Rethinking the role of race in crime and police violence

In a nation grappling with a seemingly endless cycle of violent crime and police shootings, the public narrative often perpetuates a simplistic assumption: These issues are exclusively Black experiences. However, a closer examination of the data reveals a far more complex picture that challenges this oversimplified notion. In 2023, data on police shootings revealed a complex picture, with approximately 40% of civilians shot being white, 20% Black, 13% Hispanic, and three percent of other races; notably, the race/ethnicity of a significant portion--24%--of those shot by police in the same year was not reported, highlighting ongoing challenges in transparency and data collection surrounding these critical incidents.