Here’s the problem with this post. You assigned collective responsibility to a demographic – young black males – for their disparate crime statistics. Most young black males have nothing to do with this and contribute to this problem in no way. Most young black males are entirely innocent of any wrongdoing. Most young black males act perfectly appropriately and respectfully to the rest of society.
I am assigning collective responsibility to police (while recognizing that most police officers are fine individuals). This is entirely different. Police are not a “demographic” – it’s an occupation. They are trained and organized. They have formal, organized leadership with an organizational culture. This organizational culture is the critical difference – there is no organization culture for young black males (or any other ethnic/age demographic). And this organizational culture is the problem. This organizational culture, I believe, tolerates and even encourages young black males to be treated differently than young white males for their race and race alone. And this statistic demonstrates this.
So your comparison is complete and utter bullshit, and shame on you for making it. Most black males are doing what they’re supposed to be doing, and you (and anyone else) have nothing to complain about the behavior of most young black males. While most police officers are also behaving properly, this organizational culture that disproportionately harms young black males still exists. Police officers and supporters of the police still have a duty to change this organizational culture. Young black males, on the other hand, have a duty to treat people with respect – and most of them do this.
The majority of young black males is not the problem. The majority of police officers, similarly, is not the problem. The organizational culture of many or most American police forces are the problem, in my opinion. There is no analogous organizational culture for young black males to criticize.