We’re raised by certain aphorisms. Rules of thumb. Heuristics.
You shouldn’t judge by appearances.
Well and good. A sound policy.
And yet, so many of us just…can’t…not.
A black man jogging through an affluent white neighborhood is chased down, confronted, and then shot to death. They did not see a man jogging, did not notice that, despite their claim they thought he was a burglar, there was nothing on him (bag, tools, stolen good, notebook), nothing about him suggested someone fleeing after illegal activity. He was jogging. Video before the fatality shows someone running as a jogger would run. At this point, it is fair to say, unequivocally, had he been white, no one would have given him a second look.…