13%

[Prometheus]

It's a number that pops up in talks about race relations all the time, but rarely with any real statistical value.

Let me give an example. Some time ago, I read an article bemoaning how 44-46% of the inmates on Death Row were black despite blacks only being 13% of the population. The article went on to decry this "horrible fact" but in the back of my mind, I was wondering when 100% of the US population became murderers.

If you're going to compare demographics, you need to compare demographics that are alike. Comparing an entire portion of the population of the country to the population of subset of a subset of the total population is just bad math. If you want to compare the percentages of people on death row, then you need to compare the percentages of the people who are convicted murderers not the entire population of 331,000,000 people.

Of course, if we do that, things don't work out very well for the race-baiters. Year after year, decade after decade, the statistics are pretty consistent: black people (including black Hispanics) commit about 50% of all murders in the US and white people (including white Hispanics) commit about 49%, with the other 1% being committed by Asians, Native Americans and "unknown race."

If I were to suggest that 13% of the population was responsible for half of the murders every year, there would be an immediate outrage, but it's a stat that actually has better standing.

Back to the point: If whites only commit 49% of the murders yet represent 54-56% of the inmates on death row, then it actually makes sense that THEY are the ones that are over-represented.

This is where people will want to diverge from the argument at hand and start talking about wrongful convictions, prosecutorial misconduct, institutionalized racism in the justice system, etc. That's all fine by me. I'll agree that those are problems, but if you're going to try to suggest that black people are really only responsible for 13% of the murders simply because they are only 13% of the population then you are a fucking moron.

This is where the "poverty" argument - if not mentioned earlier - will kick into high gear. Again, we're on the same page.

I'm only pointing out the speciousness of the "13%" argument that seems to get people all in a tizzy.

Why am I pointing it out?

Because it's just one more way that the powers that be use to keep us at each other's throats and not at the throats of the powers that be.

And if you still want to hang onto the stupid notion that everything should be "equal" according to total population percentages then you're actually exhorting whites, Native Americans, Asians, etc to get out there and kill more... especially those Asians, Native Americans, etc. They represent 14% of the total population yet only account for 1% of the murders. Those fuckers simply aren't pulling their weight!

Either that or wrongful convictions, prosecutorial misconduct, institutionalized racism in the justice system etc. simply doesn't extend to those races for some strange reason.

Of course, I subscribe to a completely screwball point of view that would put an end to the whole argument:

STOP KILLING EACH OTHER!

/Monday Morning Rant

[Nightman]

STOP KILLING EACH OTHER!

I have gotten in "trouble" in real life for suggesting murders related to gang violence should be counted separately, since it's unlikely to be a victim of said gang violence unless one is also in a gang. 

[ant-mac]

Mar 9, 2021 0:19:43 GMT Nightman said:

STOP KILLING EACH OTHER!

I have gotten in "trouble" in real life for suggesting murders related to gang violence should be counted separately, since it's unlikely to be a victim of said gang violence unless one is also in a gang. 

It's easy to avoid gang violence...

"Don't fuck with the Baldies!"

[Prometheus]

Mar 9, 2021 0:19:43 GMT Nightman said:

STOP KILLING EACH OTHER!

I have gotten in "trouble" in real life for suggesting murders related to gang violence should be counted separately, since it's unlikely to be a victim of said gang violence unless one is also in a gang. 

Good point. But numbers vary based on varying definitions of "gang-related." According to some, "gang-related" only refers to when gang members kill other gang members which could bring the percentage as low as 13-30% as opposed to people being killed during the commission of a crime by gang members, which is a different idea entirely but could raise the figure to 75-80%. That's a 7 to 10,000 murder gray area (based on 15,000 homicides in a year).