Can College Apparel Defy Stereotypes and Racial Profiling?

On March 18, 2015, a Black student at the University of Virginia (UVA), Martese Johnson, was forcefully detained by three Alcohol and Beverage Control agents for allegedly entering a bar with a fake driver's license. In a video capturing the arrest, Martese is shown handcuffed, lying face down on the pavement with blood streaming from his head, shouting, "I go to UVA!"

At the time of Martese's arrest, I was a recent graduate of UVA and working on campus. I remember being horrified by what had occurred but intrigued by his response. By highlighting his college affiliation, he was attempting to signal that he did not fit the "Black" stereotype. His response resonated with me. I too would signal my affiliation with UVA by wearing college t-shirts and hoodies, in hopes that people would associate me with this prestigious institution and not the negative stereotypes often associated with my Latino identity.

Martese's experience led me to question whether other people of color believe this strategy is effective. Do people of color believe that a young Black man, like Martese, is less likely to be seen as a criminal and subjected to racial profiling when he is wearing college apparel?

What Does the Research Suggest?

Decades of research show that Black men are stereotyped as criminals. However, Black men wearing business attire are thought to be less negatively stereotyped in society.  A college logo may signal status and prestige like that of business attire by suggesting that a person is a student in a selective four-year institution. So, a Black man wearing college apparel may be perceived as less likely to be seen as a criminal, just as business attire reduces associations with stereotypical traits.

Wearing college apparel may also reduce the belief that a young Black man will be subjected to racial profiling. People of color often think stereotypes impact how police view them. For example, Black families frequently encourage their children to use self-presentation strategies, like dressing appropriately, to evade police harassment. So, wearing college apparel should reduce the belief that a young Black man will be racially profiled because he will appear less stereotypically criminal.

What Did I Find?

To test these ideas, I conducted four experiments in which a total of 962 college students of color and Black and White adults viewed an image of a young Black man wearing a hoodie with a college logo or no logo. Participants rated how likely it was that people would view him as possessing criminal traits: violent, criminal, dangerous, aggressive, hostile, and angry. They also rated the likelihood that he would be stopped, questioned, and searched by police.

Participants always believed that the young Black man was less likely to be seen as a criminal when he displayed a college logo on his hoodie. Interestingly, this remained true when the college logo was from the prestigious Princeton University or the fictional Pennbrook University. Thus, it is status as a college student, and not the college attended, that most influences how a young Black man is believed to be seen in society.

Participants did not always believe that displaying a college logo on a hoodie would reduce the likelihood that the young Black man would be racially profiled. Instead, the risk of racial profiling was shaped by a combination of participants' racial backgrounds and their lay theories, which are informal and subjective explanations, regarding racial profiling. Specifically, Black participants who attributed profiling more to biased police officers than systemic racism within law enforcement tended to believe that a college logo could reduce racial profiling risk. Surprisingly, this lay theory did not significantly impact the views of White participants.

Lastly, wearing college apparel had a consistent indirect impact on racial profiling risk through its effect on perceived criminality. Specifically, when the young Black man wore college apparel, he was less likely to be perceived as possessing criminal traits, which reduced the perceived likelihood that he would be racially profiled by police.

What Does This Mean?

In sum, people believe that a young Black man like Martese is less likely to be perceived as a criminal when wearing college apparel but not necessarily less at risk of being racially profiled by police. These findings demonstrate the belief, and the reality, that racial profiling is not solely the result of stereotyping. Wearing college apparel is not going to solve institutional forms of racism within policing. Yet, if you wear college t-shirts and hoodies with the belief that you won't be racially stereotyped, be reassured that others share your belief.

For Further Reading

Camacho, G. (2024). The effect of wearing college apparel on Black men's perceived criminality and perceived risk of being racially profiled by police. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 111, 104565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2023.104565

McCluney, C. L., Durkee, M. I., Smith II, R. E., Robotham, K. J., & Lee, S. S. L. (2021). To be, or not to be… Black: The effects of racial codeswitching on perceived professionalism in the workplace. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 97, 104199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104199

Moore‐Berg, S. L., & Karpinski, A. (2019). An intersectional approach to understanding how race and social class affect intergroup processes. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 13(1), e12426. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12426

Gabriel Camacho is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY. His most recent studies examine how stereotyping adversely impacts members of minoritized ethnic groups and the prejudice-reduction strategies used by members of these groups.