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Is America’s criminal justice system racist? Of course, it is. Our woke overlords say it is and they use their cultural hegemony to drive home the narrative that our police, DAs, and judges are out to get Americans of color, especially black Americans. And this is why black Americans, for instance, are overrepresented in our jails and overrepresented in the number of Americans felled by police gunfire.
But is this narrative true? Are our woke overlords honest brokers of information?
To answer these questions, I decided to do some citizen journalism. I went to New York City’s OpenData website and downloaded the shooting crime data for the first half of 2022. Here’s what I found.
For the first half of 2022, 844 New Yorkers were shot. Of those 844 known shooting incidents, the race/ethnicity of the shooter was known in 542 of them. Here are the demographics of the known shooters:
| Group | Known Shooters | Percentage of Known Shooters | Percentage of NYC Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 375 | 69.18% | 24.3% |
| White Hispanic | 102 | 18.82% | 25.5% |
| Black Hispanic | 49 | 9.04% | 3.5% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 8 | 1.48% | 14.2% |
| White | 8 | 1.48% | 32.1% |
And here are the demographics of the 844 gunshot victims:
| Group | Known Gunshot Victims | Percentage of Known Gunshot Victims | Percentage of NYC Population |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black | 552 | 65.4% | 24.3% |
| White Hispanic | 158 | 18.72% | 25.5% |
| Black Hispanic | 76 | 9.0% | 3.5% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 31 | 3.67% | 14.2% |
| White | 26 | 3.08% | 32.1% |
| American Indian/Alaskan Native | 1 | 0.12% | NA |
If the above shooting incident data are a good proxy for all violent crime in New York City, it doesn’t look like the “inequities” black New Yorkers suffer in the criminal justice system are the result of “systemic racism.” Yes, black New Yorkers are more likely than white New Yorkers to be jailed or shot by the police (blacks make up 56 percent of Rikers Island’s population and accounted for 50 percent of the people shot by the NYPD in 2020). But they are also more likely than white New Yorkers to engage in violent crime. If black New Yorkers only committed 1.5 percent of the shootings, then I would find Rikers Island’s black population and the NYPD’s black shot count very suspect. But black New Yorkers don’t do 1.5 percent of the shootings, they do 69 percent of the shootings. Rikers Island’s black population and the NYPD’s black shot count strike me as pretty damn equitable—a group that is overrepresented in violent crime should be overrepresented in our jails and should be overrepresented in the number of citizens felled or wounded by police gunfire.
Oh, and before I go, I’d like to ask some questions regarding the data in the second table. Who suffers the most from violent crime in New York City? And who do you suppose has suffered the most from the recent efforts of New York and other blue cities to demonize cops and go soft on crime? If you answered far more black and brown people than white people to both questions, go straight to the head of the class.
Final Thoughts
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. What say you? I say the woke charge that our criminal justice system is rife with “systemic racism” is nothing but woke propaganda. Let me know what you think when you get a chance. Peace.
Keep pushing back on the false narrative.
I still haven’t figured why God put me on this planet. Perhaps it was to be an irritant? Well, as long as so many of our professional journalists remain compromised, I’ll continue to practice journalism without a license. Have a great weekend, Maryanne. Cheers.
Mr. Groovy recently posted…A Citizen Journalist Fact Checks the Woke Narrative on America’s Criminal Justice System
Here’s an interesting fact: Black traffic accident deaths have soared since the George Floyd riots. The reason being police no longer want to stop Black motorists driving drunk/recklessly/speeding because of the risks of being accused of racism.
I’m not surprised. Broken-window policing isn’t about harassing everyday citizens for petty offenses. It’s about using petty offenses to capture serious felons and prevent serious crimes. But apparently, our vaunted leadership is more concerned about “racist” cops than public safety. The end result is a surge in violent crime and a surge in mayhem on our roadways. Have a great weekend, my friend. Cheers.