden and quiet forms of racism.
Fortunately, acts of blatant racism are not the norm in our society. Unfortunately,
subtle or indirect racism is much more extensive and not as apparent. Therefore, when the
Rodney King incidents are forgotten or the images that they portray lose their frightening
impact, persons and society in general, tend to think that everything is airtight.
Or,
that blatant deliberate racism exists elsewhere, not in our own backyard.
In other
words, blatant racism is much more visual in nature and easier to define, articulate, and
feel relative to subtle racism. As a consequence, most people are not as willing to
recognize or admit to subtle racism. Or, that they themselves could be unintentionally
responding to individuals differently because of their skin color, ethnicity or culture.
Keeping this in mind, Phase Two of the research was conducted to assess for
factors that were not captured in the first part of the research: legal and extralegal factors
and subtle forms of racism or bias. In particular, the study was designed to examine