Black Experience with Law Enforcement in North America

Black people in Canada and the USA are differentiated by their experiences and history. Despite their different locales, Black “North Americans” (used advisedly to refer to just Canada and the USA together) share a common set of core values – guidelines and principles – in their justice systems. At the same time, Black people in both countries are challenged by racial inequities expressed in ongoing disparities in various institutional structures. This contradiction is worth looking at. Some of the guiding principles serve as mantras, intentions that people strive to live by. These mantras become part of the mainstream discourse in order to understand the disconnect with them and racial injustice. Given that systemic racism and discrimination are a constant for Black people in the North American “village,” there is a need for deeper understanding of the social construction of race and the benefits associated with it. The positioning of Caucasians (Whites) at the top of the socioeconomic hierarchy has been part of the historical standard for defining race and for preserving Whites’ dominance and power. Employing the social conflict theory together with dramaturgical analysis, this chapter takes a critical look at the claims of whose lives matter, that is, Black lives or all lives and how racially unequal opportunities permeate the institutional structure of policing. The work promises to extend the sociology of knowledge, social conflict perspective, and impression management, to inform an analysis of race relations.