Black men are unjustly dying at the hands of police across the county, and it can be easy to feel helpless. But one very powerful thing you can do is spread the truth through facts and statistics on police brutality to inform your friends and loved ones–except your Aunt Sharon, because you know how that’s going to end. Here are some key statistics to share with everyone except Aunt Sharon:
Black people are killed by officers at three times the rate of whites or other minorities.
Sharing this unsettling statistic is a good way to inform your network of the racial profiling and institutional racism that’s a part of policing. It’s very bold of you to share this with your network, and no one will be able to deny this simple fact… except, of course, for Aunt Sharon. But you really can’t deal with that right now so edit your post privacy so she can’t see it. Now that’s activism!
Black men account for 40% of unarmed people shot by police.
A study from 2015 shows that, while only making up 6% of the nation’s population, black men are the victims of 40% of police shootings of unarmed people. Don’t be afraid to make a post about such an appalling statistic–just make sure the post is hidden from Aunt Sharon, or she’ll get started with the whole “Well, how many of them were resisting?” bit and honestly, not worth the effort.
Black Americans fatally shot by police are less likely to be posing an imminent threat than white people who are shot by police.
There is an ugly, clear bias in police shootings that lead to black men being shot despite posing no threat. Being an activist means that you need to share this detail on Facebook and ask your fellow Facebook friends to accept this truth and put themselves in the shoes of those targeted by police. Do not ask of this Aunt Sharon, though, because she is going to bring up “black on black” crime until you finally give in and block her.
98% of the time, officers are not charged with a crime.
It’s important to remember that Black Lives Matter is about justice, and killers who have abused the badge typically walk free. If you believe police officers should be held as accountable as the rest of us, say so! You can even create a private Facebook group to talk about this injustice! But don’t accidentally add Aunt Sharon instead of your friend Sharon Rogers, because she’ll just remind you that her neighbor is a cop and ask why you hate cops so much.
Post these important facts on Facebook and do what’s right—but don’t bring Aunt Sharon into it, because she really isn’t going to change her mind and you guys have to spend Thanksgiving together this year.
