Beliefs Untempered By Reality
Somebody I follow on Twitter shared this link -- an article by Gregory Hoyt at "Law Enforcement Today":
A recent survey conducted that was titled "How Informed are Americans about Race and Policing?", roughly 44% of respondents who collectively self identified as either "liberal" or "very liberal" believed over 1,000 unarmed black Americans were killed by police in 2019.Yet, these estimates are a far cry from the published data within most comprehensive sources available on police shootings, as noted in the study.
This study was a relatively simple one to understand just how familiar Americans are with published data on police shootings.
As noted within the study, researchers relied on two sources that offer detailed breakdowns of police-involved uses of force that result in death, namely "Mapping Police Violence" and "The Washington Post."
"According to the Washington Post database, regarded by Nature magazine as the "most complete database," 13 unarmed black men were fatally shot by police in 2019. According to a second database called "Mapping Police Violence", compiled by data scientists and activists, 27 unarmed black men were killed by police (by any means) in 2019."
There's a tendency to think that false beliefs are okay if they're aligned with one's side's values.
In fact, this huge distortion has probably led to a great deal of violence, and not all of it affecting just those in blue uniforms.
Wanting the truth and being for the truth means whatever the truth might be -- and not just the truths that fit with one's preconceived notions.
Years ago I worked with a Trooper who mistook a metal wallet for a firearm, shot and killed a Delta pilot on his way to the airport at 4 am. Both white males. Bad shoot and an innocent man died. It happens. Every case is different. Many factors. No responsible office wants this.
— ParsingAmerica (@NoChromeHD) April 13, 2021
People are often very bad at odds especially for rare things.
Between 13 and 27 killed by police in a year. with a US black population of 40-48 million puts your odds at about 1 in 2 million. To put the numbers in perspective your chance of being struck by lightning is 4 in 2 million. So 4 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be killed by police. Not the epidemic CNN claims. Not something you should be educating children about.
Joe j at April 13, 2021 12:36 AM
"There's a tendency to think that false beliefs are okay if they're aligned with one's side's values."
Yep. Biden won, so the election process must be just fine!
Radwaste at April 13, 2021 3:59 AM
The media do not report the race of criminals when they're not white.
Witness the killing of the Uber driver in DC. The major media, if they reported it at all, described the perpetrators as "teens," not as black, white, or other, but simply "teens." However, when the Asian spa masscre went down, the New York Times trumpeted the fact that "the suspect in custody is white."
A white suspect better fits the white violence and white racism narrative.
To paraphrase The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, "This is Social Justice, sir. When the truth contradicts the narrative, print the narrative."
Why does this matter? Because these lies of omission are being used to advance a political agenda; and the media are not just a tool in that advancement, but are actively complicit.
Conan the Grammarian at April 13, 2021 5:47 AM
Tools AND complicit is a good way to put it.
Crid at April 13, 2021 1:07 PM
One thing that the current 'anti-racism' hysteria has made apparent is that a lot of 'liberal' and 'very liberal' people have very condescending views towards black people.
I think it's fair to say that their embrace of this movement is often driven, at least in part, by genuine racism, of the 'black people are morally and intellectually inferior' variety.
Just listen to how they characterize the lives of blacks in America and the way that they believe blacks actually think and interact with society. It's often pretty egregious.
norah at April 13, 2021 1:26 PM
In the riots last year, more people died (45 or so) than unarmed blacks killed by police in the whole year. It is the media that makes people believe in absurd numbers. Currently, even a black suspect who is shooting at police and is killed is lionized and a riot ensues--I guess they think police should just run away in such cases.
Here are some other figures: of police encounters with a person with a gun, a white suspect is more likely to be killed. But because police are trying to arrest more blacks, there are more encounters.
At one urban Target, BLM activists threatened the store: if you don't stop arresting shoplifters we will burn the store down. So shoplifters should just be ok? Lawlessness hurts blacks the most because it is mostly local.
cc at April 13, 2021 4:14 PM
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