World Net Daily ... It was an understandably distraught Philonise Floyd, younger brother of George, who testified before Congress on June 9th. He tearfully described his older brother’s death at the hands of a rogue cop as a “modern day lynching in broad daylight.” 

Lynchings dominated our early history as the fight for racial equality raged. A sometimes lawless society extracted justice against suspects--some of whom were undoubtedly innocent, their culpability based simply on race or religion rather than guilt. 

Sometimes witnessing these lynchings were “guilty observers”--those who, despite having some responsibility for the crime, simply watched an innocent suspect hang.

In the aftermath of Floyd’s death and the rioting/looting/killings/beatings that occurred, guilty observers watched modern-day “lynchings.” Almost a dozen such lynchings took place--killings involving a retired black police chief, an innocent bystander, a black federal officer and others simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

They were victims because guilty observers fanned the rage that “systemic police bias” emanated from “white privilege.”  

Just like an ill patient who never recovers due to a doctor’s misdiagnosis, such has occurred in the aftermath of Floyd’s death. Many of the solutions proffered will not cure the disease. 

One--the defunding police--will only endanger black communities where most crimes involve black-on-black violence. Supposedly, devoting police funding to local community social programs somehow will cause racial bias to disappear. This is a knee-jerk reaction lacking forethought as only increased police presence reduces crime.

Defunding police only encourages vicious criminal groups, like MS-13, which, while originating in El Salvador, thrives here today in 42 states, according to the FBI. With an estimated 10,000 members nationwide, it will easily spread to all 50 states as the police presence is decreased.

What if critics are wrong in blaming police for systemic bias? If so, would that not suggest such critics are guilty observers, content to see someone else hang—in this case law enforcement—for something they did not do or a situation they did not create?

There are some alarming statistics, lost in the aftermath of Floyd’s death, that factor into what happened. They are quite telling.

One involves the likelihood that a black suspect will die in the custody of a white versus black police officer. 

Statistically, the offending officer is just as likely to be a fellow black as he is to be white. Statistics also show black officers are 67% more likely than white officers to mistakenly shoot unarmed black suspects.

Are systemic bias supporters suggesting black officers also suffer such bias? Statistically, systemic bias is non-existent among arresting police officers. 

A key factor in those cases in which civilians were shot by police were the actions of the suspect.

In 2015, the last year for which statistics are available, between 90%-95% of civilians shot were attacking police or other citizens and 90% had a weapon. 

Critics looking to falsely claim police harbor systemic bias ignore the flip side of the coin. The existence of black bias against arresting officers is substantiated by the fact blacks are responsible for 40% of all cop killings. 

Perhaps a clue lies in another statistic comparing black versus white criminal activity in the U.S. versus the U.K.—a country where overt racial prejudice in the criminal justice system has been declining.

Since the U.K. has had more than a half century lead over the U.S. in banning slavery (1807), it makes sense England would be more racially tolerant than the U.S. (While claims of a biased U.S. judicial system are still made based on the disproportionate number of incarcerated blacks, this number has experienced a significant decline.)

Statistics for 2016 reveal in the U.S., non-Hispanic whites represented 61.3% of the total population; blacks represented 13.1%. The FBI tells us the percentage of violent crimes committed by non-Hispanic whites was fairly representative of their share of the population that year: 58%. Blacks, however, committed, at 37%, a disproportionate share almost three times greater. 

Comparing this to statistics in the U.K., we see blacks make up 2.8% of the population. However, even in more racially tolerant England, statistics show blacks, as in the U.S., were involved in three times as many violent crimes. Additionally, the percentage of blacks dying in U.K. police custody was a disproportionate 8%.

Could the above collectively mean blacks dying in police custody is not a result of systemic police bias but, rather, the result of a higher representative percentage among blacks of criminal activity in both countries? 

What critics fail to examine is what causes blacks to undertake a disproportionate share of criminal activity. An objective look should enable one to link responsibility to a major breakdown in family values.

While there are many factors contributing to this, it starts with pregnancies creating single-family black households, more likely to live in poverty. “Black males who create children, don’t get married, and abandon their parental responsibilities are the people who take a bad situation and keep it from getting any better.” 

Poverty begets children with a higher school dropout rate which, in turn, begets young blacks looking for criminal activity to fill the time void--a cycle then repeated generationally. Thus, defunding police departments will only make matters worse.

Taking the analysis a step further is also enlightening. It reveals the cities where most rioting occurred have long been Democrat Party strongholds where decades of rule have failed to improve life for blacks. 

Why then do we hear cries of systemic bias? One study suggests it is “selective reporting” by a media spinning stories that are race-centric and ignoring the ones that are not.

Misdiagnosing a patient’s illness is malpractice. So is misdiagnosing the cause of the rioting and additional deaths triggered by George Floyd’s tragic death. 

Critics who demand that we defund the police are happy to commit malpractice.  Their malpractice will result in dire consequences for black communities for decades to come.