Bearing witness

Abstract

This article uses Critical Race Theory to analyze personal narratives of police violence contained in NAACP correspondence from 1937 to 1965, focusing on how African American victims and their communities used storytelling to challenge dominant narratives of police legitimacy. Through thematic analysis of 93 cases drawn from NAACP archival records, three primary narrative practices are identified: bearing witness to state-sanctioned violence, naming perpetrators to assert agency, and constructing corrective stories that challenge dominant racialized narratives. These narratives document individual experiences while also reflecting broader patterns of violence, institutional non-response, and community-based resistance strategies. Personal testimonies function as counter-narratives that preserve collective memory, expose systemic abuse, and contest official accounts of policing. These findings underscore the power of narrative as both a historical record and an ongoing tool in struggles for police accountability.