Floyd tragedy changed my mind about police conduct

For many years, I was skeptical about accusations of racism in the criminal justice system. Yes, I knew that Blacks comprised only about 12% of the population yet represented 33% of the prison population. But those data alone did not prove police are racists or that courts are tougher on Blacks.

The relevant criterion is not the percentage of the population, but the percentage of the criminal population, and when you consider the higher rates of offending among African Americans, the seemingly disproportionate rates of incarceration make sense.

Well, some countered, if you look at who winds up on death row, you can see the racism at work. Less than half of murder victims in the U.S. are white, yet a 2003 study found 80% of inmates on death row had killed white people. I wasn’t convinced. It might be evidence of racism, or it could be that when people kill others of their same race, they are more likely to know them. These could be crimes of passion and therefore less likely to draw the death penalty. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 2001 and 2005, nearly 78% of Blacks were murdered by other Blacks, and nearly 70% of whites were killed by other whites.

I thought Michael Brown’s death at the hands of a cop in Ferguson was tragic, but the Department of Justice investigation found that the forensic evidence supported the officer’s version of events.

My views have changed though, bit by bit, over the past half-decade. Was it the sheer accumulation of cases? Eric Garner was choked to death. Yes, he was resisting arrest, but for what? For selling untaxed cigarettes. Freddie Gray, 25, was taken into custody in Baltimore. Handcuffed but not belted to his seat, police took him for what they called a “rough ride.” Somehow, he snapped his spine in the van. He lapsed into a coma and died a week later.

Laquan McDonald, 17, had PCP in his system and a knife in his hand. But contrary to the police report suggesting McDonald was shot after lunging at police, the autopsy showed he was hit 16 times, nine in the back.

And, of course, there’s the depraved murder of George Floyd, crushed to death under the knee of a pitiless cop while three others stood by.

I know there are videos of whites being shot by police. And as John McWhorter argues, it’s likely we haven’t seen those because they don’t fit the narrative.

And yet, I think of the testimony of Black men that they are routinely pulled over and hassled for “driving while Black.” Is that their imagination?

There’s data about those traffic stops. A study looked at 95 million traffic stops by 56 police agencies between 2011 and 2018. They found Blacks were far more likely than Whites to be pulled over.

A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research in February looked at responses to 2 million 911 calls in two cities. It found that white officers were five times as likely to use force, including deadly force, in minority neighborhoods than African American officers.

I’ve long believed police have a difficult job and deal with the worst of the worst on a daily basis.

I’m grateful for their protection. And there’s a lot of crying wolf in the race business. But I’ve come to believe that mistreatment of African Americans is not a myth and is not uncommon.

I’m glad so many Americans are signaling their dismay at these outcomes. People’s minds can change. Mine did.