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Unlike earlier Black icons and figures, such as Dr. Specifically, there is a demonizing process that happens to unarmed Black men posthumously. This study investigates how language is used to describe Black men who have been killed by law enforcement in the past year (July 2014-April 2015). Moreover, the recent killings of unarmed Black men have sparked discussion and discourse surrounding the term “thug” and how it is used in the context of reshaping perceptions of Black life broadly and Black males specifically. While Sherman did not use vulgar language or express any feelings of violence or criminal action, his physical presence and loud voice was used to evoke the idea of “thuggery.” Additionally, political adversaries of President Obama such as Michelle Bachmann, Karl Rove, and Rush Limbaugh have referred to him as a “political thug.” This term has become the platform to dismiss Black life as less valuable and perpetuates a negative and criminal connotation in forms of micro-insults and micro-invalidations. For example, NFL football player Richard Sherman was called a “thug” for his post-game interview following the National Football Conference (NFC) Championship game ( Wagner, 2014). Over the last several years, the term “thug” has become a way to describe Black males who reject or do not rise to the standard of White America. Councilman Stokes was calling attention to the use of coded language that is in some ways explicitly and other ways implicitly used as a substitute for personally mediated racism, specifically the term “nigger.” Stokes responded by stating, “C'mon, so calling them thugs, just call them niggers, just call them niggers” ( WSHH, 2015). During an interview with CNN, Baltimore councilman Carl Stokes, a Black male, rejected the notion of calling citizens “thugs” by the news anchor that pushed him to agree with the term to describe the occurrences of looting. In this specific case of the rebellion that began on April 25, 2015, public figures such as President Obama and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake both used the term “thug” along with many news reporters and others on social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The use of the term “thug” by President Obama became the zenith of the word's use to characterize primarily individuals and groups of Black males. On April 28, 2015, President Barack Obama referred to a collection of citizens from Baltimore, Maryland as “criminals and thugs” in response to a question about the recent rebellion that broke following the death of Freddie Gray i while in police custody. This study also aims to elucidate a contemporary understanding of race relations, racism, and the plight of the Black male in a 21-century “post-racial” America.

Action research methodology in the data collection process is utilized to interpret how Black male victims are portrayed by traditional mass media, particularly through the use of language, in ways that marginalize and de-victimize these individuals. This paper investigates the historical criminalization of Black males and its connection to contemporary unarmed victims of law enforcement. Despite the connection between disproportionate criminality and Black masculinity, little research has been done on how unarmed Black male victims, particularly but not exclusively at the hands of law enforcement, have been posthumously criminalized. In the 21 st century, this negative imagery of Black males has frequently utilized the negative connotation of the terminology “ thug.” In recent years, law enforcement agencies have unreasonably used deadly force on Black males allegedly considered to be “suspects” or “persons of interest.” The exploitation of these often-targeted victims' criminal records, physical appearances, or misperceived attributes has been used to justify their unlawful deaths. Misconceptions and prejudices manufactured and disseminated through various channels such as the media included references to a “ brute” image of Black males. Documented historical accounts have shown how myths, stereotypes, and racist ideologies led to discriminatory policies and court rulings that fueled racial violence in a post-Reconstruction era and has culminated in the exponential increase of Black male incarceration today.

The synonymy of Blackness with criminality is not a new phenomenon in America.

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