The portrayal of police violence against Black Americans in We Are Not Like Them (2021) by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

 

The portrayal of police violence against Black Americans in We Are Not Like Them (2021) by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza

Sanal M S,

Central University of Punjab,

Department of English,

Punjab, India.

Abstract: This research paper examines the portrayal of police violence against Black Americans in We Are Not Like Them (2021) by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza. This paper explores how police violence is not just an isolated act but part of a larger system that dehumanizes, criminalizes, and traumatizes Black individuals. Through the story of Justin Dwyer’s killing and the emotional responses of characters like Riley and Jen, the novel shows the psychological impact of fear, anxiety, and trauma on Black communities. It highlights the ways Black individuals develop coping mechanisms, such as compartmentalization and narrative control, to survive systemic racism. This paper argues that the novel offers a powerful critique of American society by revealing the deep emotional, social, and institutional consequences of racial violence. By connecting personal stories to broader historical and systemic racial injustices, We Are Not Like Them forces reminds about the continuing legacy of racism and the urgent need for justice and true societal change.

Keywords: Police violence, African American Aesthetics, Dehumanization, Criminalization, Coping mechanisms.

Introduction

“Black victims were more than twice as likely as white victims to have been unarmed at the time of their death” (Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights).​Police violence against Black Americans continues to be a painful, serious, and relevant issue in the United States. These are not some isolated incidents, but they are connected to the long history of racism and discrimination that affects the Black community in their daily life. Christine Pride and Jo Piazza’s novel We Are Not Like Them explores this issue by telling the story of two close friends, Riley, a Black news reporter, and Jen, a white woman who is married to a police officer involved in the shooting of a young Black teenager named Justin. Here, we can see how friendship is used as a lens to show how race and police violence get personal and emotional. Through the novel, it not only highlights the issues of police violence or shooting, but also examines how it affects the families, communities, and forces difficult conversations about justice, privilege, and responsibility (Pride and Piazza 35–36).

In the early part of the novel itself, there is an incident of shooting a 14-year-old Black boy named Justin who is unarmed. This scene has a lasting impact on the novel. His fear and confusion at the time of death show how the killing of Black people is normalized in America. This incident not only portrays the tragedy but is also connected to the system of criminalization of Black people and institutional discrimination in America. Black people are considered a threat to other people. The novel shows how this trauma extends beyond the victim, touching the families, the community, and even the people connected to the victim (Pride and Piazza 49–50). Riley and Jen’s friendship begins to be distracted by this incident. As a journalist, Riley is expected to be objective, but as a Black woman, she cannot separate herself from the emotions and history behind the incident. Meanwhile, Jen is forced to stand with her husband, who was involved in the tragedy. After this, their conversations are sometimes awkward, uncomfortable, and emotional, just like honest conversations about race often are. Riley tells Jen, “You don’t get to opt out of this because it makes you uncomfortable” (Pride and Piazza 112). This shows how racial discrimination and violence affect people.

“The policing of Black bodies has always been about maintaining a racial hierarchy, not about ensuring public safety” (The History of Policing). This means Police violence against Black people is deeply connected to the history of Black slavery.  Journalist Wagatwe Wanjuki writes, “Police brutality aimed at Black people is as American as apple pie,” pointing out that this violence is not just a flaw in the system; it is the system (“Police Brutality Aimed at Black People”). This says white Americans are the best of American culture, and in that way, Black Americans are the opposite of this. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke out against police brutality in 1963, yet his words still apply today when we think about recent victims like George Floyd and Jacob Blake (“Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech”). We Are Not Like Them shows the emotional, psychological, and social consequences of police violence against Black people. The novel helps us see beyond the tragic event, showing how these issues affect real people in deeply personal ways. This paper will explore how this represents police violence through personal stories, emotional truth, and a more profound critique of American society.

