The killing of George Floyd, an African American man, by a white police officer kneeling on his neck shocked the world and sparked a wave of protests across the United States calling for Black Lives Matters. Along with the protests, there are looting and vandalism everywhere, as well as more police violence. These are all old stories, nothing new, and in fact, they happen every year, every month, and every day. In American society and even around the world, various actors come on stage one after another, but they are all superficial dramas, so I won't join in the fun. Let's look beyond these superficial phenomena and explore the root causes and possible solutions behind them.

1. Do American police often use violence in law enforcement?

The answer is yes. Violent law enforcement by American police is the norm.

Police kill more than a thousand people each year (mostly by shooting), and an average of three people die at the hands of police every day.

Is it a lot? It is indeed a lot! However, more than 30,000 people die from various gun-related deaths in the United States each year, an average of about 100 people per day; more than 10,000 of them die from gun-related homicides, an average of more than 30 people per day. Relatively speaking, the number of people killed by police officers in law enforcement does not seem to be that high.

An average of 50 police officers die directly at the hands of criminals (mainly shootings) each year in the United States. This is the result of shooting more than a thousand criminals and innocent people each year under the guiding principle of "the first to strike is the strongest, the last to strike will suffer".

In sharp contrast, in the first nine months of 2019, only three police officers in mainland China died directly at the hands of criminals, less than one-tenth of that in the United States, while China's population is four times that of the United States.

It is common for American law enforcement officers to turn a blind eye to improper law enforcement. 84% of police officers admitted that they had directly witnessed their colleagues using excessive violence. 43% of police officers agreed that "always following the rules will not help you complete your mission."

The United States accounts for 5% of the world's population, but the number of prisoners in prison accounts for 25% of the world's prisoners, which is five times the world average. It is a real "police state" with high crime. The number of prisons in the United States is more than the number of universities. In contrast, the United States has 655 prisoners per 100,000 people, while China has only 120, which is exactly five times. The current data is the product of the background of the United States' substantial reduction of penalties in recent years. The reduction of penalties is not due to mercy, but because the prisons are overcrowded and the finances are overwhelmed. The result is that more innocent people are robbed and the cases cannot be solved, and they are injured or even lose their lives.

Don't be fooled by Hollywood movies. The quality of American police is not high. The motivation for most police officers is to get high salaries after graduating from high school. But even if they are all highly qualified police officers, it is difficult to avoid violent law enforcement. The law enforcement power of American police ranks among the best in the world. Only countries in a state of war such as Libya and Iraq, and Latin American countries such as Mexico and Peru where drug dealers and gangs are rampant can compare. If you don't obey the police's orders, or the police think you are a potential threat to him, the police will shoot indiscriminately.

Because there are more than 300 million private guns in the United States, American police never know whether they are facing ordinary lawbreakers or guns when enforcing the law. The law naturally gives the police great power to enforce the law. Otherwise, who would be willing to be a police officer? In order to protect themselves, excessive and violent law enforcement has become normalized. To put it bluntly, this is human nature.

Will the United States strictly ban guns? No, at least not in the short term. There are too many conflicts of interest involved; it is also difficult to enforce. It is relatively easy to ban guns from innocent people, and then the United States will become a paradise for criminals and gangs. The great power of the police is inevitable and cannot be changed.

2. Do American police target and discriminate against black people when enforcing the law?

Uh…! Yes and no. It depends on which angle you analyze it from. There is no doubt that discrimination and violence against blacks and Indians are common phenomena in history. However, decades after the black civil rights movement, is it still the same today?

Let the data speak for itself. Of the total number of people killed by police, whites accounted for about 45%, blacks 23%, Latinos 17%, other races 4%, and unknown races 10%.

Whites make up about 64% of the total population, blacks 13%, and Latinos 16%. Based on the proportion of the total population, blacks die at the hands of the police two to three times more than whites. Don't you think this is obviously discrimination against blacks? Recently, a large number of media articles have cited similar statistics to prove the police's discriminatory law enforcement against blacks. However, if we calculate it based on the crime rate, such as the proportion of prisoners serving sentences in prison, perhaps we will come to a different conclusion.

White people account for about 58% of all prisoners, and black people account for about 40% of all prisoners. Based on the number of prisoners, the rate of black people dying at the hands of police is lower than that of white people.

You may wonder if discriminatory law enforcement against black people has led to a disproportionately high number of black prisoners. Anyone who has lived in the United States would agree that the crime rate among black people is really high, especially violent robbery. Other ethnic groups are relatively less likely to commit violent robbery.

