why do you think there were no protests over it?
no protests? you mean like this protest?
but i understand the point you're making. this problem does affect everybody - since around 2015, police have shot and killed about twice as many white people as black people. but, of course, the killings of black people are starkly disproportionate which is at the heart of the protests precipitated by the george floyd death.
well, people say, the rates of black and white crime account for at least some of that disproportion? not necessarily:
Minneapolis police shootings since 2000: A deeper look at who and where: Do areas with more crime see more fatal police encounters? Not necessarily.
well then, people say, blacks commit disproportionately more murders - surely that explains it? not really. very few deaths at the hands of the police result from police trying to prevent - or even responding to - murder (e.g. george floyd). and put that argument in the context of other uses of force by police. black people are significantly more likely to be pulled over and searched for drugs (even though countless studies on the subject demonstrate that drug searches of whites are, in fact, more likely to turn up illegal drugs). black people are also more likely to be arrested for distribution and possession of drugs even though drug use and sale among blacks and whites tends to be very similar (see:
Rates of Drug Use and Sales, by Race; Rates of Drug Related Criminal Justice Measures, by Race)
when i see police violence against a white person (i am white) i rarely tend to think in terms of "
that could be me". when black people see the police kneeling on george floyd's neck until he died, "
that could be me" is much more common a reaction.
so, yes, i think it's true that police pose a risk to everybody, of every race. but the risk is disproportionate to people of color. and, i believe, that's why we see fewer protests over the killing of an unarmed white man.
There have been many doctors/nurses over the years that murdered their patients.
sure, but those tend to be isolated incidents rather than a pattern of over-use of lethal force as a first, rather than last resort.
Should we abolish hospitals or generalize all of them because of that?
i'm pretty sure i never said anything about abolishing the police.
alasdair