In case you’ve forgotten some of the knee-jerk responses to the Boulder shooting, let me remind you. Here’s a Deadspin editor bringing up a “white man with an AR-15” and a USA Today editor replying “It’s always an angry white man. Always.” (She was fired over that tweet.)
“Activist, feminist, author”
How she reacted when she thought the shooter was white vs. when he turned out to be muslim: pic.twitter.com/V0Lj6ms2im
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) March 23, 2021
There’s clearly a narrative about angry white men with guns that these people are leaning into. And it’s not just a handful of snarky leftists with blue check marks. As I pointed out, some of the tweets about the shooter’s race were liked by tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people.
170,000 likes pic.twitter.com/7nJwIGf7W4
— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) March 23, 2021
Today, Megan McArdle looked at the actual data on mass shootings and she concludes the narrative about white shooters and white supremacy disproportionately driving mass shootings is false.
James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, maintains a database in collaboration with USA Today and the Associated Press that covers all mass shootings in the United States since 2006. When I asked him to analyze the data around incidents such as the Boulder massacre, he confirmed that about 55 percent of perpetrators in such incidents had been reported as White. (In some cases, race was unreported). Using a different dataset that ran from 1976 to 2019, with more inclusive criteria for inferring race, Fox found that some 64 percent of shooters were White…
Most mass shootings are committed by adult men, and census data shows that about 67 percent of adult men in the United States are non-Hispanic Whites. So it appears that the number of White men committing these crimes is close to what we’d expect from pure chance, maybe even slightly lower — the opposite of what we’d see if white supremacy culture were at fault.
How about the related claim that police are more likely to arrest rather than kill a mass shooter if they are white. That also appears to be false. It’s true that police are less likely to kill white mass shooters but that’s only because white mass shooters are more likely to kill themselves.
White attackers do seem less likely to be shot by police. According to Fox, five of the 87 public mass shooting attacks in the database involved White shooters who were killed by police. During that same period, 10 non-White shooters were killed, as were five others whose race was unknown.
Yet that doesn’t mean, as some have suggested, that Whites are more likely to be apprehended alive in these public massacres; apparently, White shooters more often commit suicide before police can get to them. Overall, Whites are both half of those who commit mass shootings and also about half of those who die during their crime.
You can’t really blame the police for not killing mass shooters who are already dead when they get to them.
So these messages that were sent out by thousands of people and liked by hundreds of thousands more are just not true. And yet they are out there, ahead of the evidence, distorting the reality of these situations for millions of people who see these comments on social media.
What is happening here would be quickly identified as racial stereotyping it it were being directed at any other racial group because that’s exactly what this is. As for why so many people believe this, I suspect it’s the same reason so many people still believe “Hands up, don’t shoot” happened. Whether it’s true or not, it fits their political preconceptions about race and about the police.
Never reported is the fact that the shooters are almost all Democrats
That’s because GOP shooters are too cheap to buy bullets. They would rather starve you or kick you out of your home or deny health coverage as a way of more slowly killing a person!
It’s nice of you to wear your politics on your sleeve but you just don’t look smart when you make up facts
Boy, I don’t know where you get your info, but you need to do a little more real research. You just make yourself look silly by spouting the rhetoric that the mainstream, and big tech, media give you. Broaden your horizons a bit and learn to think for yourself. You’ll be amazed by what the true facts are. You’re posting on this site so I know you have access to the research material. Use it, you just might be glad you did.
I gather that you are very delusional, at best. Did you know that 75% of charitable donations are made by CONSERVATIVES? Did you know that the major lending institutions are run by DEMOCRATS? Did you know that Social Security was taken out of the Trust and placed in the General Fund by a DEMOCRAT president and a DEMOCRAT controlled house and senate? Did you know it was a DEMOCRAT president that used a deficit to TAX Social Security benefits? Did you know it was a DEMOCRAT president that made people pay a FINE equal to a months pay for not signing on to his healthcare that they couldn’t afford? Did you know that 30 million people lost their healthcare because of forced government regulations and government healthcare? Did you know that blacks are the highest percentage, 68%, for mass shootings (where 4 or more are killed in a single incident)(FBI Criminal Statistics)? There is a “mass shooting” EVERY single week in DEMOCRAT controlled Chicago.