The Systemic Dehumanization of Black Individuals

Police violence against Black Americans is not just a contemporary crisis, but it is deeply rooted in the American history of Black slavery and culture. Christine Pride and Jo Piazza portray this reality through the tragic story of Justin Dwyer, a 14-year-old unarmed Black boy killed by a white police officer. In the novel, it is visible that this incident is not isolated but a part of a repeating pattern of racial injustice. Riley, a Black journalist in the novel, painfully says, “He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was walking home. That’s it. That’s all. But that was enough” (Pride and Piazza 94). Black Americans are considered a threat regardless of their innocence. This shows how Black youth are treated as threats even when they are doing nothing wrong. Black writers have long “represented the Black body as a site of both vulnerability and resistance” (Gates 17). Here, it is clear that police violence is used as a tool for racial control. “The police departments of our country have been endowed with the authority to destroy your body” (Coates 9). It says that Black lives are always at risk, and white people devalue the lives of Black individuals.  The novel argues that Blackness itself is seen as a threat in a society where police violence has become normalized. Therefore, they dehumanize Blacks as a threat to their society.

Black victims like Justin are turned into media images, not real people. Riley notices this when she says, “They were already talking about it on the news. Not about him, but about his hoodie, the way he was walking, the time of day” (Pride and Piazza 101). Through these words, it is evident how Black people are dehumanized. They were shot and killed by police without even having any knowledge of the reason why they were suspected. Riley also notes the pattern: “They never get charged. They always say it was a mistake, that they were scared. And somehow, that’s always enough” (Pride and Piazza 137). This shows that there is no value for Black lives, which is why no officers who shot innocent Black people are punished. This cycle of non-prosecution reflects how the government institutions and the systems protect police officers rather than seeking justice for the Black victims. “The legal system tends to treat police killings as isolated events, which hides the deeper, systemic racism behind them” (Crenshaw 146). It shows how quickly the system protects Kevin, the police officer who shot an innocent kid. There is a lack of consequences for the police violence against Black people. Through these, it is clear how Black people are dehumanized.

The novel shows how legal and social systems are designed to protect white Americans at the cost of Black lives. After Justin’s killing, Officer Kevin is placed on administrative leave, and there is no real expectation of accountability. Riley expresses her frustration by saying, “They never get charged. They always say it was a mistake, that they were scared. And somehow, that’s always enough” (Pride and Piazza 137). This reveals how the justice system converts police violence into individual mistakes rather than larger racial issues or systemic racism. “The law often works to mask racism by treating racial violence as isolated acts rather than products of a discriminatory system” (Crenshaw 146). In We Are Not Like Them, the police and legal system are not simply failing to protect Black lives, and they are part of the dehumanization of Blacks and a system that justifies and erases violence against them.

Finally, the novel explores how personal relationships are shaped by systemic racism, further focusing on the everyday nature of dehumanization. Riley’s friendship with Jen, the white wife of the officer who killed Justin, begins to fall apart as Jen fails to understand the pain and fear that Riley lives with. In one conversation, Jen says, “I didn’t know you felt this way about being Black,” to which Riley replies, “That’s because you never had to ask” (Pride and Piazza 163). Charles Mills calls this the “epistemology of ignorance,” where dominant groups are socially conditioned not to understand or acknowledge the realities of racial injustice (Mills 18). The emotional distance between Jen and Riley is not just personal—it symbolizes how whiteness is allowed to remain unaware. In contrast, Black people must carry the full burden of understanding both their own experiences and those of others.

The Racialized Criminalization of Black Individuals in America

In We Are Not Like Them, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza depict the racialized criminalization of Black individuals in America through the tragic story of Justin Dwyer, a 14-year-old Black boy killed by a white police officer named Kevin. It is also evident that Justin is not considered a child but a threat. Black people are seen as dangerous in American society. Justin’s murder is not an isolated incident, but it is part of a broader pattern of racial profiling and systematic prejudice.  The Black narrator and journalist Riley says, “He wasn’t a thug. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was walking home. That’s it. That’s all. But that was enough” (Pride and Piazza 94). This statement shows how Black people, especially youth, are criminalized for simply existing. “The police departments of our country have been endowed with the authority to destroy your body” (Coates 9). In America, Black lives are under suspicion, and the police system and institutions exist to perpetuate this situation.

