Disparities in Outcomes: Proof of Racism?
Episode 3 of “Wokeness, Public Safety, BLM & Antifa” w/Matt Thornton
What causes disparate outcomes in human endeavors? Some of us are wealthier, some more educated, some physically stronger. In Episode 3 of “Wokeness, Public Safety, BLM & Antifa,” Matt Thornton cautions against making quick diagnoses of the causes of group differences.
Matt Thornton has taught functional martial arts for more than 30 years. He holds a 5th-degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is the founder of Straight Blast Gym International, training champion MMA fighters and world-class law enforcement instructors. His latest book is The Gift of Violence: Practical Knowledge for Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World.
Episode 3: Kendi v. Data. Ibram X. Kendi: I think it’s critically important for us to stand on the anti-racist position that if there’s a racial disparity that’s shown via racial data, then there must be something wrong with policy as opposed to people. So then our job, when the data shows that disparity, is to figure out what policies are causing this disparity.
That statement by Kendi is absurd on its face. The moment you start to think about it, it just starts to fall apart. The vast majority of the people that police arrest, put in jail, and put to prison for violence are male. Does it automatically mean they're sexist against men? The average Asian-American income is higher than the average white American income. Does that mean we're racist against whites and this system is designed in such a way to help Asian Americans? The top educated demographic in the United States are Nigerian immigrants. Does that mean that the United States is geared towards helping Nigerian immigrants? So the whole thing is absurd on its face.
What you have to do when you see a discrepancy in the data is you have to control for the different reasons why that discrepancy might be there. That is, if what you're interested in is actually the truth, which should be what you're interested in if you're actually thinking about solving it. I don't think Kendi or people like that have any interest in solving anything, which is why the truth isn't that important. But if the truth is important to you, then when somebody says, "this particular correlation equals causation," well then we have to start controlling for all the other things that could be if we want to find out what's true and what's not true.
It reminds me very much of the creationist argument for how the world was created. Any time there was no definitive evolutionary answer for why something existed, or even if there was a good answer but it wasn't well known, people say, "Well, therefore, must be God." The God of the Gaps argument. And that's exactly what he's doing here. He's saying, any discrepancy in the data therefore must equal racism. If you're interested in the truth, then you can't accept that answer. It might be racism, absolutely. But the only way to find out if it's racism is to control for the other things that it could be. That's just basic logic and common sense.
Every citizen who's listening to this that has any kind of education at all should know that. And that alone should be enough to tell you that these people aren't sincere.
Watch the series Introduction
I recommend reading "Discrimination and Disparities" by Thomas Sowell. In this book Sowell explains that disparities are normal throughout the natural and human world. Equal outcomes rarely ever happen because so many variables affect outcomes. A few of the many factors that cause human disparities include average age of group, personal preferences and abilities, the desire for upward mobility, parental priority given to education and hours spent doing homework. Lack of a father in the household is a very big factor since more than 80% of black kids are raised by their mothers alone. Being an anti-racist does not change any of the factors involved and, therefore, cannot result in a change in racial disparities. Both Sowell and Thornton do a great job of explaining this.
Related to this, Heather Mac Donald has a book coming out right about now about disparate impact, and how it’s rotting our society. I’ve been listening to her podcasts, and it’s bound to be a humdinger.