John Lott’s newest piece at the Daily Caller starts this way:
Yesterday’s “Nationwide Day of Rage for Ferguson,” demonstrations that were planned to protest police violence against blacks for the 51 cities across the U.S., was a bust. Is it possible that most blacks believe that violent crime, not the threat of police, is the real danger that threatens black Americans, particularly young black males?
The high point of protests was a mere 40 people showing up outside the White House. Some 20 to 30 people showed up in cities such as Boston, Denver, and Des Moines. In places such as St. Louis and Oakland, virtually no one seemed to turn up.
While a new Gallup poll shows blacks have less confidence in police and the criminal justice system than whites, the gaps are hardly overwhelming. Thirteen percentage points more blacks have very little/no confidence in police (25 percent versus 12 percent) and ten percentage points more feel that way about the criminal justice system (40 percent versus 30 percent). But on the honesty and ethics of police, the gap is even smaller – seven percent say it is low/very low (17 percent to 10 percent).
As each day passes, Michael Brown looks more like a thug, not an innocent victim. Unsubstantiated news reports indicate Officer Darren Wilson “suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture, and was nearly beaten unconscious by Michael Brown moments before firing his gun.” The 6’4”, 292 pound Brown had just manhandled a store clerk 15 minutes before his altercation with Wilson.
Yet, Wilson, who in February received a commendation for “extraordinary effort in the line of duty” and never had a complaint lodged against him, was instantly viewed as the guilty party in Brown’s death.
Many have made up their minds that Wilson is guilty. On Sunday, Congressman William Lacy Clay (D-MO) had no doubt: “this entire case of the murder of Michael Brown at the hands of a Ferguson police officer.” Democrat Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s characterization of Brown as the “victim.” Twice within a week, Obama complained: “There’s no excuse for excessive force by police.”
Within days of the shooting, Michael Brown’s family released an angry statement blaming, Darren Wilson, the police officer: “execution style murder of their child by this police officer as he held his hands up, which is the universal sign of surrender.”
These feelings don’t come out of thin air. Black pepole have legitimate historical grievances over how they have been treated by police. But today the main problem facing the black community is black-on-black crime. . . .
The claims of current discrimination by police are weak. Take NBC’s Meet the Press this past Sunday, Andrea Mitchell claimed she had proof of racism in Ferguson’s law enforcement: “I think with a 67 percent African American community here, Wesley, and 83 percent is the arrest rate and incarceration rate is 93 percent African American, which shows you are targeting blacks.” Unfortunately, as just noted, blacks generally commit crimes at higher rates than other groups. Indeed, if blacks in Ferguson were to commit murders at the same per capita rate that blacks do nationally they would make up 94.2 percent of those incarcerated. . . .
The rest of the piece is available here.
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