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Category: Project

Description: The murder of George Floyd and others has drawn worldwide attention to the problems of police brutality and racial discrimination in America. Most US citizens agree that these problems need to be solved; but they disagree about how best to solve them, and about what individuals can do to help. In order to gain some insight into these issues, we collated a list of 38 ‘civic acts of kindness’ proposed by various civil rights organisations; and we asked a diverse sample of US citizens to rate the costs, benefits, and likelihood of performing, these acts. According to the survey, registering to vote, writing to political representatives, and learning more about policing and racism were considered the most cost-effective acts of civic kindness; and cost-effectiveness was the best predictor of likelihood of performing an act. Black respondents tended to rate the acts as more beneficial, and reported being more likely to perform them. This information can help individuals and organisations decide for themselves how best to choose and promote civic kindness.