More Black People Were Killed by US Police In 2015 Than Were Lynched In the Worse Year of Jim Crow

Several months ago I went to a training that went into depth about the biases we all carry, including the implicit bias we often have without any conscious awareness. It was an excellent training that broke my heart open and gifted me with an even greater awareness of the biases that I carry. I'm just acknowledging that all the ways subtle to overt bias, judgment, racism, etc, manifests isn't just a problem for those other people out there. Ever since coming face to face with my own denied and deeply internalized racism in a diversity training many years ago, I've recognized that I need to own that I have much work to do to truly live up to the kind and loving person I aspire to be. And as I write of working to expand my circle of caring in an ongoing way, this powerful intention is rooted in consciously opening my heart to include all, which is a lifelong process. May we all nourish and grow in our capacity to hold ourselves and others with compassion and caring. May we heal and transform the obstacles that keep us polarized and separate. May we be the peace our world yearns for. ~ Molly

Mourning Alton Sterling. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

By Annalisa Merelli  

After the disturbing deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of law enforcement officers this week, racial bias and police brutality have once again become heated subjects in the US. Several online commenters have noted that the safety of black Americans doesn’t seem to have improved much since Jim Crow laws were struck down in 1965. In fact, US police seem to be killing more black citizens today than were lynched at the height of US segregation. 

Following the lead of Twitter user @such_A_frknlady, Quartz checked the data. According to the historic record “Lynchings, white and negroes” (pdf) kept by Alabama’s Tuskegee University, a total of 2,911 black Americans were lynched between 1890 and 1965, when the so-called Jim Crow laws were enforced. Beginning in the 1890s, these racist laws segregated black Americans in several states until about 1965. During this time, black Americans were often victims of unspeakable violence, and infamous extrajudicial lynchings. 

On an average, 39 black people were lynched per year under Jim Crow. In 1892, the worst year, 161 black Americans were lynched.More than a century later, the numbers have hardly improved. In 2015,258 black people were killed by US police, representing over 26% of deaths. 

For 2016, the trend seems similar. As of July 7, US police have shot dead 509 people this year, of whom 123 were black.  
Even counting only the deaths of black people who were unarmed, the results are staggering. A conservative count puts that death toll at 38, right in line with the average during Jim Crow. 

Please go here for the original article: http://qz.com/726245/more-black-people-were-killed-by-us-police-in-2015-than-were-lynched-in-the-worst-year-of-jim-crow/