Patterico's Pontifications

6/20/2021

Constitutional Vanguard: What Causes Racial Disparities in Crime Rates?

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 1:31 pm



Today’s newsletter is for paid subscribers. It follows up on my observation from previous emails that the percentage of “victims” of police shootings from any given race or ethnicity tends to be roughly the same as the percentage of felonious fatal attacks upon police committed by people from that same race. Although there are racial disparities in who ends up being the victims of police shootings, there is a similar racial disparity in who kills police officers.

Today’s newsletter asks why that would be?

I make two basic points. First, the question is more complex than the usual simplistic answers, such as citing “systematic racism.”

Second, I note a factor that people commonly overlook, but which doubtless contributes to many different racial disparities, including disparities in poverty and crime statistics. It’s a factor that has no obvious relation to racism.

I won’t do a clickbait thing. I’ll just tell you. The factor is age. You’ll never hear people talk about it in Big Media — ever — but it’s staring us all in the face.

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7 Responses to “Constitutional Vanguard: What Causes Racial Disparities in Crime Rates?”

  1. We have had a lot of visitors lately at the house and things have been busy. But I feel motivated even under those circumstances to put out something that is hopefully fresh and thoughtful, and that people can use to second-guess Big Media’s constant assumptions that all disparities are due to systematic racism. I really hope readers dig into this one. I think it highlights something that is overlooked far too often.

    Patterico (e349ce)

  2. Which is to say “culture.” It is culturally acceptable for black teenagers to do things are would be unacceptable for white teenagers. This cultural difference is no imposed from without.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  3. “systematic racism.”

    The phrase is “systemic racism” meaning not anybody’s system, but something buried deep in. (that you actually can’t do anything about – so, therefore?

    Just don’t treat people equally.)

    Second, I note a factor that people commonly overlook, but which doubtless contributes to many different racial disparities, including disparities in poverty and crime statistics. It’s a factor that has no obvious relation to racism.
    … The factor is age.

    I think you still have the disparity, even controlling for age.

    More black elementary school students are disruptive than whites. But blacks can be divided into subcategories.

    But the thing is, what’s going on doesn’t have much to do actually with race. And even when it’s race, it’s not really race.

    There are people that just promote bad thinking.

    By the way, they don’t deny or ignore all disparities related to personal traits.

    Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c)

  4. 2. Kevin M (ab1c11) — 6/20/2021 @ 2:34 pm

    This cultural difference is no imposed from without.

    Thomas Sowell said it was redneck culture. That’s not really true (except possibly with the attitude toward doing well in school.)

    But the public schools don;t teach anyway, no matter how much money is spent. There are people who implicitly argue, markets are efficient, when the government is spending the money. They don’t argue that, but they imply that. Nothing could be more false.

    About culture – it’s who a person’s friends are. And there can be differentials – every person has different friends and family – but something can get widespread across most members of a race that live in certain neighborhoods and attend certain schools and yet not travel tht much further.

    Sammy Finkelman (51cd0c)

  5. A very thoughtful and well-thought-out post, Patterico.

    nk (1d9030)

  6. The thing that fascinates me is that white Americans of European descent regardless of age have the lowest violent crime rate in the world. And also the most guns per household of any demographic on earth. Someone should study that one because it sure is counterintuitive…to imbeciles.

    JCurtis (7bffeb)

  7. white Americans of European descent regardless of age have the lowest violent crime rate in the world

    I didn’t think people still drank Sterno. And certainly not strained through Sidney Powell’s discarded feminine hygiene pads.

    nk (1d9030)


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