What Is The 'Black Tax' In Minneapolis?

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minneapolis Police Department arrests, issues citations for, and kills minorities — especially Black residents — at much higher rates than white people, according to a new report.

The findings came out of a two-year investigation by the Minnesota Human Rights Department released that was Wednesday. The investigation was launched following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

While Black people make up about 19 percent of the Minneapolis population, city data shows that between Jan. 1, 2017, to May 24, 2020, 55 percent of all police citations issued were to Black people.

Between 2010 and 2020, Minneapolis officers were nearly twice as likely to use neck restraints on Black individuals than white individuals, according to the report.

Under a June 2020 court order, Minneapolis police were prohibited from using neck restraints. Prior to the order, Minneapolis police policy permitted the use of neck restraints to render someone unconscious.

The report also found that since 2010 — of the 14 people that Minneapolis officers have killed — 13 were minorities.

Black residents describe the price of being Black when interacting with Minneapolis police as the "Black Tax," the report notes. Sometimes the tax is literal, in way of unjustified fines, according to the investigation.

"Even when citations are dropped or dismissed, or individuals are found not guilty, the consequences of these unjustified citations remain significant," the report states.

One Black woman said she became homeless because she had to decide between paying her rent or paying her attorney to challenge a wrongful citation she received from a Minneapolis officer in 2019.

The charge was ultimately dismissed. However, as of 2021, the woman was still homeless and was living in her car.

"I honestly do feel like I was stereotyped, I do," she said in the report.

"It is something that I don’t think a white person will ever understand in a lifetime unless [they] reincarnate and come back Black. Then [they] would understand."

The report summarizes the Black tax, stating "While criminal citations can be important tools for advancing public safety, MPD officers use these tools in a discriminatory and punitive way – unjustifiably citing Black individuals at a higher rate than they cite white individuals."

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