Back during the 19th Century noted American author and humorist Mark Twain popularized the quote, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics”, subtly reminding people that using statistics to buttress an argument is not always the best way to make a point.
With that in mind perhaps we need to look at the ‘reality’ of things when discussing race relations in the United States at this particular point in our history. The American conversation about race produces charges and counter-charges, both sides citing statistics to back up their arguments, with reality often being pushed to the side.
The family members of those victimized by black on white crime do not view their loved ones as a ‘statistic’. And the activists and race hustlers in the black community dislike hearing the reality that black on white crime far exceeds white on black crime, and also that black on black crime is nearing an epidemic in the inner cities across America.
It’s a reality that a young black man is far more likely to be killed by another young black man than he is by a police officer. Much less by an ‘unjustified shooting’ by a police officer. And it is a reality that police officers doing their job are far more likely to be attacked, injured, or killed by a young black man than by any other race.
The black ‘talking heads’ appearing on MSNBC and other liberal news programs continue to decry the “discrimination” and “racism” blacks experience in America, when the reality is that most of what ails the black community is self-inflicted. Institutional racism is long a thing of the past. The reality is that the vast majority of white Americans long ago discarded race as a measuring tool on whom they associate with, and who they hire or promote.
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As Dr. King once preached, most white Americans are far more inclined to judge someone based on the “content of their character, than on the color of their skin”. Compared to any other country in the world, blacks in America have a far better chance of achieving success, while racism against blacks is alive and well in Europe, Asia and South America.
With the breakdown of the black family the reality is that Police Officers in the inner cities have become the only thing holding back complete chaos and anarchy on the streets of America. Police Officers respond repeatedly to calls for drug dealing on a street corner, assaults and robberies in progress, family disputes and disputes between neighbors, to name just a few of the things Police Offices are called upon to make arrests or to mediate.
Sometimes they actually arrive before the gunplay erupts. If they’re a little late then they help console the victims, and try to preserve the crime scene to help detectives with an investigation that rarely goes anywhere due to uncooperative witnesses. Another sad reality.
The black community continues to suffer because of a court system that releases hardened criminals back into an area where they reassert their control through intimidation and violence. Preying on innocent residents who are afraid to call or cooperate with the police for fear of retaliation not just from the criminals, but from the very neighbors who live around them. Neighbors who themselves might be involved in crime, and who view anyone cooperating with the police with suspicion, and as someone who might report on their criminal activities to the police in the future.
Unfortunately many of those who commit crimes and get away because of uncooperative witnesses, are then viewed with admiration by some in the neighborhood who have grown up with a skewed sense of good versus bad. Instead of having as role models those blacks who have risen above the poverty and racism they experienced in their lives to become successful members of the community, thugs and rap singers who glorify violence and a criminal lifestyle are idolized.
No statistics are necessary to provide the reality of life in many of the black communities in this country. The reality of crime, poverty, and hopelessness speaks for itself. We need no more lies, damned lies, or statistics. We need solutions from within the very communities which are creating the devastating numbers being cited on both sides of the argument.
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