I have been struck by the coverage of the events in Baltimore and elsewhere during the last few days. The first night, when the police were being ordered by the mayor not to respond, there was a true riot. The cable news stations went wall to wall in their coverage. After all, nothing draws in viewers like watching CVS burning down while police get pelted with rocks and do nothing but retreat. It looks like a monstrously large crowd is overrunning the police positions. Of course, the governor finally stepped in an ordered a state of emergency and brought in the National Guard. The idiocy of the mayor could only go on for so long before someone with some sense changed the dynamic. Since then, the National Guard and the extra police on duty have been on the scene and there has been essentially no violence. Each night, we have the big count down to the ten o'clock curfew and the reporters on the streets looking for curfew violators. But even with this media circus, there has been no real violence.
Now we are seeing story after story about how the riots in Baltimore are spreading. I saw a headline about "clashes" in Philadelphia. It turned out that about 100 people marched in that city and tried to shut down I-95 which is the main north-south highway through Center City. The police moved in an stopped them. That was the big "clash". There were reports of other demonstrations too, but they all seemed rather small like the one in Philadelphia and they lacked the drama of even that event. For the most part, the demonstrations are getting more coverage than they would get if 10,000 people marched to support some other cause. The media seems more interested in raising awareness of a non-existent problem that in reporting actual news.
OK-- before I get too may emails about my calling the problem non-existent, let me explain. A man did die while in the custody of the Baltimore police. That is a real problem, but we still have no idea what happened and ought to wait for the results of the investigation. There was a riot in Baltimore, but that was the result of the idiot mayor refusing to stop the rampage by the rioters. But is there a general problem of police murdering African Americans? Of course not. Is there really a problem that blacks are put in prison in greater numbers than whites? Again the answer if no once you adjust for who is committing crimes. Each of those men in jail was tried and convicted. Those who commit crimes need to be in jail. There are a much smaller percentage of whites in prison, but that is because they commit less crime. The police are net letting white criminals alone while arresting blacks. If that were not the case, then yes, we would have a major problem. But that is not what has happened.
Now we are seeing story after story about how the riots in Baltimore are spreading. I saw a headline about "clashes" in Philadelphia. It turned out that about 100 people marched in that city and tried to shut down I-95 which is the main north-south highway through Center City. The police moved in an stopped them. That was the big "clash". There were reports of other demonstrations too, but they all seemed rather small like the one in Philadelphia and they lacked the drama of even that event. For the most part, the demonstrations are getting more coverage than they would get if 10,000 people marched to support some other cause. The media seems more interested in raising awareness of a non-existent problem that in reporting actual news.
OK-- before I get too may emails about my calling the problem non-existent, let me explain. A man did die while in the custody of the Baltimore police. That is a real problem, but we still have no idea what happened and ought to wait for the results of the investigation. There was a riot in Baltimore, but that was the result of the idiot mayor refusing to stop the rampage by the rioters. But is there a general problem of police murdering African Americans? Of course not. Is there really a problem that blacks are put in prison in greater numbers than whites? Again the answer if no once you adjust for who is committing crimes. Each of those men in jail was tried and convicted. Those who commit crimes need to be in jail. There are a much smaller percentage of whites in prison, but that is because they commit less crime. The police are net letting white criminals alone while arresting blacks. If that were not the case, then yes, we would have a major problem. But that is not what has happened.
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