So Kotaku (I originally saw this on Kotaku) we meet again… (http://kotaku.com/pokemon-go-could-be-a-death-sentence-for-…)
“Pokémon Go Could Be A Death Sentence For A Black Man”
The article opens with:
“This week has been a catastrophe for Blackness.”
Really? Let’s Look at the list: Abraham Smith age 30 was shot by cops, July 8, 2016 did anyone hear about this?
How about Vinson Ramos age 36, July 7, 2016, Thomas Vandemark, age 65, July 7, 2016. Melissa Ventura, age 24 July 6, 2016, Joshua Bolster, age 29 July 7, 2016, Jerry Dale Hardwick, age 34 July 5, 2016. Anyone? Anyone?
The list really does go, on and on and on.
Now I’m not going to comment on the legitimacy or justification on any individual situation, all I’m saying is it seems like dark days all around.
The article continues and provides us a link to some statistics
“It’s inexcusable, unjustifiable, and is perpetuated by a system that disproportionately targets Black Men.” (https://mic.com/…/one-troubling-statistic-shows-just-how-ra…)
Now instead of taking us to any actual source it takes us to another “news” site which gives us the following statistics…
“…analysis indicates that 18% of the black suspects were under the age of 21 when killed by the police, as opposed to just 8.7% of white suspects.”
These numbers don’t even stand up to common sense on a base aggregate. If we just throw numbers out there, without any meaning, cops kill more white people then they do black people by pure volume. Granted that fact doesn't really tell us much considering Whites are over 65% of the population and Blacks make up about 13–16% of the population depending on who’s numbers you go by. So just on pure aggregate these numbers don’t hold water, but let’s be much more investigative then that. Let’s look into crime statistics and cop shootings;
So first we have this nice little table (http://www.amren.com/…/new-doj-statistics-on-race-and-viol…/) this is crime statistic data collected and compiled during the 2012/2013 period. During this period “Blacks committed an average of 560,600 violent crimes against whites, whereas whites committed only 99,403 such crimes against Blacks. This means Blacks were the attackers in 84.9 percent of the violent crimes involving Blacks and whites.” This correlates with the 2008 data in which “of the 520,000 Black/White interracial crimes of violence attempted and committed in 2008, Blacks committed 83 percent–429,000–of them.”
It’s should also be noted that; “we find that violent interracial crime involving Blacks and Hispanics occurs in almost exactly the same proportions as Black/White crime: Blacks are the attackers 82.5 percent of the time, while Hispanics are attackers only 17.5 percent of the time.”
(This is also backed up by the FBI murder and other violent crime statistics that we’ll see latter in this reply.)
I mean we could stop there couldn't we? If the author wants suppose that he’s likely to be killed by a Cop for being Black, as he’s running around catching Pokemon. I could easily use this data to say “Whites and Hispanics are 80% ( rounded down) more likely to be the victim of a violent crime perpetrated by an African American, as we run around with our Iphones out trying to catch then all. I won’t because not only is that not the point I’m trying to make, but it lacks nuance. What I am doing is building a case, one that attributes Police Brutality, something I've been the victim of, to lack luster training, and a inability to handle stressful life threatening situations.
Now if we take a look at this: (http://i2.wp.com/…/wp-cont…/uploads/2015/11/The-Counted.jpg…) (http://newobserveronline.com/far-more-whites-killed-by-us-…/)
We see that “more than half of all people killed by US police this year (2015) have been white, while only 25 percent have been black.”
“…of the approximately 1001 people killed by police this year in America, 502 were white, 250 were black, 163 were Hispanic/Latino, 18 were Asian/Pacific Islander, 13 were American Indian, and 54 were other/unknown.”
Now we get nothing from these numbers, however this is a starting point. Looking at them, if you’re smart you’ll notice 250 African American’s where killed compared to 502 White’s that seems to be disproportionate to the population. However what you’re forgetting is we’re not comparing death to population THAT WOULD BE FUCKING STUPID; that’s like comparing an apple to a house. What you need to do is compare this to crime rates, or interactions with Cops.
Now getting actual numbers for the country is a pain in the ass, the FBI’s own data base is a shit show (https://www.fbi.gov/…/crime-in-the-u.s.-2014/tables/table-43)
It combines the crimes of Whites Hispanics into one number, and it might actually be more than just Whites and Hispanics considering I don’t see things like Arab statistics, we also miss out on nuances like demographics, but I think I can illustrate my point without that division.
51.3% Murder and nonnegligent manslaughter was committed by African Americans (ironically enough against other African Americans.)
29.9% of all rape
55.9% of all Robbery
Point being although African Americans make up 13–16% of the population, due to many factors such as poor living conditions, and gang violence they disproportionately commit crime compared to their population. Thus interact with police on about the same level as every other race. Yet Whites/Hispanics are still more likely to die 2–1 even though they commit less than half all the murder, and robbery and other violent crimes.
This is starting to seem less like a race issue and more like an incompetency issue and poor training/vetting on the part of American Police Force. There are various reasons these things happen I’m not insensitive to that, but the authors data, and thus his conclusion is wrong, and if the author of this article wants to talk about “facts” then we must unearth everything, like how a White or Hispanic is 80% (rounded down) more likely get attacked by an African American walking around catching Pokemon then an African American is. Not to flattering, the only reason I bring this up is the authors next point.
“…wondering what a second amendment exercising individual might do if I walked past their window a 3rd or 4th time in search of a Jigglypuff. “
This is a straw-man we've already established that a White or Hispanic is VASTLY more likely statistically to be the victim of a violent crime perpetrated by an African American… 80% more likely. A White or Hispanic is more likely to be mugged catching them all then you are to be shot by a “second amendment exercising individual.”
But it continues;
“The breakdown is simple:
There is a statistically disproportionate chance that someone could call the police to investigate me for walking around in circles in the complex.
There is a statistically disproportionate chance that I would be approached by law enforcement with fear or aggression, even when no laws have been broken.
There is a statistically disproportionate chance that I will be shot while reaching for my identification that I always keep in my back right pocket.
There is a statistically disproportionate chance that more shots will be fired and I will be dead before any medical assistance is available.”
No, there is not. In your head maybe, but statistically if you are White or Hispanic you have a 2–1 chance of being shot by a Cop over an African American.
I think the article can be summed up nicely with this quite: “…I walked past a somewhat visibly disturbed white woman on her way to the bus stop. “
This is insecurity plain and simple. The author assumes this woman’s motivations for her “disgusted look”. Which she could have had a plethora of other reasons for, none of which have jack, shit or fuck to do with our author. The universe does not revolve around his ass, but here’s an interesting thought experiment. Liberals have spent the better part of two decades telling women they are victims. Telling women they will be raped by men, that 1 in 5, 1 in 4, or 22 in 1 women will be raped. What if she wasn't looking at our author wither her “disgusted” look because he’s Black, what if it’s because he was a Man? This is the ultimate outcome of Identitarian Politics division of the races, sexes and sexuality’s. People putting more weight on what they are and not enough on who they are.
In short enjoy the fucking game, because I’m vastly more likely to be shot by a Cop or assaulted on my travels then the author is, because at the end of the day the issue isn't about race, the issue is about the quality of our law enforcement, the lack of training, the abuse of power, the inability to handle difficult situation.