A Phony “Crisis” that Harms America
In eight tumultuous years of the Bush presidency, it’s tough to think of even one famous case of an unarmed African-American killed by police. This doesn’t reflect some uncelebrated triumph for George W. Bush, but it does provide needed perspective on the current hysteria over black victimization by law enforcement. There is no evidence of a sudden explosion in the number of African-Americans killed in encounters with cops – experts agree that those painful numbers have remained troubling for decades. What has changed, however, is exploitation of such tragedies by media manipulators, leftist politicians, and so-called civil rights leaders. During President Obama’s first term, issues of police brutality garnered scant attention, but in 2012 the Trayvon Martin case showed opportunists in media and politics the way the death of young black males could generate ratings and agitate the public. The purported crisis of recent years is manufactured, phony and deeply damaging to the nation.