But a quick look at the statistics shows that black people are in far, far more danger from other black people than they are from the police. From 1994 to 2008, 93% of black murder victims were killed by other blacks (84% of white victims were killed by other whites).
As of July 29th of this year, 174 blacks had been killed by the police, and 321 whites had been. (Given that blacks commit slightly over half of the homicides in this country, they seem, if anything, to be underrepresented by these numbers.)
But, given that both of the people pictured above had bad experiences, their gut reactions to being in close proximity to the police is understandable. (Particularly given the constant media drumbeat against the police.)
But here’s another interesting statistic: when whites commit a violent crime, they choose black victims 3.9% of the time, whereas when blacks commit a violent crime, they choose white victims 47.7% of the time. (Bear in mind, there are three major categories of violent crime beside murder: assault and battery, armed robbery, and rape.)
So if whites are fearful of blacks, that is only natural as well. But if a white, who, say, had been mugged by a black once, ever said, “Every time I see a back person, I get a cold chill,” or, “Whenever one of them is near, I don’t feel comfortable,” he would be considered an evil person. Especially by the New York Times.
Yet his reaction would be as natural as that of the two black men above who felt they had been unjustly harassed by the police.
Why are some natural reactions to traumatic experiences acceptable, yet others aren’t?
In today’s NY Times editorial section, Maureen Dowd said, in reference to the Benghazi hearings, “Hillary Clinton is never more alluring than when a bunch of pasty-faced, nasty-tongued white men bully her.”
What would happen to a mainstream journalist who referred to, say, “a bunch of mud-colored, nasty-tongued black men?” Obviously, it would bring swift censure and an end to his career.
The New York Times has always been one of the chief enforcers of double standards. The good news is, more and more people seem to be waking up to this hypocrisy.
