ABSTRACT

It is important to underscore why Cincinnati is an appropriate setting for testing the relationship between race and perceptions of injustice by the police. The city’s proximity to the former slave state of Kentucky resulted in a steady influx of escaped slaves entering the city prior to the Civil War. With the fall of the Confederacy, many freed slaves went to the city in search of work and to avoid further persecution. This led to conflict

between immigrant workers and freed slaves in 1884 that erupted into the most deadly race riot in the history of the US, leaving 84 dead and scores more injured. Like many other US cities, Cincinnati witnessed racial conflict during civil rights protests in the late 1960s when the city recorded two race riots.