It is time to stop keeping any statistics, except medical, by race. The nation will never heal while someone’s race is the most important characteristic. A headline “black man killed by white policeman” is very different from “man shot while resisting arrest.” The second one actually gives some important information.
“It is time to stop keeping any statistics, except medical, by race.”
There will always be someone coming up with these numbers. If official statistics are not compiled, then there will only be fake and exaggerated numbers. I think most of us have seen the man on the street videos where a black person is asked how many unarmed blacks are killed by police, and they usually give 1000-2000 as an answer, which is about 100 times too many. Maybe if more people knew that, things would become a little less emotional.
Wrong.
We didn’t survive by NOT noticing things.
We evolved looking at everything. We sense potential danger by being aware of the slightest differences and by noticing what is familiar or unfamiliar.
We are wary of strangers. If someone is unfamiliar, looks out of place, is dressed funny, or talks funny, we become suspicious.
Every detail is relevant when assessing danger - someone you don’t know, someone out of place. What makes someone “out of place”? Who cares. Don’t we have a right to base our suspicions on our own past experiences and observations? If am more suspicious of a group of black men than I am of a group of Asian women, isn’t that my business?
I’ve heard of people being mugged by black men in the city. I’ve never heard of anyone being mugged by Asian women. So I’ll avoid one and not worry about the other. Does that make me racist, or sexist?
No, that kind of wariness, based on personal experience, generalities and assumptions is how we survive in a world full of unknowns.
At least that is how we used to survive.
Now, in the age of political correctness, we are supposed to ignore any preconceived notions. We should not be suspicious of strangers because it might offend them.
We are being asked to give up every survival tool that kept us safe for thousands of years: walls, weapons, wariness.
Think about it. We don’t even look both ways before crossing the road anymore - we just wait for the little blinking “walk” sign to tell us when to cross.
Pathetic.