The Lynching Era and Contemporary Lethal Police Shootings in the South.

This article examines the association between historical lynching violence in the American South (1877–1950) and contemporary police-involved lethal shootings of Black and White individuals. Using data from the Mapping Police Violence project alongside updated lynching records, the study finds a modest but statistically significant relationship between counties with higher numbers of lynchings and increased rates of police shootings of Black victims, independent of current crime rates, socioeconomic conditions, and racial segregation. Some evidence also suggests lynching history correlates with police shootings of White victims, though this depends on model specifications. The authors propose three pathways linking lynching's legacy to modern policing practices: enduring racialized criminal threat narratives, cultural brutalization supporting severe punishment, and legal estrangement fostering distrust between Black communities and law enforcement.