Malcolm X “The white liberal is the worst enemy to America, and the worst enemy to the black man.” The only people living in the past who think in terms of I’m a Democrat or Republican, is the American Negro. He’s the one that runs around bragging about party affiliation. He’s the one that sticks to the Democrat.
Malcolm X “The white liberal is the worst enemy to America, and the worst enemy to the black man.” The only people living in the past who think in terms of I’m a Democrat or Republican, is the American Negro. He’s the one that runs around bragging about party affiliation. He’s the one that sticks to the Democrat.
TLC,YOUR BRAIN ON CRACK!
How about other criteria such as the sex of the shooter or more truthfully (which might not be published) their political leanings or the party they belonged to. Funny though, I used to see the political party printed as part of the article but that is not part of their narrative or agenda. The color of their skin only matters if you are trying to divide the public further. Well try adding this last one. That is the one I’m interested in.
And haters of God, the Bible and Christians. Oh wait that’s every flipped out radical democrat psychopath.
dude looks pretty white to me…. jus sayin he ain’t no snoop dog or Samuel Jackson.
Well maybe if you would educate yourself and actually do your homework you would learn the shooter in Boulder was a Trump hating Muslim who came here from Syria.
I realize that doesn’t match your narrative but the truth and the facts rarely do….
That’s because you are incapable of rational thought. His background is Syrian born, brought to U.S. by parents. “Dude” is NOT “white”, which I’ve never seen a “white” person in my life, caucasian yes, “white” no.
OMG “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” Never happened. You know that and I know that. Why does the liberal media, CBS, NBC, ABC, CBS, CBS keep promoting it. Do they enjoy “dividing” this county and causing/promoting racial issues.
It’s really easy for people say it’s racist or racism when they have never experienced it. It’s easy to say the country is being divided when it is plainly seen that a Black person is or has been violated (and sometimes unto death).
To those that feel and/ or believe that racism is dividing our country, what are YOU doing to stop this division?
Topic at hand: the entire discussion is about skin color. So a shirtless guy (without any other information) walks into a store. What color Is he? He is what everyone one see!
I have to agree with you. In the past 12+ plus yrs the media has started the race thing, backed by the democrats, who felt they could control the radical groups out there to serve their purpose. It didn’t really work, but the media has carried on the fight. The fight which divides us rather than brings us together.
Do a little research for yourself. It available with just a few click of your mouse, or hand. Look at the statistics. Study the black on black, or Middle East on Middle East, or green on green. You’ll be amazed on what the facts really tell you without the bias of the speaker.
The answer is simple Randy, there is no standard that the mass media journalists are legally required to adhere to. Assuming they went to college and majored in journalism, I’m sure there was a standard that was suggested in their curriculum, but that’s a far cry from what we’re seeing from mass media now. They appear to be able to say anything they want without any consequences whatsoever even if they are lying in order to advance their opinion or agenda. That’s absolutely wrong and I want that changed. Once conservatives regain the majority in 2022 with enough votes to override a possible veto (I hope), one piece of legislation that’s needed is a license to practice the craft of journalism with severe consequences when not adhering to a standard. After all, there are many professions that require a license. It has nothing to do with freedom of the press; it has everything to do with not trying to sway the public mind with endless lies and innuendo.
I like it. 2022 can’t get here fast enough. I do hope they get biden out of there long before that. He’s causing dangerous problems for the citizens of our country
But God help us if Corilla Devile Camilla takes over! We will be getting disarmed and/or shot to death for not surrendering our guns to the UN military and under martial, bowing down to her highnass.
Yes! The ‘fake’ media cannot admit its faults unless pressure to correct outright lies are placed on them. Even then, they’ll find someway to twist it so they don’t look as guilty as they are
The real problem is the networks want them to report lies.
TLC is way off base on comments. “That’s because GOP shooters are too cheap to buy bullets. They would rather starve you or kick you out of your home or deny health coverage as a way of more slowly killing a person!” Such illogical and senseless drivel, sparked by an ignorance of the facts and history. Poverty and squalor are in places run by Democrats. The last tax bill put thousands of dollars back into middle class pockets. More money means you can keep the home that Democrat policies were causing you to lose …
Ah, c’mon man, gimmee a break! I know what I know, don’t try to confuse me with facts! Obviously, the shooter was a white supremacist with an AK-47. Anything else is malarkey!