Tuesday, August 12, 2025
D+ 277/205/1256
1950, Pope Pius XII published the encyclical Humani generis
1965 Race riot on the West Side of Chicago
1978 Patriots receiver Darryl Stingley suffered a spinal cord injury, leaving him with quadriplegia from a hit by Raiders Jack Tatum in a preseason game
2021, Phoenix became the US's fastest-growing city (+11.2%), overtaking Philadelphia to be the nation's fifth-largest at 1.6 million, according to the US Census
2021 US Census revealed the country grew more diverse, with growth in Hispanic (+23%) and Asian (+36%) populations, and the first-ever decline in the White population
In bed at 10, back up at 10:30, unable to sleep, watched LO'D's monologue about Trump, Epstein, and Maxwell and part of Rachel Maddow (it has taken me a few minutes to remember her name), on Trump's pretextural claim to be protecting 'law and order' in ordering National Guardsmen onto the streets of Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles (along with a contingent of Marines), our arrival at a militaristic autocracy, back in bed at 11:50, up again at 4 a.m., unable to sleep. At 6 a.m., the post-dawn sky darkened and heavy rain began. At 6:05, we lost internet service. It came back at 8:45 p.m.
Meds, etc. Morning meds around noon, just before Larry and Jan arrived.
Scattered, muddled thoughts early Tuesday:
(1) When should we expect our Reichstag fire? Four weeks after Hitler became the chancellor of Germany, a fire occurred in the German parliament, or Reichstag. Communists were blamed, and one, Marinus van der Lubbe, was convicted and executed for the alleged crime. Many believed that Lubbe was set up, that he was a patsy for the Nazis who were looking for a pretext to ban communists from the Reichstag and institute repressive practices against all liberal and socialist parties and activists opposing the Nazis. I thought of the Reichstag fire as I listened to Trump's news conference today, as he announced his takeover of the District of Columbia National Guard and the D.C. police department. 25 days after the Reichstag fire, the Reichstag passed the law that gave Hitler dictatorial power, i.e., the power to rule by decree, or, as we do it in America, by Executive Order.
(2) Crime and Race in Washington, D.C. I believe that crime in Washington, D.C., is largely a Black phenomenon, and did some research.
* A 2018 report by the ACLU-DC, based on MPD arrest data from 2013 to 2017, highlighted racial disparities in arrests.
* Black individuals made up approximately 47% of D.C.’s population during this period but accounted for:
86% of total arrests across all offense types.
91% of arrests for violent crimes (e.g., homicide, assault with a dangerous weapon, robbery).80% of arrests for property crimes (e.g., theft, burglary).
95% of arrests for drug-related offenses, which often drive higher arrest rates due to policing practices in certain neighborhoods.
* White individuals, who comprised about 35% of the population, accounted for roughly 8% of total arrests and lower proportions for violent and property crimes.
* The report emphasized that these disparities do not necessarily reflect crime commission rates but rather policing patterns, such as higher patrol presence in predominantly Black neighborhoods (e.g., Anacostia, Deanwood).
Homicide and Nonfatal Shooting Suspects (2025):
* A post on X from the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (2025) claimed that approximately 96–97% of homicide suspects and 97% of nonfatal shooting suspects in D.C. are Black, despite Black residents comprising about 44–47% of the population.
* This data is not officially verified by MPD or other primary sources in the provided references, so it should be treated as inconclusive without further corroboration. X posts are not definitive evidence, but they reflect sentiment or unverified claims circulating publicly.
If accurate, this would suggest a disproportionate representation of Black individuals among suspects for these specific violent crimes, but it does not provide a full picture of all crime types.
Caveats:
* Arrests vs. Crime Commission: Arrest data reflects policing practices, not necessarily the true distribution of crime commission. Factors like over-policing in certain neighborhoods, racial profiling, or socioeconomic disparities can skew arrest statistics. The ACLU-DC report explicitly notes that high arrest rates in Black communities may reflect heavier police presence rather than actual crime rates.
* Limited Scope: The 2013–2017 data is outdated, and the 2025 claim about homicide suspects lacks official verification. mes are committed by Black individuals.
* Socioeconomic and Systemic Factors: High-crime areas like Deanwood and Anacostia face challenges such as poverty, lack of economic opportunity, and historical disinvestment, which correlate with higher crime rates regardless of race. Gentrification and demographic shifts may also influence crime patterns.
In Washington, "crime" means "Black crime" and "street crime." It's not the residents of Georgetown who are committing street crimes. Some of them may be guilty of more sophisticated crimes, but not armed robberies, assaults, or carjacking. Those crimes are committed by residents of Anacostia, Deanwood, and other predominantly Black neighborhoods. Most of the crimes are committed by Blacks, especially gun crimes, and most of the victims of crime are Blacks. To the extent that Donald Trump is at all concerned about the victims of crime in Washington, I daresay it's not the Black victims in Black neighborhoods, but rather White victims in Georgetown and the federal district, Perhaps I am wrong, but we'll have to see where and how the Department of Justice deploys the National Guard troops and police offices. In any event, Trump's 'get tough on crime' actions will be applauded by many, perhaps most, Americans and by many, perhaps most, Washingtonians because who can be against getting "tough on crime," especially when the criminals are almost all from a disfavored race. We all know, however, that Trump isn't really against crime, even violent crime, like what occurred on January 6, 2021. He has no moral standards, nor any empathy for those who suffer from crimes against them, or from those who suffer from the persistent, lingering effects of centuries of dehumanizing systemic racism. There are other motivations at work here, but it's about 4:30 p.m. on a day when we were gifted with the visit of Larry and Jan Anderson, I'm tired from lots of invigorating, warm conversation, and need to rest after last night's troubled sleep.
What I really started writing about was the role of race in crime, especially violent and gun crime, in American cities, and our refusal to address candidly that it is very largely a problem of racial minorities, especially Blacks. Political correctness? Why are we so resistant to acknowledge the racial factor in violent crime, and especially the fact that gun crimes are almost exclusively a Black phenomenon? How do I think society, the government, and the media ought to deal with this fact?
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