4 ms·

What I find interesting is how the media presents little to no statistics to back up their claims of blacks being subject to de facto police genocide. Here are

by Humjob 10y ago

What I find interesting is how the media presents little to no statistics to back up their claims of blacks being subject to de facto police genocide. Here are some statistics: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3ADqQNfjf4zKAJ%3Awww.forcescience.org%2Fforcepresentation.ppt+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3ADqQNf... A couple key points: - More people in the US are struck each year by lightning than are killed by police. (373) - Of the 1,491 persons that died from police use of force from 2009-2012: 915 (61.4%) were white males 481 (32.2%) were black males 48 (3.2%) were males of other races 28 (1.9%) were white females 15 (1.1%) were black females 4 (0.2%) were females of other races - Of the 56,259 homicides from 2009-2012, 19,000 (33.8%) were killings of black males. Comparisons by types of homicides of black males: 481 (2.5%) were the result of police use of force 152 (0.8%) were the result of a negligent accident homicides (i.e., child playing with a gun) 648 (3.4%) were the result of a justifiable homicides by private citizens acting in self-defense 17,719 (93.3%) were criminal homicides (murders) More blacks are killed in justifiable self-defense scenarios than are killed by police. And overwhelmingly more are killed in homicides, mainly by other blacks. Also note: According to the US Department of Justice, blacks accounted for 52.5% of homicide offenders from 1980 to 2008, with whites 45.3% and "Other" 2.2%. The offending rate for blacks was almost 8 times higher than whites, and the victim rate 6 times higher. Most homicides were intraracial, with 84% of white victims killed by whites, and 93% of black victims killed by blacks. (Whites are being lumped in with Hispanics here.) It's fairly clear that there isn't an epidemic of wide scale police violence against blacks. Instead, a few incidents have been blasted onto social media, and uncritical leftists have picked them up and ran with them. I see Black Lives Matter more as an expression of intergroup competition and aggression against traditionally white power structures. Other leftist groups take the same approach, e.g. with feminist fabrications about mass rapes on college campuses - college campuses are in fact among the safest places in the world, but feminists treat them as though they're some Mad Max-esque raping dystopia by claiming nonsense like 1 in 4 college girls get raped. They're mysteriously silent about places where real mass raping occurs, such as Africa and the Middle East. I could go on, but suffice to say, I believe we're in a period of mass hallucination and hysteria, with entire movements justifying their existence on statistically nonsensical claims. This has happened many times throughout history, and it's leaned to both the right and left axes of the political spectrum. This time the wind just happens to be blowing to the left.

jMyles 10y ago
These comparisons are senseless. We are talking about state violence and fear of the state. I care far more about an armed agent of the state murdering someone than I do about some random guy murdering someone. Have you been to an inner city lately? Even New York, which is incredibly peaceful, has areas where there are palpable, reasonable fear of police violence from black people. The constant searches and seizures, the attitude of superiority and yes, the physical violence - these are preventable and they're plagues to having a peaceful world.
- DominikR 10y ago
  The problem is that police officers have good reason to be much more defensive when dealing with blacks than with whites. Just look at these statistics and then consider how a police officer would feel when dealing with a black person that shows any kind of aggression, considering that most homicides are committed by blacks. (even though they are a minority) The police officer wants to survive too. Of course there are cases of excessive and criminal use of force by the police, but their general perception and caution when dealing with blacks will never change as long as this minority continues to commit most crimes.
  - tptacek 10y ago
    Your comment is facile and, though you probably don't intend it that way, mean-spirited. But there's something to it anyways. Set aside the reciprocal nature of racism and criminality and acknowledge the raw demographic reality of police encounters in major cities. It seems clear to me that yes, police officers are under far too much cognitive strain to accurately judge threats. Basic human cognitive limitations ensure that police will continue to prejudge risk through race. To me, that, coupled with the fact that police encounters with strangers are far, far less dangerous than police training and culture mythologizes them to be, suggests a straightforward solution: disarm most police officers. I wrote more about that here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12057079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12057079 (If you feel the need to object, please read that before assuming you know what my recommendation is from its brief summary here).

by Humjob 10y ago

jMyles 10y ago

These comparisons are senseless. We are talking about state violence and fear of the state. I care far more about an armed agent of the state murdering someone than I do about some random guy murdering someone. Have you been to an inner city lately? Even New York, which is incredibly peaceful, has areas where there are palpable, reasonable fear of police violence from black people. The constant searches and seizures, the attitude of superiority and yes, the physical violence - these are preventable and they're plagues to having a peaceful world.

DominikR 10y ago
The problem is that police officers have good reason to be much more defensive when dealing with blacks than with whites. Just look at these statistics and then consider how a police officer would feel when dealing with a black person that shows any kind of aggression, considering that most homicides are committed by blacks. (even though they are a minority) The police officer wants to survive too. Of course there are cases of excessive and criminal use of force by the police, but their general perception and caution when dealing with blacks will never change as long as this minority continues to commit most crimes.
- tptacek 10y ago
  Your comment is facile and, though you probably don't intend it that way, mean-spirited. But there's something to it anyways. Set aside the reciprocal nature of racism and criminality and acknowledge the raw demographic reality of police encounters in major cities. It seems clear to me that yes, police officers are under far too much cognitive strain to accurately judge threats. Basic human cognitive limitations ensure that police will continue to prejudge risk through race. To me, that, coupled with the fact that police encounters with strangers are far, far less dangerous than police training and culture mythologizes them to be, suggests a straightforward solution: disarm most police officers. I wrote more about that here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12057079 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12057079 (If you feel the need to object, please read that before assuming you know what my recommendation is from its brief summary here).