I would like to start out by saying I can not question African American's feelings. I do not know what it is like to be one. And I do know that they are struggling around the country at higher rates than whites.
The point of this post is questioning the narrative that African Americans get targeted more for their skin color by police. Much of this, is to make people a little less fearful compared to what they see on the news, and to question the narrative itself. I will start by providing simple facts and statistics.
-In 2018 African Americans committed 53% of homicides, 54% of robberies, 37.5% of all violent crime combined, 43.3% of weapons charges. Yet, they only made up 23% of police shootings.
-In 2019, police killed 9 unarmed black men, 19 white men. Down from 32 and 38 in 2015. Just for those that believe there hasn't been a change. Down almost 70%, is a change.
-A study in 2015 within the Philadelphia police department found that black police officers were more likely to shoot blacks than white police officers. Even when comparing racial population of community and police force.
-Only 2 police shootings of unarmed black men last year were considered "unjustified" and both cases ended with charges and pending charges. Even if you look them up for yourself, the other 7 were mostly caught on camera or corroborated by witnesses and seem completely justified.
-Most police shootings on African Americans, are by African American police officers.
-Ferguson, a mostly white police force, was highlighted for stopping African Americans in 85% of police stops, even though African Americans account for 67% of the population. Meaning 18 points higher than population. NYC, a mostly minority police force stopped African Americans on 53% of stops, yet African Americans make up around 24% of the population. Meaning 29 points higher in population. Meaning the minority dept seemingly targets African Americans at a higher rate.
-A study was done by a Harvard professor expecting an obvious targeting on African Americans by white officers, and he found almost the opposite.
-African Americans are much more likely to shoot someone who is white than vice versa. Not a competition or insult, just simply pointing out that there is no real widespread or even modest hunting of African Americans.
-People love to compare different sentences people get. Not only is that extremely broad and dealing with thousands of variables, but the broad stats that say African Americans are more likely to get a higher sentencing for the same case ignores that African Americans are more likely to have a criminal record when being sentenced. Which means a LOT.
I think we are so into comforting our black friends that we also forget to comfort their fears. I cannot speak on what they experience, but I can show facts. We need to do better in legislation that has harmed the black community (in many instances unpurposefully). Help the black community thrive financially so that they do not feel they have to resort to crime to be successful. In that, we will reduce the police interactions in the first place. There is no questioning that there is bad officers out there and no questioning that skin color has likely played a role in some cases. But stay off of social media and find your own information. Stop pretending that lower/middle class police are the problem. Have you ever seen the elitists and corporations so happy to support a movement? Why? Because they arent being blamed, blue collar workers are.
The point of this post is questioning the narrative that African Americans get targeted more for their skin color by police. Much of this, is to make people a little less fearful compared to what they see on the news, and to question the narrative itself. I will start by providing simple facts and statistics.
-In 2018 African Americans committed 53% of homicides, 54% of robberies, 37.5% of all violent crime combined, 43.3% of weapons charges. Yet, they only made up 23% of police shootings.
-In 2019, police killed 9 unarmed black men, 19 white men. Down from 32 and 38 in 2015. Just for those that believe there hasn't been a change. Down almost 70%, is a change.
-A study in 2015 within the Philadelphia police department found that black police officers were more likely to shoot blacks than white police officers. Even when comparing racial population of community and police force.
-Only 2 police shootings of unarmed black men last year were considered "unjustified" and both cases ended with charges and pending charges. Even if you look them up for yourself, the other 7 were mostly caught on camera or corroborated by witnesses and seem completely justified.
-Most police shootings on African Americans, are by African American police officers.
-Ferguson, a mostly white police force, was highlighted for stopping African Americans in 85% of police stops, even though African Americans account for 67% of the population. Meaning 18 points higher than population. NYC, a mostly minority police force stopped African Americans on 53% of stops, yet African Americans make up around 24% of the population. Meaning 29 points higher in population. Meaning the minority dept seemingly targets African Americans at a higher rate.
-A study was done by a Harvard professor expecting an obvious targeting on African Americans by white officers, and he found almost the opposite.
-African Americans are much more likely to shoot someone who is white than vice versa. Not a competition or insult, just simply pointing out that there is no real widespread or even modest hunting of African Americans.
-People love to compare different sentences people get. Not only is that extremely broad and dealing with thousands of variables, but the broad stats that say African Americans are more likely to get a higher sentencing for the same case ignores that African Americans are more likely to have a criminal record when being sentenced. Which means a LOT.
I think we are so into comforting our black friends that we also forget to comfort their fears. I cannot speak on what they experience, but I can show facts. We need to do better in legislation that has harmed the black community (in many instances unpurposefully). Help the black community thrive financially so that they do not feel they have to resort to crime to be successful. In that, we will reduce the police interactions in the first place. There is no questioning that there is bad officers out there and no questioning that skin color has likely played a role in some cases. But stay off of social media and find your own information. Stop pretending that lower/middle class police are the problem. Have you ever seen the elitists and corporations so happy to support a movement? Why? Because they arent being blamed, blue collar workers are.
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