>Yes, I think these communities should take a good look at themselves and confront the problems only they can help solve. Nothing gets done by putting the blame

>Yes, I think these communities should take a good look at themselves and confront the problems only they can help solve. Nothing gets done by putting the blame solely on white rich slave master descendants. On a population or community level pull yourself up by your bootstraps is useless advice. Individually sure, get an education, work hard etc... But across a population, the disadvantages caused by systemic injustice create can't be solved by looking inward. >My ancestors slaved on the peat mines, but I won't let that define me. It is not helpful at all. This ignores the fact that discrimination didn't stop with the end of slavery. Until 50 years ago it was still legal to refuse to sell property to a Black person, and today Black people still have a harder time renting and finding employment specifically because of their race. >I am ok if you say that policing should be about demographic parity, but not if you ignore the costs. By all means, send more police to rich white neighborhoods, to help affluent old ladies cross the road and rescue Persian cats from trees, Policing by population density means this isn't really a problem, rich white neighborhoods have less naturally have less police presence because of lower population density. >while gang violence rages in black neighborhoods and continues to ensnare young men This is the go-to lament of the person unaffected by racism because it makes it looks like they care while costing them the least. You don't end gang violence long-term through law enforcement. We've tried that approach, and it the result is the largest prison population per capita on the planet, which just leads to more criminality, and the positive feedback loop builds. Unfortunately ending gang violence requires us to end systemic injustice, which will cost us quite a bit more than focusing cops on black neighborhoods. >We all share responsibility to combat racism and disproportionate crime rates. We do, and for those of us not affected by racism that means agreeing to pay the high cost of ending systemic injustice, not just personally pledging not to use the n-word.