The phrase “big deal” has several meanings so depending on how it is meant, the answer might be different. If by “big deal” we are referring to “important to address”, there is no question in my mind, whether that racism is found in a police department, any other governmental agency, or even outside of government, it is always extremely important to investigate and to take steps to prevent it. The amount of racism should never be a test as to whether racism should be addressed.
The phrase “big deal” can also be referring to “how frequent” racism is demonstrated by the acts of cops. While there are so many more interactions that we never hear about, we cannot speak with authority about those.
However, I did run across a couple of interesting studies done in Oakland, CA. It is important for me, to point out that these studies are only indicative of what was done in the city of Oakland during those specified time periods. I am no way stating that these studies say anything else about any other police departments.
The purpose of the first one, was to use the audio from body camera footage to evaluate whether in traffic stops, the officers treated Blacks differently than Whites.
In my looking at the study, it does appear as if they took every precaution to eliminate any bias. Although there are many factors which influence an interaction, the words the officers use are a very important piece. Their conclusion was that consistently the officers treated white people with more respect. If you question the validity of the research here is a link to the complete report.
This second reports looks at profiling. A common charge leveled against police officers is that they typically will pull over more Blacks and Mexicans than Whites for traffic stops because of racism.
This study used a comparison between traffic stops during the daytime, when race is typically more visibly apparent, to those done during the hours of darkness. The study found no evidence of profiling as there was no disparity in the traffic stops during the day and the night as to the ethnicity of the drivers.
Let’s get back to talking about the frequency of police racism and especially look at police shootings of Blacks. Although the media, and many citizens who follow the narrative assume that any shooting of a Black by a white officer must be race based, that is a very myopic way to view those tragic incidents. If we choose to be intellectually honest, we must not rush to judgement. Then, when looking at the data, we cannot know what is in the heart and mind of the police officer. I was going to say that you can’t determine if an interaction was racist if you can’t point to specific actions or words which were racist. But what if that officer has had a pattern of such behavior against one or more ethnic groups? That might point to potential racism.
If there is nothing racist in the interaction when a citizen is abused, we need to label it by only what we know it is–police brutality. This does nothing to diminish the horrific nature of the offense, but let’s call it by what we are sure of instead of making possible assumptions.
I think if a “martian” came to the US and read the headlines which recently have dominated the news, they would conclude that white cops killing black citizens was an epidemic and that Blacks were being targeted. Continuing to talk about “big deal” as it relates to how frequently Blacks are killed by police officers, let’s look at some numbers. Before we do that, it is only fair to also state that a citizen being killed by a police officer can be justified depending on the situation.
It is in my opinion often disingenuous on both sides when people just cite statistics to prove their point. For example, I have heard people on one side say “More Whites are killed by cops than Blacks which shows it isn’t racism.” I have heard others point out that a larger percentage of Blacks have been killed by cops which proves there is racism. While the data is true in both cases, those conclusions don’t necessarily follow.
Of course, because there are more whites, you would expect to see more whites killed. In looking at the numbers for 2019, there were 259 Blacks killed, 182 Hispanics, 13 native Americans and 406 Whites. Based on that data, how likely is it that a person of each race would be killed by a police officer in one year? Blacks–3 out of 100,000 or .00003 percent chance; Mexican–2.3 out of 100,000 or .000023 percent chance; White–1.2 out of 100,000 or .000012 percent chance. Using those bare figures is also disingenuous if you don’t also account for poverty level–as most crime (physical theft, gang violence, rape, etc.) and police shootings do happen in lower income neighborhoods. The 2019 statistics that I looked at show that 2-3 times more blacks live below the poverty line than whites which accounts for some of the disparity.
Mini-conclusion, while it is serious and necessary to research and resolve each incident where there is a violation of one’s civil rights, it is inflammatory to paint it out to be an epidemic. I think all of us would love any of those odds against Covid-19.
Again, if the headlines were your only source of information, you might assume that blacks being killed by cops is a major contribution to the death of Blacks. As of 2017, the number one killer of blacks was heart disease at 23% and number two was cancers at 20% and death by cop was at .00003%.
I do have to acknowledge that these sometimes politically charged headlines have caused many including me to look at racism in a way and intensity that I probably would not have done otherwise. The ends do not justify the means but I am thankful to learn much on this journey.
My goal in citing these statistics is not to in any way minimize the pain and suffering caused by any of these tragic events but to ensure that I don’t use information to support any agenda, but only seek the truth–and then do something about it.
Now I have to confess that nothing I have said in this post is helpful in addressing racism as it expresses itself in our society. But if we allow truths to be misused to push any agenda, we are doing a disservice.
However, in next week’s post, a continuation of “Is it a big deal?”, we will look at one part of our justice system which does have more of an impact on Blacks than Whites. Is there somethign we can do about this disparity?