Blacks are involved in 50% of all murders and 38% of all violent crimes. About 95% of suspects or ordinary civilians who died at the hands of the police were armed. The more violent cases of armed involvement, the higher the probability of death at the hands of the police. Blacks account for 23% of all deaths at the hands of the police, which is far lower than the above proportion.

Floyd has nine criminal records, including armed robbery, and has been sentenced to prison many times, with the longest sentence being only five years. Is the sentence too light or too heavy? In recent years, American prisons have been overcrowded, with serious crimes becoming misdemeanors and misdemeanors becoming innocent.

Do police treat black people differently when enforcing the law? If you are a police officer on duty and you see a black guy and an Asian guy, would you take a second look at the black guy and pay more attention to him? Is this discrimination? I don't have an answer.

I believe that many Americans despise black people in their hearts because they are lazy and have a high crime rate. Some people or their families are even victims of black crimes. However, this does not prevent these people from idolizing black people such as Jordan, LeBron, and Pele. Is this discrimination? Uh...! I still don't have an answer.

3. Discrimination against black people in the United States? Do you deserve it?

In fact, many people are victims of reverse discrimination by blacks, especially Asians, such as Chinese. Why can't we get into the same universities even though we have much higher grades? Blacks can write songs to instigate people to rob Chinese people, and you protest? People say this is precious "freedom of speech." Chinese people, don't even mention publicly instigating people to rob blacks (but there's nothing to rob), just try making a racially charged joke against blacks and Jews, I guarantee you'll lose your "freedom of speech."

Also, is it discrimination for the media to report on the racial characteristics of criminal suspects? Why can't we see the racial statistics of the victims abused by criminals? They keep whining about the "human rights" of criminals, but where are the human rights of the innocent victims?

A black protester told reporters that when I walk on the street, even in my own neighborhood, I don't feel safe, and I don't know if the police will cause trouble for me. But have you ever thought that most people, whether black or not, feel unsafe when walking in black communities. Moreover, when facing police enforcement, they also feel unsafe, fearing that it will become a "hornet's nest" because of a misunderstanding.

4. Perhaps recruiting more black police officers would help improve relations between the police and black people?

Don't! According to statistics, black and Latino police officers are more likely to shoot than white police officers, especially when facing black suspects.

As long as the basic social structure of the United States does not change, it is inevitable that the police will have great law enforcement powers and violent law enforcement will be the norm. If the current "Black Lives Matter" movement goes to extremes and leads to "de-policing", then a Latin American-style deterioration in social security will be inevitable. May God bless you!

In today's hot spot, most politicians' public speeches must be sympathetic to black people (except for the oddballs like Trump), but I'm afraid many people do not really have sympathy. What they care about is votes and interests. Trump also cares about votes, the votes in the hands of the lower-class white people in swing states, and he is not afraid to expose his true racist nature.

5. The consequences of extreme individualism under the neoliberal economic framework

If you want the freedom to own a gun, you have to endure flying bullets and police violence; if you want the freedom to vote, you have to endure the rich and interest groups controlling the public opinion tools and then controlling the direction of government policies; if you want to emphasize personal freedom, you have to endure not wearing masks and not complying with epidemic prevention regulations during the epidemic, which leads to the epidemic getting out of control and even the loss of life.

In short, the United States is a "police state" that emphasizes personal freedom under the guise of democracy and freedom, but in reality only a few powerful people enjoy extreme personal freedom, while the personal freedom of most ordinary people is extremely restricted. Even the right to life is not guaranteed. For example, the recent anti-epidemic efforts are in a mess, with the number of infected and dead people at the top of the list, but the stock market is like a "capital carnival". Life is just a string of cold numbers in front of wealth.

Police violence is the norm in the United States and is not targeted at black people, so "Black Lives Matter" is a false proposition. "Human Life Matters" - all lives are precious, is the soul-searching question that American society must face.

However, the overall quality and living standards of black Americans are low, the crime rate among blacks remains high, and the morbidity and mortality rates among blacks in this epidemic are higher than the average. What are the root causes and possible solutions? Let’s listen to the analysis below: Behind “Black Lives Matter”: How to improve the overall living standards of black people?

There is a strange phenomenon in this protest: there are basically no Asian faces. Another article discusses the difficult situation and solutions for Asians in American society: Behind Black Lives Matter: Why are there no Asian faces in the protest?