The process of criminalization begins even before any crime is committed. Riley’s experience as a journalist and a Black woman gives her a perspective on how narratives around Blackness are formed and controlled. Riley attempts to report Justin’s murder in her newsroom, which humanizes him, but her editor restricts her by saying, “We don’t want to editorialize. Just the facts” (Pride and Piazza 121). This incident reflects how Black people are criminalized. There is no space for humanity, but there is always a public assumption that there must have been a reason for his death.“Black identity is marked from the start as suspect, deviant, and threatening” (Gates 23). Even from childhood, Black kids are considered criminals, and there is an existing pattern of killing Black people if they are found in any crime situation.

White individuals are always in power; that's why Black people are criminalized. Jen, the white wife of the officer who killed Justin, becomes defensive when she faces the consequences of her husband’s actions. At one point, she thinks, “I didn’t do anything. Why is everyone looking at me like I’m the enemy?” (Pride and Piazza 110). Jen’s reaction reflects a common response in discussions of race, where white individuals dissociate themselves from structural racism while continuing to benefit from it. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva refers to this mindset as “color-blind racism,” where people deny the impact of race while maintaining the racial status quo (Bonilla Silva 28). Jen’s inability to see how her husband’s actions are connected to a larger system of racial injustice shows how whiteness is often protected from accountability, even when deeply harming Black individuals.

Racialized criminalization is not limited to a single incident in America. It is evident in the novel how Black individuals are seen as guilty until proven innocent, and sometimes, not even then. Riley watches the news coverage and notes, “They were already talking about it on the news. Not about him, but about his hoodie, the way he was walking, the time of day” (Pride and Piazza 101). Criminalization is used as a justification for the repeated racial discrimination and violence against Black people. As bell hooks argues, the repeated public display of Black death “reinforces the normalization of Black suffering and the desensitization to Black pain” (hooks 138). Through Justin’s issue, the novel criticizes Blackness as criminalized not only in law enforcement and encounters, but also in public views about Blacks.

The Psychological Impact of Police Violence on Black Individuals: Fear and Anxiety as Consequences

The trauma of this violence not only ends with psychological impact, but it also extends into the minds and lives of those who are affected, causing constant fear, anxiety, and emotional misery in Black minds. The novel presents this through the experiences of Riley, a Black journalist, who is emotionally affected by the killing of 14-year-old Justin Dwyer. Although Riley is unrelated to Justin, the event affects her as if he were her family member.  She says, “It could have been my cousin, my nephew, my brother. It could have been me” (Pride and Piazza 98). This shows the racial defenselessness and a familiar feeling among Black Americans that any police encounter with Black individuals would lead to death. These psychological issues are connected to the history of racial violence that presently continues in the form of police violence.“In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body, it is heritage” (Coates 103). This psychological burden of living in a society where one’s life is constantly at risk creates an anxiety that affects mental health and everyday life.

Fear and anxiety not only affect those direct victims of police violence, but they also spread into the community. After Justin’s killing, Black parents in the novel become more fearful for their children. Riley’s friend says, “I don’t let my son wear hoodies anymore. I tell him to keep his hands out of his pockets. Smile at the police. Be polite. Be careful” (Pride and Piazza 142). This points to a widespread reality where Black parents must teach their children survival tactics for interacting with law and police, not because their children are doing anything wrong, but because they are Black. These talks evolved from fear, and these are responses to the psychological threat that police violence created in Black communities in America. “The devaluation of Black life becomes internalized as fear for one’s own survival and fear for the next generation” (hooks 147). The psychological impacts of police violence, therefore, go beyond individuals and become an emotional burden on Black communities, which are passed through families and generations.

The lack of public understanding and institutional response could exacerbate psychological issues of Black people. Riley experiences deep frustration and alienation in her newsroom, where her colleagues fail to understand why she is so affected by Justin’s death. One of her colleagues says, “You’re taking this personally,” to which she replies, “That’s because it is personal. It always is” (Pride and Piazza 125). This points out how the emotions of Black individuals are alienated in the white-dominated spaces. There is a public expectation that Black individuals will remain silent and professional while there is any discussion on race. Sarah Banet-Weiser calls this the “emotional labor of marginalization,” where people of color are expected to suppress their feelings to maintain white comfort (Banet-Weiser 52). Riley’s isolation at work deepens her psychological problems, which shows how systematic racism not only causes psychological burden but also denies space for them.

