@maxdancona,
maxdancona wrote:Hypothetically speaking (of course) Let's say that I could give you irrefutable evidence that many of the Black kids being shot were actually innocent of any violent crime or intent... and that innocent Black kids are far more likely to be shot than their White counterparts.
If this were the case, and these facts were shown to be incontrovertibly true, would you then change your mind? Would you be outraged if you were shown facts that convinced you that innocent Black kids were being killed at a far greater rate than innocent White kids?
Given that many innocent black kids are trapped in inner city poverty, where the crime and violence rate is higher than normal, I am not surprised to hear that a greater number of innocent black kids are killed.
But I think these innocent kids tend to be killed by criminals, not by police officers or by citizens defending themselves from attack.
I believe that reducing and eliminating inner city poverty will reduce the crime rates in these areas. I also believe that this is the only thing that will reduce crime rates in these areas. And I support efforts to do that.
I am not sure that I feel "outrage" over these deaths. Outrage is a pretty strong emotion. But I do support what I believe are the only policies that will reduce the deaths.
Since I do not think these deaths have anything to do with the police or with self defense cases, I have difficulty relating them back to your original point about police shootings.
But if I believed that there were a large number of cases of police shooting innocent people (regardless of skin color), I would be outraged and want measures taken to stop it from happening anymore.
I am aware of cases where police have mistakenly shot innocent people. But those cases tend to be pretty rare. And usually the police department pays large compensation to the family.
I am aware of one single case where the police mistakenly shot an innocent person, and then they they covered it up and blamed the victim so they could avoid paying compensation. But that victim was a white person.