Market Mad House

In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. Friedrich Nietzsche

My Thoughts

Some Numbers that Explain the Rage on America’s Streets

daniel ,

Police violence is only the tip of the iceberg of issues driving the violence and protests disrupting America’s cities.

Instead, police brutality is a tiny aspect of a gigantic system of racism, income inequality, and poverty that fueling revolt in America. Police shootings are a symbol of the problem, not the cause of the unrest.

The issues driving the protests and violence run deep in America society. The best way to understand those issues and the extent of the problem is to examine the data.

Some numbers that Explain the Rage on America’s Streets include:

  • 23,091 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the number of African Americans coronavirus had killed as of 16 June 2020.
  • One in 1,625 Black Americans has died (or 61.6 deaths per 100,000) – an estimate by the APM Research Lab on 10 June 2020.
  • In contrast, one in 3,800 White Americans has died (or 26.2 deaths per 100,000), the APM Research Lab estimates.
  • Thus the number of Black Americans killed by COVID-19 is 2.3% higher than the rate for whites and 2.2% higher than the rate for Latinos, the APM Research Lab claims.
  • One in 3,550 Latino Americans has died of coronavirus (or 28.2 deaths per 100,000), APM claims.
  • 120,723 the number of Americans killed by coronavirus before 19 June 2020, Worldometers estimates. I estimate this number exceeds the number of Americans killed in every war except the Civil War and World War II.
  • $41,361 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the median income of black American households in 2018.
  • $16,011.92 – My estimate of the median income of a member of the average American African family. Note: this estimate is based on ArcGIS’s estimate of the size of the average American household: 2.6 people.
  • $63,179 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the median income of all American households.
  • $73,891 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the median income for all American families in 2018.
  • $49,459 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the median income for the average African American family in 2018.
  • $814 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the median weekly earnings for an African American man in 2018.
  • $1,070 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the weekly earnings for the average American man in 2018.
  • $769 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the weekly earnings of an African American employee in 2018.
  • $969 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the weekly earnings for the average American employee in 2018.
  • $735 – Black Demographics’ estimate of the weekly earnings for an African American woman in 2018.
  • $865 – Black Demographics’ estimate for the weekly earnings of the average American woman in 2018.
  • The Brookings Institution’s estimate of 77% the percentage of American wealth held by the richest 20% of Americans in 2016.
  • $25 trillion the amount of wealth held by the richest 1% of Americans in 2016, the Brookings Institution estimates.
  • $18 trillion the amount of wealth held by America’s middle class in 2016 according to the Brookings Institution.
  • 36 million The Guardian’s estimate of the number of Americans unemployed on 14 May 2020.
  • 16.1% The Washington Post’s estimate of America’s unemployment rate for May 2020.
  • 14.7% the official US unemployment rate for May as calculated by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • 25% Goldman Sachs’ (NYSE: GS) projection for America’s unemployment rate during the coronavirus pandemic.
  • 46 million, Business Insider’s estimate for the number of Americans who had filed for unemployment in the 13 weeks ending on 18 June 2020.

America’s problems go far beyond police shootings and casual racism. Those who think being nice to black people and screaming “abolish the police” can solve America’s problems are living in fantasyland.