We’ve all heard someone say it. Maybe a colleague, a family member, or someone on our Facebook or Twitter feed, all of whom appear convinced they have stumbled upon the ultimate gotcha’ to which the rest of us have no answer.
It sounds like this: “If police are so racist against black people, why do they kill more whites than blacks every year?”
It’s a great question.
Here’s a better one: If you’re a grown-ass human being, presumably in possession of a Google machine, why can’t you manage to understand the concept of per capita numbers? Riddle me that one.
I mean, should we be surprised that in a nation where whites outnumber blacks by about 5:1, more whites than blacks would be killed by police? Isn’t that pretty much to be expected? By the same token, there are more whites than blacks in poverty. This was also true during the days of formal segregation and even enslavement. But does that refute the proposition that on balance it paid to be white during both periods? Of course not.
Whatever broad social category you pick will typically have more white folks in it than black people. The question is, what is the rate at which whites…
