This is one of the few things that really stuck with me from my grad-school days. A simple mathematical analysis of racism in America. It was in a class with Professor Orlando Patterson. I think of this math when people say we should be post-racial. Or say that we need to condemn anti-white racists as…
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A few times, if I was working late enough or some church started extra early enough, I would go to church to say hello. Personally I’m a non-believing Greek Orthodox. But there’s something about a good black church that can’t be matched. Some Sunday mornings I would just sit outside, just to provide a little…
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No real point here. Except it happens. And you won’t hear this (except in Des Moines) because there’s no racial element to the story. Does that make the shooting any better or worse? I don’t think so. Apparently there was a protest of one.
I recently got some interesting data over the email transom. Here’s the thing: It’s largely assumed that white and black illegal drug use is about the same. And that’s based on legit sources. The kind of drug people take varies by race. For instance crack is still disproportionately black. Meth and LSD still mostly white.…
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What can we learn from them? I know. Nothing. Because this is America. Exceptionalism and all that. I’m not saying we could go to this model overnight, damnit! But we could still learn from it. We could learn a lot from other countries, if we got around to looking. If we start looking at police…
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My long-standing question related to Freddie Gray — no doubt tops on everyone’s list — has always been, “Why the hell were officers doing much of anything at 8:45 on a Sunday morning?!” The Baltimore Sun reports: About three weeks before Freddie Gray was chased … the office of prosecutor Marilyn Mosby asked police to…
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But still, this is getting a little crazy. Click to embiggen. Before the riots, there were 0.58 homicides per day in Charm City. Since April 27, there have been 1.44 homicides per day. That’s an increase of 150 percent! (148%, to be precise) And the increase happened literally overnight. I don’t think that has happened…
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Meanwhile, with people too busy complaining about cops, I think we’re missing the big picture. We really need to prioritize a bit here. In 2010 a 16-year-old boy was accused of stealing/robbing a backpack. He spent 3 years in a Rikers Island jail. Three years. He could have gotten out earlier, but he would have…
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I was recently asked for comments about a “Cop of the Year.” It doesn’t matter which. I didn’t know the cop, so I didn’t say much. I have no clue what he did (or didn’t) do. But I am suspicious of “cops of the year.” Are my suspicions justified? I’ll presume there are lots of…
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When it comes to policing and crime, I’m quick to harp on individual agency and free will. It matters. People make bad and harmful choices. They choose to do so. And police can prevent some of the things that lead to bad choices. Some liberals forget that. But this isn’t say that root causes don’t…
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