**My goal with this article is to evaluate data -- a lot of data. In stating so many statistics it can be easy to come across as callous and cold. That is not my intent. I do not wish to downplay anyone’s death; definitely not the gruesome and horrific murders of Ahmad Arbery and George Floyd, or any other death mentioned.
My goal is the opposite; that we will start to see that every death, every person, every number is important, and tragic.
I give minimal explanation, minimal input, while comparing the numbers below -- so you can connect the dots.
If they can control the way you feel, they can control the way you think.
Black Lives Matter
#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of the man who killed Trayvon Martin. Their mission is to “eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence.”
2015
According to a study conducted by the Dolan Consulting Group, using numbers from the Washington Post, in 2015 an estimated 990 people were killed from lethal force by police.
Of those 258 were African Americans. (10 female)
169 were Hispanic.
525 were white.
In 2015 the U.S. Census estimated there were 21,213,642 African American males in the U.S. That means 0.00001169% of black males died at the hands of police.
That same year, 6,789 African American males died from homicide, majority from other African American males due to gang violence.
That same year, 2015, Chicago had 470 homicides, and more than 2,900 people shot. Both the victims and the perpetrators were predominantly black males.
In 2015 over 13,000 officers were injured from assaults.
According to the same study, “25% of those killed by police use of force were African-American men, but 33% of law enforcement officers murdered in the line of duty were killed by African-American men."
2019
According to a study conducted by The Washington Post, 1004 people died in hands of police in 2019. (236 black, 376 white, 159 Hispanic, 233 other or unknown)
That same year Washington DC had it’s deadliest year in more than a decade with 166 homicides. (I cannot find how many of these were African Americans, but DC’s population is majority black, about 45%.)
Baltimore also had a record year with 342 homicides in 2019. (Again, I cannot find how many of those were African Americans, but blacks make up 62% of the population.)
According to NPR, from Jan. 1, 2018, to July 31, 2019, 687 black people were murdered in Chicago.
In a little over a year, these three cities alone had 1,195, mostly black, murdered people. Can you name one?
Has anyone marched for them?
2020
So far in 2020 there have been an estimated 147 black men murdered in Chicago.
On May 8th, the video of Ahmad Arbery’s murder was released.
On May 25th George Floyd was murdered.
In three days over Memorial Day weekend (5/23-5/25), 10 people were killed In Chicago, including 3 juveniles, all from gang violence.
So far from the 2020 riots, an estimated 12 people have been killed, at least five of them were black. Several more have been shot or beat.
The Media
During the protests and riots, I searched cnn.com for days but could not find anything about the following three videos on their page:
1) An older woman was filmed being beat outside her store by a group of men with 2x4s in Rochester.
2) Another man was filmed while nearly beaten to death by a large crowd while trying to defend his store in Dallas.
3) And a police chief gets emotional when explaining how rioters set fire to a home with a child inside, then blocked firefighter’s access in Richmond.
*If you find them --- please let me know.*
But in the days I scoured cnn.com I found almost a dozen analyses of Trump’s tweets, and his photo op outside St John’s church. I found an article about a policeman kneeling on a protester's neck, a video about the Prime Minister of Canada’s thoughts on Trump, and several headlines about how protesters were being met with “excessive police force.”
On June 1, two of the most opposite radio show hosts, Rush Limbaugh and Charlamagne tha god, had a 27 minute conversation. They didn’t agree on a lot as they discussed the current state of the county -- but they discussed it. I think that’s a good thing worth sharing.
The only part CNN chose to highlight was 2-and-a-half-minute clip; the headline read:
"Rush Limbaugh Denies His White Privilege”(bold added)
Why did it not say, “Rush Limbaugh Denies the Existence of White Privilege” and then the reader could decide for themselves what to think-----do you notice the difference?
A History of Riots
Since the Ferguson riots in 2014 following the death of Michael Brown, the crime rate has risen from 291 to 452 in 2017.
And since the Baltimore protests in 2015 following the murder of Freddie Gray, the number of violent crimes has jumped 17,719 to 21,667 in 2017.
Some argue this is due to a decrease in policing following the riots.
Black Lives Matters is currently circulating a petition to defund the police.
After race riots in Detroit in 1967, numerous business were destroyed, thousands of whites fled the city, and poverty rates increased.
The same for Chicago after the 1968 riots.
In both cities, and several others, African American were most harmed by the aftermath of riots.
Modern Day Slavery
Slavery is still extremely prevalent in the world, and the U.S is not exempt.
It is estimated that worldwide 40.3 million modern slaves are used for labor and/or the sex trade. Around 10 million of them are children.
In the US there are an estimated 400,000 people living as modern-day slaves. (That's the same amount of people brought to North America from Africa from 1501-1866.)
Statistics show that 46 children in America are taken and sold into slavery per day.
In the 11 days since the first building was damaged on May 27, 2020 -- an estimated 500 kids have been sold, raped, and abused within our borders.
Does anyone mention them?
Justice is necessary...having one’s voice heard is important.
But facts - facts are important. Context is crucial.
And perspective is vital.
If the media, can control the way you feel, they can control the way you think, the way you act, and the way you vote.
