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It is important to note that this isn't just about police brutality. There are a number of racial disparities that result in more black deaths. From the letter:

It is important to note that this isn't just about police brutality. There are a number of racial disparities that result in more black deaths. From the letter: > lack people suffer from dramatic health disparities in life expectancy, maternal and infant mortality, chronic medical conditions, and outcomes from acute illnesses like myocardial infarction and sepsis. Biological determinants are insufficient to explain these disparities. They result from long-standing systems of oppression and bias which have subjected people of color to discrimination in the healthcare setting, decreased access to medical care and healthy food, unsafe working conditions, mass incarceration, exposure to pollution and noise, and the toxic effects of stress. So 1k-2k per year would be a low estimate. Some will correctly point out that that 1k-2k killed by police includes people that are committing violent crimes (ie, killing them may not be unjust). The response to that argument is to look at the intersection of poverty and race to see how systemic racism drives crime in black communities.

banads 6y ago
Indeed, white people in the US on average live 3.5 years longer than black people in the US.[1] Did you know that an even greater health/life expectancy disparity exists between men and women? One gender on average lives 5.1 years longer than the other.[2] >decreased access to medical care and healthy food, unsafe working conditions, mass incarceration, exposure to pollution and noise, and the toxic effects of stress. Likewise all of these issues affect men disproportionately compared to women. Why is it so popular to talk about these same issues as systemic oppression against group X (relative to group Y), while ignoring or the fact that those same issues affect group XY, often to an even greater degree (relative to group XX)? [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_health_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_health_in_the_Unite... [2]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy#UNDP_(2018) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_ex...
- thisiszilff 6y ago
  To be perfectly upfront with my own beliefs, I believe economic disparities is the mother of all other disparities and that many of these statistics that show disparities in outcomes for whites vs blacks are just echos of that economic disparity. That, I think, is the core disparity and the core way in which "the system" oppresses people across generations. That being said, I don't think gender is a good counterpoint given that biology does have a significant role in some disparities in outcomes for men & women (for example life expectancy). With race, as cited in the letter, biological explanations aren't enough to explain the differences. > Why is it so popular to talk about these same issues as systemic oppression against group X (relative to group Y), while ignoring or the fact that those same issues affect group XY, often to an even greater degree (relative to group XX)? Speculatively, with respect to blacks in America, I'm going to guess that it isn't any single issue that is concerning, but the totality of them. Yes, a given issue X might affect group Y more than it does blacks, but blacks in the US as a population are affected by multiple such issues and I can't think of many areas where they have a leg up over other groups.
  - banads 6y ago
    >To be perfectly upfront with my own beliefs, I believe economic disparities is the mother of all other disparities and that many of these statistics that show disparities in outcomes for whites vs blacks are just echos of that economic disparity. I agree my friend, thank you for the measured response. >given that biology does have a significant role in some disparities in outcomes for men & women (for example life expectancy) How do we know biology is the most significant factor that causes women to live longer than men? How do we know biology is not a significant factor that causes white people to live longer than black people? It's a biological fact that black people in the US suffer greatly from vitamin D deficiency[1] [1]https://www.cooperinstitute.org/2019/09/24/african-americans-at-greatest-risk-of-vitamin-d-deficiency https://www.cooperinstitute.org/2019/09/24/african-americans...
- thatoneuser 6y ago
  Why is it so popular to talk about race vs gender, when the race victims are non white and the gender victims would be men? Because those are the biases we've been taught in modern society. These protests are a shining example: men are over 10X as likely to be the victim of police brutality. Far more than black vs white. If we were fighting police brutality, men are hands down the demographic of choice. But people don't tend to think of men as victims. So it wouldn't ever take off. I mean can you imagine millions of people protesting for men? I've never heard of it, meanwhile every year millions of people March for women just because. Protests happen all the time for minorities. What happens when you March for white men? You're a "white nationalist", a racist, a nazi, etc. I'd take these protests seriously if they reflected the data. But they don't. Someone out there is probably making a lot of money and growing a lot of power for themselves over it. Meanwhile, the issues that plague our world will be more or less unchanged when this is over.

banads 6y ago

Indeed, white people in the US on average live 3.5 years longer than black people in the US.[1] Did you know that an even greater health/life expectancy disparity exists between men and women? One gender on average lives 5.1 years longer than the other.[2] >decreased access to medical care and healthy food, unsafe working conditions, mass incarceration, exposure to pollution and noise, and the toxic effects of stress. Likewise all of these issues affect men disproportionately compared to women. Why is it so popular to talk about these same issues as systemic oppression against group X (relative to group Y), while ignoring or the fact that those same issues affect group XY, often to an even greater degree (relative to group XX)? [1]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_health_in_the_United_States https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_health_in_the_Unite... [2]https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy#UNDP_(2018) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_ex...

thisiszilff 6y ago
To be perfectly upfront with my own beliefs, I believe economic disparities is the mother of all other disparities and that many of these statistics that show disparities in outcomes for whites vs blacks are just echos of that economic disparity. That, I think, is the core disparity and the core way in which "the system" oppresses people across generations. That being said, I don't think gender is a good counterpoint given that biology does have a significant role in some disparities in outcomes for men & women (for example life expectancy). With race, as cited in the letter, biological explanations aren't enough to explain the differences. > Why is it so popular to talk about these same issues as systemic oppression against group X (relative to group Y), while ignoring or the fact that those same issues affect group XY, often to an even greater degree (relative to group XX)? Speculatively, with respect to blacks in America, I'm going to guess that it isn't any single issue that is concerning, but the totality of them. Yes, a given issue X might affect group Y more than it does blacks, but blacks in the US as a population are affected by multiple such issues and I can't think of many areas where they have a leg up over other groups.
- banads 6y ago
  >To be perfectly upfront with my own beliefs, I believe economic disparities is the mother of all other disparities and that many of these statistics that show disparities in outcomes for whites vs blacks are just echos of that economic disparity. I agree my friend, thank you for the measured response. >given that biology does have a significant role in some disparities in outcomes for men & women (for example life expectancy) How do we know biology is the most significant factor that causes women to live longer than men? How do we know biology is not a significant factor that causes white people to live longer than black people? It's a biological fact that black people in the US suffer greatly from vitamin D deficiency[1] [1]https://www.cooperinstitute.org/2019/09/24/african-americans-at-greatest-risk-of-vitamin-d-deficiency https://www.cooperinstitute.org/2019/09/24/african-americans...
thatoneuser 6y ago
Why is it so popular to talk about race vs gender, when the race victims are non white and the gender victims would be men? Because those are the biases we've been taught in modern society. These protests are a shining example: men are over 10X as likely to be the victim of police brutality. Far more than black vs white. If we were fighting police brutality, men are hands down the demographic of choice. But people don't tend to think of men as victims. So it wouldn't ever take off. I mean can you imagine millions of people protesting for men? I've never heard of it, meanwhile every year millions of people March for women just because. Protests happen all the time for minorities. What happens when you March for white men? You're a "white nationalist", a racist, a nazi, etc. I'd take these protests seriously if they reflected the data. But they don't. Someone out there is probably making a lot of money and growing a lot of power for themselves over it. Meanwhile, the issues that plague our world will be more or less unchanged when this is over.