Again, I'm not denying the existence of racism in the police force or in general. I'm saying that the way we look at the issue is too often simplistic. I'm not just talking about black-on-black crime, I'm saying that if crime is twice as high in one neighbouurhood than another, and the higher-crime neighbourhood is almost all black, of course more black people, armed and unarmed, will end up being shot by police.
Focusing on the police shootings is, in my opinon, to largely miss the point. The question is; what can we do to reduce crime in those neighbourhoods? What are the factors that are causing it? If we solve those, we inevitably reduce the number of black people shot AND we improve the lives of the black people living there. But the more we ignore the uncomfortable truths about black crime (not black-on-black necessarily, just black people committing crimes in general), the more we ignore a major reason why black people end up shot.
As for the stats on mass shootings, yes, it's true that white people are three times more likely to commit mass shootings, but again, you have to look at the data a little more carefully. Remember, there are over three times as many white people as black people in America. When you adjust for demographics, black people are actually slightly *over*represented in mass shooting statistics (https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/).
But none of this is really the point. Again, let me be very clear; I'm not denying the existence of racism and bias at all. Clearly it exists and is a problem. My issue is two-fold:
a) We should be as precise and honest as possible in identifying it and solving the problems it causes.
b) We should prioritise genuine issues instead of the petty, self-indulgent nonsense that we're seeing so much of lately.
I'd much rather the news was full of stories about the black men serving long prison sentences for minor drug offences or the disparities in education funding for schools in predominantly minority districts, than about whether the Royal Family or whether the barista at the local Starbucks is racist, for example.
