In the World

Some lighter reading on violence and race

Joe Klein:

Blacks represent 13% of the population but commit 50% of the murders; 90% of black victims are murdered by other blacks. The facts suggest that history is not enough to explain this social disaster.

Matthew Yglesias:

Yet the disturbing truth, according to the FBI's most recent homicide statistics, is that the United States is in the wake of an epidemic of white-on-white crime.... As we look ahead to a 2016 matchup that should give us two Euro-American major party nominees for the first time in a decade, perhaps America can finally get the debate about white violence it deserves.

Touché. Also a good excuse to link to Cord Jefferson's livelier take on white-on-white violence from a year ago, when a mob rioted in Huntington Beach:

You never hear white leaders like Pastor Joel Osteen, Bill O'Reilly, or Hillary Clinton take a firm stance against the scourge.... California specifically outlawed preferences for nonwhites in state hiring and education nearly two decades ago. So being "oppressed" is no longer an excuse for behavior like this.

If you, like me, can't bear to read any more racist comments about the protesters in Ferguson, close your Twitter client and read Yglesias and Jefferson instead.

Steve Thorngate

The Century managing editor is also a church musician and songwriter.

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