Abstract

The recording of the 1991 beating of Rodney King marked a pivotal turning point in public visibility to state-sanctioned violence. Today, Generation Z, raised amid digital recording, instantaneous information flow and hashtag-based movements such as #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName, encounters police violence as a constant part of their media environment. Despite increased social activism following state-sanctioned violence, patterns of whose stories are amplified persist, often privileging male victims and obscuring the intersectional realities of Black women. This raises questions as to how Gen Z interprets, assigns, and performs empathy in the aftermath of police brutality and whether digital activism translates into interpersonal solidarity. Through analysis of current scholarship on digital engagement, deservingness, intersectionality and social identity theory my project asks: 1) Does the racial or gender identity of the victim in a case of police brutality impact threat perceptions, excessive force judgements, punishment severity assessment and victimhood assignment? 2) Does the racial or gender identity of the respondent moderate victim threat perceptions, excessive force judgements, punishment severity and victimhood assignment? 3) What relationship exists between threat perceptions, excessive force judgements, victimhood assignment, and punishment severity assessments? 4) What relationship exists between media usage, perceptions of victimhood and support for victim testimonials? To investigate this, I employed a two-part mixed-method design consisting of a vignette-based survey and semi-structured interview with a of self-identified Gen Z victim. This approach showcases, if any, the disjuncture in Gen Z's participatory politics and the forms of care, advocacy, and recognition online, in hopes of advancing understanding of how identity, media, and generational context shape public response to police violence.

Advisor

Kilimo, Miriam

Department

Political Science

Disciplines

Africana Studies | American Studies | Arts and Humanities | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies

Publication Date

2026

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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