We May Not Agree On Some Issues My Brother...
As much as I love Christmas, the New Year has always been my favourite holiday. It’s a time to rest, to make plans, but it’s also an opportunity to take stock and reset. After a year of arguing with people online, I hadn’t realised how much I needed that reset.
Spend enough time getting into fights, and it’s almost shocking when a conversation goes smoothly.
In my article, We Need To Talk About Our Slavery Fetish, I point out how the obsession with trauma in racial discourse is not only psychologically unhealthy, it obscures the true causes of some of the issues black communities face.
Charles picked up on a point I made about how “defunding the police” (often thought of as a “black” policy point) is notably unpopular with most black people.
Charles:
Wrong again. 81% of African Americans want to maintain or increase the police presence in their communities
I was never down with defund police. We need police. Does the system need intervention? Yes, but getting rid of cops is not the answer. They need to be better trained and stop shooting unarmed people.
Steve QJ:
We need police. Does the system need intervention? Yes, but getting rid of cops is not the answer. They need to be better trained and stop shooting unarmed people.
All of this. This is also why I'm against portraying police brutality as a "black" issue. Everybody should be concerned about police brutality. And even though the media isn't beaming images of unarmed white people being shot to our screens whenever possible, there are plenty of egregious killings of white people too.
If more people saw police brutality as an issue that could affect them and their loved ones, rather than something "blacks" have to deal with, there'd be a better chance of fixing the problem.
Charles:
Yes white people are shot by police all the time. Matter of fact more of them are shot than Black people. However, the problem is the disproportionality of the killings. We make up 13 percent of the population but are shot at a much higher rate than other ethnicities. 37 shootings per million is what the data shows. https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/
It's an issue in the black community. I don't want anyone black or white shot by the police without being a serious threat to the cop's life. In Arizona a white man in a motorized scooter was shot nine times in the back by a police officer. He was puttering away when he was shot. He did show the cop a knife but the guy was in a wheelchair. What can he possible do?
There are many issues in the black community from lack of resources in certain parts of the country and the rate of homicides in cities such as New Orleans, Philly, and Chicago to name a few. Plus the justice system.
We may not agree on some issues my brother, but you offer compelling arguments that I don't mind reading or engaging in.
Thanks for responding. I am going to follow you.
Steve QJ:
However, the problem is the disproportionality of the killings. We make up 13 percent of the population but are shot at a much higher rate than other ethnicities.
Yep, this is true. But the uncomfortable fact is that black people are also disproportionately represented in violent crime. The disparity in killings doesn't disappear if you account for this, but it's much less dramatic.
As you say, the homicide rates in some black communities is a real problem that is pretty much ignored because it's not politically convenient. BLM isn't talking about them. Politicians aren't weighing in on the trials. But the people in these communities are crying out for help.
It's a pleasure talking to you too. I know I have a platform here and I take it seriously. So I value talking to people who see things differently to me but who want black people to thrive. As long as that's the common goal, I'm always happy to have people keeping me honest.
“Yep, this is true. But the uncomfortable fact is that black people are also disproportionately represented in violent crime.”
As you know, I write about controversial topics on a regular basis. But I have to admit, I was genuinely nervous about pointing out this simple fact. It’s one of the last great taboos when discussing racial issues, even though the disproportionality of black shootings is brought up all the time.
There are many complex, intersecting reasons why black people are over-represented in violent crime statistics. None of which support the notion of some innate “black criminality”. But if we’re going to change those statistics, we need to talk about the nuances. Sadly, nuance doesn’t always do well in online discourse.
Charles and I had been having such a calm, genuine conversation, that I didn’t want to find myself cast as the enemy simply for telling this inconvenient truth. Thankfully, I needn’t have worried.
Charles:
Once again another fair response. I enjoy having these discourses with other writers on the platform. I meet writers of different ideas all the time. I appreciate when another writer and I can differ on issues but still come to a common ground. Thanks for responding and I appreciate it.
There will, it won’t surprise you, be tantrums and dishonesty and general nastiness over the coming 12 months. Sadly, this is a feature of online discourse. But, as I’m at great pains to point out, conversations like this are a feature of online discourse too.
Now, I’ll be honest; the conversion rate sucks. After all, conflict is more likely than concord when emotions or deeply held beliefs are concerned. But every time I’m reminded that we can disagree without becoming enemies, it makes all the other unpleasantness worthwhile. Here’s to more of that in 2022.
I think it likely that this tendency towards violence produced by poverty, and the reason they are present in many black families is that blacks are disproportionally poor. Thomas Sowell says Blacks picked up these cultural problems from poor whites. I think both groups suffer from these problems because of poverty. If you don't have many other opportunities, you are more like to end up becoming a criminal. I've also heard that Black people are much more likely to be arrested, and white people are much more likely to be let off with a warning. If you put those two together it might explain the difference. I'd like to see some research done on that.
From what I understand, violent crime correlates more strongly with class than race -- poor people of any race commit more violent crime than rich peopel. I don't have the data at my fingertips but that's my recollection and that would mean we need to be looking at poverty and economic inequality as key drivers of civilian and police violence. What do you think, Steve?