Assessing Police Killings of Black Americans
Since the George Floyd trial, there have been three highly contentious police killing of black Americans: Duante Wright, Ma’Khia Bryant, and Andrew Brown. Before going into an assessment of these cases, it is important to put them in context.
Every year, police kill about 250 black Americans. Just over 80 percent of black victims had either a gun or a knife; only 6 percent — less than 15 annually — were unarmed. Indeed, at the time of the Floyd trial, only 3 unarmed black Americans had been killed by the police in 2021.
Social justice advocates justify the focus on police killings because of the fear they spread in black communities. In a 2019 USAToday opinion piece, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s son, Dante, recalled a late night walk in a problematic San Francisco neighborhood:
[T]he only time I felt fear during that entire night was at the very end of the walk, as I stared hopelessly at the keypad outside my family friend’s apartment building… When a police cruiser slowly rolled down the empty block [and] pulled over right in front of me. I knew I had to get into the apartment… I frantically, and correctly, typed in the door code so fast that the cops didn’t even have a chance to step out of the car to question me. My fear in that moment meant that I wasn’t even going to give them the chance.
After the Jakob Blake shootings, this rationale was amplified by LeBron James. “I know people get tired of hearing me say it but we are scared as Black people in America," James decried. "Black men, Black women, Black kids, we are terrified.”
These fears are misguided. First, black homicides are more than 30 times the number of black police killings and over 90 percent are committed by other blacks. This black-on-black crime is what the vast majority of black residents fear not lethal police actions. Moreover, these recent police killings were not random blacks but reflect a particular set of circumstances and individual characteristics, demonstrating that law-abiding black Americans should not fear for their lives when interacting with police.
Ma’Khia Bryant was a troubled 16 year old who was killed as she was about to plunge a knife into another girl. Rather than understanding that the officer had to make a split-second decision to stop the knifing, social justice advocates characterized it as another racist killing even after the video of the incident was released. In the Washington Post, Sally Nuamah reported, “This death fits a pattern in which Black girls are punished disproportionally for ostensible offenses because of their race and gender.”
Similarly, a Slate story was headlined, “Police Have Killed at Least Five Children in the Past Month Alone: When will it stop?” Besides Bryant, the story highlighted the police killings of Adam Toledo (Chicago), Anthony Cano (Chandler, AZ) and Anthony Thompson (Knoxville). Toledo had fired his gun and dropped it less than one second before being shot by a chasing police officer. Cano had accidently dropped his gun while fleeing and was shot as he was picking it up. Thompson had a gun and when one officer tried to take it away, it fired and in response another officer fatally shot him. While there may be justification in questioning some of these police actions, the Slate article ignored key facts: All were armed and resisting police.
The Wright and Brown cases are quite similar. In each case, you had an individual with an outstanding warrant that almost certainly meant significant jail time. Wright was out on bail for an assault and burglary and had a warrant for brandishing an illegal gun in a public setting which would have led to the revocation of his bail. Brown had drug-related warrants that, as a result of prior arrests for similar charges, would have likely meant jail time. In each case, they resisted arrest and tried to flee.
Neither of these individuals should have been killed; and officers responsible should be criminally charged. However, these were not random law-abiding black men. A more accurate takeaway from these unfortunate incidents is that there are black men who have chosen a life of crime and when confronted with jail make bad decisions. This was the case of Rayshaw Brooks in Atlanta and Jakob Blake in Kenosha. And when their actions are combined with law enforcement officials also making bad decisions, it can have lethal consequences.
An immediate retort is: Given deep structural racism, many black men are unable to find decent steady employment and are driven into a life of crime. In the 1980s, we were told that many black men were unwilling to take the demeaning jobs that their fathers had taken and then we were told that they didn’t take them because, contrary to the evidence, these men could make much more money selling drugs. Just recently, a Washington Post story was subtitled: “How systemic racism shaped Floyd’s life and hobbled his ambitions.”
Unlike Duante Wright, who dropped out of high school and embraced the street life, Floyd graduated high school and for two years attended community colleges. He was laser focused on becoming a professional football player and when his tight end career didn’t pan out, Floyd dropped out and seemed to immediately start selling drugs. Two decades ago, this was a cautionary tale of the dangers when black youth had unrealistic dreams of a professional sport career and ignored effective life planning.
Now, we are told, the problem is systemic racism that stunted academic skill development: Floyd growing up in a housing project and was forced to go to inferior schools. Of course, the article ignored the downside of being raised in a single parent household or his decision not to expand his skillset through vocational training. What ended Floyd’s life was indefensible but the focus on systemic racism doesn’t help us guide others coming from his circumstances to make better choices.
Finally, there is the implicit rationale that black men have every right to refuse to take demeaning poverty-wage jobs. This is why social justice advocates promote a “four-year college for all” vision, resulting in many like Floyd to be unsuccessful in community college academic programs. Only 27 percent of black students entering community colleges in 2012 had achieved a degree after six years. As a result, almost one-quarter of black men, 25 to 29 years old have some college but no degree.
By contrast, short-term certificates can be built upon, enabling young men to have career ladders. They may begin at poverty-level wages but through steady employment and career building, the vast majority can eventually enter the solid middle class. U.S. Census data indicated that in 2018, 50-year-old black men averaged 38 percent higher wages than 30-year-old black men.
It would be ideal to start at a middle-class wage, and reducing the barriers black youth face is important. However, sustaining full-time continuous employment is the key to fulfilling middle class aspirations; and keeping many vulnerable black youths from gravitating to the street life.
Robert Cherry is a member of 1776Unites and author of Why the Jews? Transforming Twentieth Century American Pop Culture (Rowman & Littlefield).
