There’s a reason black Americans say racism persists: The cops

The point is that in these widely-publicized incidents, the case can almost never be made that these African American men deserved to be shot dead or that the cops who shot them had genuine cause to fear for their lives. And those who claim race has nothing to do with it bear the burden of presenting a robust list of white men who’ve been killed under similar circumstances year after year.

The point, clearly, isn’t to be anti-cop. That police were gunned down last week in the midst of a peaceful protest is sickening. Their lives mattered, too.

The point, rather, is that police violence is not just one of many issues in black America’s take on racism: It is the central one. If it were no longer a regular occurrence for black men to be killed for no reason, that would furnish the grounds for the “get over it” orientation that many wish black America would adopt. I highly suspect black America would foster the same, almost haughty, attitude toward racism that so many other groups do.

If there were no more episodes like those in which Tamir Rice, John Crawford, Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Samuel DuBose, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and so many others were senselessly killed, black America would start sounding more like Hurston again.