We Are Not Like Them portrays the psychological effects of police violence on Black lives. Through Riley’s experiences and emotional problems, the novel depicts how police brutality causes lasting fear, anxiety, and trauma even among those not directly involved in the incidents. Black individuals, families, and communities are living under constant alert, formed from the knowledge that at any moment, a Black life could be lost, and they will not receive any justice. The damage of police violence is not only physical, but psychological, and its emotional problems will be carried over generations.

Trauma as an outcome of police violence

The emotional and psychological trauma resulting from police violence becomes a part of Black lives and communities. After the unjust killing of Justin Dwyer, a 14-year-old Black boy, there comes an immediate, tragic event. Still, the more serious damage comes from how the incident changes people’s emotional lives, thoughts, and perceptions of safety. Because of this incident, Riley’s emotional damage is visible; in the novel, the authors give voice to the invisible and lasting trauma caused by racialized police violence. Riley says, “My body is tired, my heart is tired. I can’t stop thinking about him lying there, alone, on the street” (Pride and Piazza 103). Her weakness is not only physical, it also shows her fear, helplessness, and voicelessness that many Black Americans carry in their lives. “Psychic trauma is sustained in the absence of recognition” (hooks 147). Here, Bell Hooks says, trauma becomes worse when society refuses to understand.

The novel mentions that trauma from police violence is not limited to those who are directly harmed, but it spreads through entire communities. Riley is not related to Justin, but her identity as a Black woman makes his death personal and painful. She says, “He could have been my cousin, my brother, my friend. And it’s always the same, no one pays for it” (Pride and Piazza 118). Riley’s trauma is not rooted in witnessing Black death, but also in the repeated cycle of injustice that is presently visible in the form of police violence. Joy DeGruy refers to this phenomenon as Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome (PTSS), explaining that centuries of oppression and violence against Black bodies have left a legacy of unresolved trauma (DeGruy 124). The trauma of characters in We Are Not Like Them is not just from a single event but is historical, continuous, and shared. Riley’s emotional breakdown shows a larger generational trauma in which Black people live with fear, grief, and mistrust of the judicial system in America.

The trauma of police violence increases due to society’s failure to consider the pain of Black individuals. Riley is expected to continue with her job at the news station, despite going through a traumatic experience. Her white colleagues fail to understand the personal impact of Justin’s death, one of her co-workers saying, “I don’t get why this one’s hitting you so hard” (Pride and Piazza 122). This reveals how trauma in Black communities is ignored and abandoned by dominant white groups and institutions. “Black emotional expression has historically been policed and devalued by white audiences, leaving little room for true healing” (Gates 44). Riley’s traumatic situation is worsened by a lack of space for sharing and mourning. She is expected to act normal and professional, even though emotionally broken. Sarah Banet-Weiser describes this situation as “emotional silencing,” where the emotional experiences of marginalized people are rendered invisible in order to maintain white comfort (Banet-Weiser 64).

Trauma reshapes how Black individuals live and move through the world. Riley started avoiding places, conversations, and even people, because everything reminds her of Justin, and the fear comes with his death. She says, “I keep seeing his face, every time I close my eyes. It’s like he’s haunting me” (Pride and Piazza 131). Her words show a nature of trauma, and how it is haunting one’s mind and body. These symptoms are similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, which includes flashbacks, nightmares, and avoidance behaviors. Monnica Williams says that “racial trauma can have the same emotional and neurological effects as battlefield trauma” (Williams 3). The portrayal of Riley shows how police violence does more than kill innocent people, and it leaves a lifelong burden of trauma on the people who are affected.

