They say you can prove anything with statistics – but only if you are willing to lie.
Courtesy Dallas News
Last weekend, President Obama said that statistics show that police kill more blacks than whites – a statistical truth. The statistical lie, however, is that African Americans, which according to the US Census Bureau make up about 13 percent of the population, are responsible for 52 percent of the homicides in the US, according to Bureau of Justice statistics. Is it really a surprise then, when they more often come into conflict with police.
Or, how about this uncomfortable statistic. According to the FBI, this same 13 percent of the population also commits 42 percent of all the cop killings in the country.
This column, however, is not about trading competing statistics. It is about how politicians and pundits, using misleading statistics and outright lies, have inflamed elements of the black community and the deadly results that have followed.
This article is about the worthy but one-sided quest to destroy racism among whites while ignoring and even encouraging black racism.
It is about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, now taken over by the New Black Panthers, who are more interested in provoking hatred to build political power than they are in solving black neighborhood violence.
And it is about black communities continuing to drown in violence while their leaders get rich.
Here, of course, I must put in the obligatory disclaimer that white racism still exists and we need to have a “conversation” about that. OK, but let’s add to that discussion how the Dallas shooter was a self-avowed black racist, and exactly how he got that way.
My point here is simple, black leaders need to tone down the anti-white and anti-police rhetoric and stop telling young black men that cops and are their enemies out to kill them on a whim. It is a lie and it only hurts their community.
Good leaders do not inflame the masses to gain power – they search for solutions. As long as some black leaders continue to justify and even glorify cop killers, while disregarding the facts, young impressionable children, growing up in a world of daily violence, will feel justified in using that violence against those whom they are told are their enemies.
Consider how this race baiting has changed the typical encounter between an otherwise law abiding, but speeding, African American and the police officer who stops him.
First, because of a worldview developed listening to the lies of the power mongers, this speeder sees the stop, and almost every action taken by the police officer, as an assault on their race. As a result, the situation will be more tense and likely to turn violent.
For the officer, when they stop someone who immediately gets confrontational, it makes them suspicious there is more going on – heightening tensions and increasing the likelihood of violence.
Because race is involved, both the police and the speeder know they are under a media microscope. If the officer makes the slightest mistake, expresses anger, or even does everything right, this event will lead the evening news. The suspect, like a spoiled child who knows his parents are scared to discipline him, demands deference, further escalating the tension and the chances for violence.
Now add to the mix crimes beyond speeding.
Violence is ugly. There is no pretty way for police to take a suspect down, especially when their actions are judged by a 10-second video only showing the worst of the confrontation with no reference to the actions that led to the use of force required to contain a violent or potentially deadly situation.
I have been a town cop, Maryland state trooper and reserve sheriff’s deputy in one of the most violent counties in Maryland. I know firsthand the tough job that these men and women do daily. They are human beings, they care, they have feelings, and they make mistakes. The difference is that their mistakes can cost a life, ruin a career, label them as bigots, and land them in jail. Yet, amazingly, they do it anyway.
It is time to tone down the rhetoric. Basing the news value or guilt of the participants involved in a police confrontation solely on the color of their skin is both immoral and foolish. It only makes it more likely to happen again.
After an investigation, if we find a bad cop, there will be no complaint from good cops when the officer is removed to the criminal justice system. Otherwise, teach children to respect and honor police as their friends and servants in the community.
There have been great strides in white/black race relations since the days of Martin Luther King. Even the President has admitted that perhaps America is not as divided as some have suggested. We cannot let hate spawned to garner political power reverse our progress.
The race baiting has got to stop.
Punchbowl Shelter
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The Founders Tavern 
The Cost of Race Baiting
Posted in Political Commentary, tagged Black lives matter, conservative, Dallas, police, Race baiting on July 14, 2016| Leave a Comment »
They say you can prove anything with statistics – but only if you are willing to lie.
Courtesy Dallas News
Last weekend, President Obama said that statistics show that police kill more blacks than whites – a statistical truth. The statistical lie, however, is that African Americans, which according to the US Census Bureau make up about 13 percent of the population, are responsible for 52 percent of the homicides in the US, according to Bureau of Justice statistics. Is it really a surprise then, when they more often come into conflict with police.
Or, how about this uncomfortable statistic. According to the FBI, this same 13 percent of the population also commits 42 percent of all the cop killings in the country.
This column, however, is not about trading competing statistics. It is about how politicians and pundits, using misleading statistics and outright lies, have inflamed elements of the black community and the deadly results that have followed.
This article is about the worthy but one-sided quest to destroy racism among whites while ignoring and even encouraging black racism.
It is about the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, now taken over by the New Black Panthers, who are more interested in provoking hatred to build political power than they are in solving black neighborhood violence.
And it is about black communities continuing to drown in violence while their leaders get rich.
Here, of course, I must put in the obligatory disclaimer that white racism still exists and we need to have a “conversation” about that. OK, but let’s add to that discussion how the Dallas shooter was a self-avowed black racist, and exactly how he got that way.
My point here is simple, black leaders need to tone down the anti-white and anti-police rhetoric and stop telling young black men that cops and are their enemies out to kill them on a whim. It is a lie and it only hurts their community.
Good leaders do not inflame the masses to gain power – they search for solutions. As long as some black leaders continue to justify and even glorify cop killers, while disregarding the facts, young impressionable children, growing up in a world of daily violence, will feel justified in using that violence against those whom they are told are their enemies.
Consider how this race baiting has changed the typical encounter between an otherwise law abiding, but speeding, African American and the police officer who stops him.
First, because of a worldview developed listening to the lies of the power mongers, this speeder sees the stop, and almost every action taken by the police officer, as an assault on their race. As a result, the situation will be more tense and likely to turn violent.
For the officer, when they stop someone who immediately gets confrontational, it makes them suspicious there is more going on – heightening tensions and increasing the likelihood of violence.
Because race is involved, both the police and the speeder know they are under a media microscope. If the officer makes the slightest mistake, expresses anger, or even does everything right, this event will lead the evening news. The suspect, like a spoiled child who knows his parents are scared to discipline him, demands deference, further escalating the tension and the chances for violence.
Now add to the mix crimes beyond speeding.
Violence is ugly. There is no pretty way for police to take a suspect down, especially when their actions are judged by a 10-second video only showing the worst of the confrontation with no reference to the actions that led to the use of force required to contain a violent or potentially deadly situation.
I have been a town cop, Maryland state trooper and reserve sheriff’s deputy in one of the most violent counties in Maryland. I know firsthand the tough job that these men and women do daily. They are human beings, they care, they have feelings, and they make mistakes. The difference is that their mistakes can cost a life, ruin a career, label them as bigots, and land them in jail. Yet, amazingly, they do it anyway.
It is time to tone down the rhetoric. Basing the news value or guilt of the participants involved in a police confrontation solely on the color of their skin is both immoral and foolish. It only makes it more likely to happen again.
After an investigation, if we find a bad cop, there will be no complaint from good cops when the officer is removed to the criminal justice system. Otherwise, teach children to respect and honor police as their friends and servants in the community.
There have been great strides in white/black race relations since the days of Martin Luther King. Even the President has admitted that perhaps America is not as divided as some have suggested. We cannot let hate spawned to garner political power reverse our progress.
The race baiting has got to stop.
Punchbowl Shelter
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Read Full Post »