The Shoes Fit. How Comfortable Are We?
A racist, a racist? Who is racist?
You? Me? Us?
Our country, my city, my fair city? Racist? Surely not, but:
Let’s see if the shoe fits.
Let’s try on one shoe and see if it fits.
The left shoe:
A city with more than a quarter million people, black and white. High homicide rate.
Blacks and whites segregated, of course, in different neighborhoods. We do not want to get closer to people with dark skin, would we?
Police officers, both black and white, are randomly assigned to respond to calls. That is determined by 911 protocol.
Fair city, square city, middle-class city, bourgeois city, racist city? Our city!
Citizen: Mr. Police Officer, how do you respond to the call? With force or savvy? With your gun or with diplomacy and finesse. Are you a racist?
What do you say, Sir? How do respond, Sir?
Police Officer: (Silent.)
Citizen: What? I can’t hear, Sir.
Why are you so quiet? Why don’t you answer?
Police Officer: I am doing my job. I am proud of how I do my job.
Citizen: Let me tell you, I know a few things about you. You have been studied and your actions have been scrutinized. Your actions have been analyzed carefully and systematically. The analysis is so detailed, you can read about it in the flagship econ journal. Over 1.2 million observations we have on you in our fair city.
Fair city, square city, middle-class city, bourgeois city, racist city? Our city!
Citizen: If you are White, you are 60% more likely to use force than the average Black police officer.
Ouch!
Ouch!
But hold on:
In a Black neighborhood, Mr. White Police Officer, you are 85% more likely to use force than your Black colleague. 85%!
Fair city, square city, middle-class city, bourgeois city, racist city? Our city!
Boy, that shoe fits, pretty well. The left shoe, not too short, not too tight. Fits pretty well.
The right shoe.
Our second city.
A city with about 150,000 people, mostly White and Hispanic.
400,000 calls to 911.
Fair city, square city, middle-class city, bourgeois city, racist city? Our city!
Citizen: Mr. Police Officer, how do you respond to the call? With force or savvy? With your gun or with diplomacy and finesse. Are you a racist?
What do you say, Sir? How do respond, Sir?
Police Officer: (Silent.)
Citizen: What? I can’t hear, Sir.
Why are you so quiet? Why don’t you answer?
Police Officer: I am doing my job. I am proud of how I do my job.
Citizen: Let me tell you. Over 400,000 observations we have on you in our fair city. In minority neighborhoods, citizens are 75 % more likely to experience violence from White officers than from Hispanic officers.
Fair city, square city, middle-class city, bourgeois city, racist city? Our city!
Boy, that shoe fits as well, fits pretty good too. The right shoe, not too short, not too tight. Fits pretty well.
Both shoes seem to fit well. These shoes won’t give us blisters. Are we comfortable walking in these shoes?
Based on:https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/aer.20201292