You People Don't Count

Somebody asked:

What does it say about America when African-American parents in 2014 need to tell their boys how to respond to police when out and about in order to come home safe and alive? 

And so I said:

It says that people in the press and chattering classes online have hyped up more political mythology and crackpot racial theories.

The fact is that there are about 40 million African Americans alive and well in America. To the best knowledge anybody has, an average of 96 are killed by police each year. Fewer African Americans of any age are killed by police than Americans are killed in car crashes with deer.  The FBI reports 3.4 million arrests of African Americans per year. Do the math. Does it sound like anyone has done a logical risk assessment here?

There is a liberal, paternalistic tradition in this country that says when anything bad happens to people, that special time, care, preparation and education must take place. Some of that is welcome part of the time. In the best of times, it's charity. More often, especially when multiculturalism is thrown into the mix, it's just condescending nonsense.

Everybody who is in the streets clashing with police, wants to be in the streets clashing with police. Right now people are flying in from other states to be in the streets clashing with police in Missouri. What do we tell them?