'The police are not the issue!': The police should not be blamed for the problems of a racialized society

America is systemically anti-racist. The current debate has been souped up by a liberal elite desperate to turn the country into a war-torn political battleground before the 2020 election. Black poverty is at a historic low. Trump's government has ushered in a series of laws to reduce racial inequality, such as the First Step Act, which freed thousands of non-violent black inmates from prison. The idea that inequality stems from systemic racism is cheap and false. And part of a liberal political agenda to seed resentment instead of deal with the causes of these issues. Proponents include The Australian Foreign Editor Greg Sheridan.

This important debate about race relations has been subverted by emphasis on the police. Much academic research has shown that increasing visible police presence reduces crime rates. The same cannon of research shows that areas with higher crime rates have more police. Scaling back law enforcement would have dangerous repercussions for all. Proponents include Fox anchor Laura Ingraham and Republican senator Ted Cruz.

The data doesn't lie. African Americans are responsible for 52% of homicides, and yet make up just 12% of the population. This group are prone to violent criminal behaviours. The unequal level of police interaction - of all kinds - with African Americans must be read within this context. Were African Americans less predisposed to dangerous behaviour, police time would not be so unevenly spent on shielding the public from them. Proponents include CUNY Criminology Professor Barry Latzer, who notes high black incarceration rates “are best explained not by race bias, but by exceptionally high African American crime commission rates and the imposition of prison sentences for conduct previously punished by jail or probation.”

Public outcry victimizes the police. Research shows that police institutions are not racist. A study by Harvard economist Roland G. Fryer Jr. found no evidence of racial discrimination in shootings. Reports that suggest otherwise do not account for crime rates and civilian behavior during police interactions.

There is no doubt that racism exists in some police officers. But this unfortunate minority of cases should not be used to make generalizing points about a group that includes over 800,000 police. It is offensive to take the actions of a brutish few to tar the reputations of the many.

The actions of the police are shaped by politicians and lawmakers. For decades, they have been directed to deliberately undermine black communities. Proponents point to Nixon's War on Drugs, which was later confirmed to have been a policy crafted to victimise blacks. This tradition has sustained throughout successive governments. As New York Times opinion writer Jamelle Bouie states, "Trump explicitly rejects the legitimacy of nonwhites as political actors, having launched his political career on the need for more and greater racial control of Muslims and Hispanic immigrants". The issue is not the police - it is with the racism embedded within our political institutions. And those who lead them. That is where we should be focusing our attention. Proponents include USA Today reporter Wenei Philimon.

Calls to abolish the police are short-sighted. As the George Floyd riots have shown us, people are predisposed to looting, violence and lawlessness. Without police the country will descend into chaotic vigilantism, the effects of which will devastate generations to come. Proponents include Attorney General William Barr.