Black Males and their Experiences with Policing Under the “Iconic Ghetto” in Ferguson, Missouri

This chapter examines narratives of Black males gathered from Ferguson, Missouri, during the aftermath of Michael Brown’s untimely death. While mainstream policing literature on social ecology is often led by perspectives on and investigations into police culture and behavior, little research on social ecology of policing is grounded from the perceptions and experiences of the community—this chapter helps to fill this gap by foregrounding the voices of Black males in Ferguson, Missouri. We also use Elijah Anderson’s concept “The Iconic Ghetto” and Harold Cruse’s “Internal Colonialism” to contextualize the experiences of participants. Two emerging themes from our qualitative analysis are beliefs of racism, and negative experiences with policing.