Top 5 things to Consider for an Honest Conversation about Race & Policing

In order to dissect the disparities and population, we must consider how often that race comes into conflict with law enforcement. Going back to the point I made about men, sexism isn’t to blame simply because 95% of the fatal police shootings are male victims. This is understandable considering that a majority of the individuals coming in contact with law enforcement are males.

But approaching this from a racial aspect, when it comes to the arrests for people who commit violent and aggressive crimes like murder and robbery, nearly 40% are black and 60% are white. As with the logic used in breaking down police shootings by population, we must do the same. Whites are nearly on par with their population with the makeup of violent crimes. But blacks, representing roughly 13% of the population, are committing these crimes way more often than whites. Blacks are simply more likely to come in contact with law enforcement, and it’s not simply because they are pulled over for broken taillights. Though this is a hard pill to swallow, it is the reality and must be considered for truthful dialogue. Granted we can also discuss what may be the cause of the this: it could be culture, environment, and other factors. But the same can be said for everything else. So if we are to consider it, let’s consider it all in perspective.