Skin color and Latines’ perceptions of criminal injustice toward Black people: a path analysis

ABSTRACT Since melanin levels cannot cause anything, this study hypothesized that Latines’ skin color would initially predict perceptions of anti-Black police and CJ system bias. Once Latines’ personal experiences with discrimination were considered, however, discrimination was hypothesized to fully mediate the relationship between skin color and perceptions of anti-Black police and CJ system bias. Data consisted of 1,338 Latines from the American Trends Panel. Logistic regression results showed skin color was unrelated to perceptions of anti-Black police or CJ system bias. Pathway analyses including Latines’ personal experiences with discrimination demonstrated skin color was directly negatively associated with perceptions of anti-Black police bias, although not directly related to perceptions of anti-Black CJ system bias. Darker-skinned Latines expressed greater belief they had been unfairly stopped by police due to race. In turn, Latines who felt they had been unfairly stopped by police due to race were more likely to report having been treated as suspicious by someone due to race, which increased perceptions of anti-Black police and CJ system bias. Moreover, darker-skinned Latines were more likely to feel they had been treated as suspicious by someone due to race in the anti-Black police bias model, but not the anti-Black CJ system bias model.