Coping Mechanisms and Survival Strategies of Blacks

In We Are Not Like Them, Christine Pride and Jo Piazza explore how Black individuals survive the emotional toll of systemic racism and police violence not only by just surviving but by actively developing coping mechanisms that protect their mental health. These coping mechanisms are essential in a society where Black life is often marginalized and devalued. After the police shooting of Justin Dwyer, a 14-year-old Black boy, Riley, a Black journalist, is left emotionally shocked and decides to control her emotional pain while maintaining her career. She says, “I have to be two people. One for them, one for me” (Pride and Piazza 117). This is what W.E.B. Du Bois’ theory of “double consciousness” is, where Black Americans must constantly reconcile their self-image with how a white society perceives them (Du Bois 2).  Patricia Hill Collins expands this notion, saying that Black women exist in a space where they are “simultaneously invisible and hypervisible,” forcing them to constantly self-regulate for survival (Collins 90). These are the basics for the coping mechanisms of Black individuals in America.

Riley’s role as a Black journalist places her in the middle of public life as a reporter and personal trauma. Despite her mental pain and grief over Justin Dwyer’s death, she continues to work in a newsroom that minimizes the humanity of Black victims. One of her main coping mechanisms is compartmentalization. According to George E. Vaillant, “compartmentalization allows people to avoid cognitive dissonance by mentally dividing their experiences into isolated categories that do not interact” (Vaillant 94). He says Compartmentalization helps people cope with emotional stress by mentally separating conflicting thoughts or experiences so they do not have to deal with them all simultaneously. For example, in one incident when she was outraged about the death of Justin, she says, “I have to be two people. One for them, one for me” (Pride and Piazza 117). This duality reflects what W.E.B. Du Bois described as “double consciousness,” the need for Black Americans to view themselves both through their own eyes and the eyes of a white-dominated society. Riley’s professional life is not a detachment but a coping mechanism she uses to survive in a world that requires labor, not her genuine opinion or story.

Another coping mechanism used by Riley is narrative control. According to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, narrative control, “how stories are told, who tells them, when they're told, [and] how many stories are told” affects power, because controlling the narrative can either humanize or oppress individuals and communities (Adichie 2025). As she says, narrative control controls how stories are told, giving power because it can make people either seen and understood or ignored and misunderstood. For example, Riley used to tell stories from the Black point of view, even though her editor discourages it. At that time, she says, “We don’t just need facts, we need to show people what this feels like.” She is resisting the erasure of Black emotional realities (Pride and Piazza 123). Through this, it is visible that storytelling becomes a form of healing and a way to regain the power from the systems that stereotype Black people in America.

In conclusion, We Are Not Like Them shows how Black individuals cope with and survive the trauma of police violence. The characters, especially Riley, survive in this world through coping mechanisms such as compartmentalization and narrative control, and they survive the racial discrimination and trauma of police violence. These coping mechanisms are not their weakness, but they are forms of resistance that Black people have used for a long time to survive systemic oppression and violence.

Conclusion

In We Are Not Like Them (2021), Christine Pride and Jo Piazza reveal how police violence against Black Americans is not isolated incidents of brutality but part of a larger system that dehumanizes and criminalizes Black lives. Through the heartbreaking story of Justin Dwyer and the emotional journeys of Riley and Jen, the novel shows the deep and lasting impacts that police violence has on individuals and communities. Riley’s psychological pain highlights the fear and anxiety that many Black Americans experience in their daily life. This emotional breakdown is visible in Riley’s words, she says, “They never get charged. They always say it was a mistake, that they were scared. And somehow, that’s always enough” (Pride and Piazza 137). It means Black individuals and the violence against them are unnoticed and normalized in America. Ta-Nehisi Coates argues in Between the World and Me, where he writes, “In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body it is heritage” (Coates 103). Here, it mentions the unending pattern of racial violence against Black Americans.

The novel also reminds us that police violence is not a mistake, but it is deeply connected to America’s racial history of slavery, which presently continues in the form of police violence. The government and systems of America still protect the officers and cops who are involved in violence against Black people. The novel is a critical look at the police violence against Black Americans, which not only mourns victims like Justin but to understand institutions and societal structures, including the government, police, and even personal relationships. As Bell hooks states, true healing and justice require “an oppositional worldview” that challenges the dominant narratives and refuses to accept Black suffering as normal (hooks 117). Bell hooks means that real healing and justice can only happen when people actively question and resist the common ways society tells stories, especially those that make Black suffering seem ordinary or acceptable.

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